It's a cute, kids-friendly, quaint little place. The entrance is down the stairs, where one takes notice of the daintly scripted writing on the walls, the large silver tins of tea, the inviting bookshelves filled with little books, cups, soaps and mugs -- all carrying the theme of "Alice in Wonderland." The warm lighting and register area almost reminded me of Serendipity's.
We each were given two menus. One being the list of food and desserts and the other, a zerox copy listing their different teas. What an extensive list it was too! Over 100 types of teas, listed in alphabetical order on 4 pages back and front. Way too many that it left us quite perplexed on what to order.
We were there to try their 3 tiered trays of high tea. They have 3 different types -- all with an Alice in Wonderland theme name -- except I only remember 2: : The Mad Hatter and The Jaberwocky. They also have a version for kids too. We settled on the last choice, the one with the most stuff, The Jabberwocky ($30) which consists of:
- A pot of tea
- Top Tier: Two scones with clotted cream and jam - using Lady Mendl's as our comparison, we both thought the clotted cream didn't seem as fresh. The raspberry jam seemed lackluster too.
- Second Tier: Unlimited finger sandwiches: which was basically a selection of 3 sandwiches each from their sandwich list:
1. lapsang souchang smoked chicken served with apple slices and goat cheese on 7 grain bread - we agreed this was their best out of the six. An awesome sandwich!!
2. albacore tuna with tangy capers and mustard vinaigrette - a little too salty but still tasty
3. olive tapenade and goat cheese -It's basically olive paste layered with goat cheese, carrot strips and a sort of slightly zippy marinade; can be slightly salty
4. cucumber and watercress on whole wheat bread - simple and unimpressive.
5. eggsalad - I hate eggs. We didn't order this.
6. Ham and Gruyere cheese - I'm normally a huge ham and cheese sandwich fan but opted out for the olive paste sandwich.
- Third Tier: Caramel Creme Brulee, chocolate mousse served in a lil tea cup and an assortment of cookies.
Creme brulee was rather creamy and thick but had very good flavoring. I tend to be partial to creme brulee. Mousse definitely had quite a rich but smooth chocolate flavor. A little on the sweet side -- then again, I'm not much of a chocolate mousse fan. Cookies, I broke off a tiny piece of each. They consisted of chocolate chips; peanutbutter; cinnamon sugar cookies; and chess colored shortbreads (brown parts actually had a rich chocolate taste!)
Lady's Mendls - the quintessential tea experience -- still ranks as our number 1 experience! But this place, with their friendly, tea knowledgeable and good looking staff, ranks high up there. Definitely worth going back to.
Besides tea, for the coffee lovers, they do serve coffee -- in a nice big mug that says "LOSER." Hahah.
Next time I go, I think I'll buy the disappearing "Chesire Cat" mug and perhaps grab the "Loser" mug for a particular coffee addict I know.
Such a tea-licous experience!
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