It probably wasn’t the best weekend to do High tea at Adore Tea being the Father’s day weekend but when I inquired what differed between ‘Blokes High tea’ and the normal high tea, the difference was minimal and I probably preferred the ‘meatier’ savoury options.
The high tea was staggered out and timed with two savoury courses and two sweet courses over a leisurely one and a half hour period. We were each greeted with an option of sparkling wine, a beer or a non-alcoholic sparkling wine. I should have just gotten the alcoholic option and given it away as the non-alcoholic sparkling wine tasted like bubbling sweet cordial.
Blokes High tea ($48.00 per person)
Top tier – potato salad. Not very creamy and almost watery. Not the best way to start the high tea.
Middle tier – beef with onion chutney finger sandwich. The chutney made the sandwich particularly tasty.
Bottom tier – ham and mustard finger sandwich. Very simple and too plain.
Matching tea – Oh I can’t remember exactly, but it was either Platinum Black or Earl Grey berries. Very nice.
A party of three was probably not the best amount of people as it meant that three of us had to share one pot of tea, which still (just) allowed a cup of tea each but four people meant there was two to a pot.
Top tier – Cracked pepper mountain bread and lamb with mint jelly. The cube of meat looked a bit unappetizing but it was okay as a savoury morsel.
Middle tier – Potato chamomile soup made in house. I couldn’t detect the chamomile but the potato soup was nice and warm with a decent amount of black pepper.
Bottom tier – ‘meat kebab’ and a different take on a meat pie, ‘meat pie voulevant’. The ‘kebab’ was a bit simple and I didn’t expect to find it at the high tea but it was much better than the voulevant, which I had to play ‘find the meat’ and because there wasn’t much sauce it was very dry.
Matching tea – ‘Green with envy’ green tea. A lovely refreshing light tea to balance all the savoury food.
Top tier – raspberry and apple crumble tart.
Middle tier – lemon meringue tarts and macadamia and caramel slice.
Bottom tier – warm scones with cream and house made jams (strawberry and mixed berry) infused with Earl Grey tea.
I’ve always been a fan of their jams but the best thing for me on the tier is the macadamia and caramel slice, deeeeeeeelicious.
Matching tea – Rooibos Tea with caramel. I don’t usually like teas that smell sweet and had nothing for the palette but you could really taste the sweetness without the heaviness of sugar.
Final course – Nip of port with whisky infused fudge. The port was very smooth, not overly sweet and didn’t burn on the way down. The fudge was supposed to be infused with a little bit of real whisky but most of the flavours should have been from their whisky tea. I thought it tasted like the icing that you would get from a packet cake mix but it was better than getting sickly sweet OTT fudge.
They had very friendly service and their knowledge of the food was impeccable. Overall the food was okay but I really do like the fact they have not only ‘matching teas’ with each course but have actively sort out to try all the include their tea infusions as an ingredient. I’ve been to a lot of high teas in Canberra and this is one of the better ones. It is also lovely to enjoy the sunshine outside or their live music when they have it during the warmer months.
They had chosen the best of the best of their teas to be included into the high tea to showcase their signature house blends. Once I dwindle down on my tea pile at home, I definitely coming back for their green tea.
Venue: Adore tea
High tea: Every Saturday 11:30am or 2pm
Address: Shop 6, Federation Square One, 18 O’Hanlon Place, Nicholls ACT 2913
Phone: (02) 6230 9962
