Afternoon Tea

To help me celebrate my birthday, earlier this month, my daughter took me to the Park Hyatt Sydney Hotel for afternoon tea.  I thought: a real grown-up tea party, how sophisticated! 

When we arrived at the restaurant, an extremely attentive waiter escorted us to our table, and my daughter mentioned to him that it was my birthday.  Shortly after that, he returned with a dainty little cake.  Nice!

Complimentary Birthday Cake.

Afternoon tea is a ritual that originated in Britain in the 1800s.  In those days, the dinner hour didn't start until 8 p.m and folks needed a light midday snack to hold them over.  Classic afternoon tea is composed of finger sandwiches and light pastries.

"High tea" and "afternoon tea" are similar events with subtle differences.  High tea consists of cooked foods and is served after work hours, making it a more substantial meal. 

As you may know from reading some of my other posts, Aussies are from Britain and keep many of their traditions.  There is even a high tea society in Australia to direct folks on where to find the best morning or high teas in their local area.

My daughter chose the Park Hyatt Sydney because of its five-star rating, beautiful harbor views and its reputation for being one of the best places in town for morning tea.

Park Hyatt Sydney.

The tea room at the Park Hyatt is very posh!  There is plenty of natural light filling the space from the floor to ceiling windows which sets the tone for an elegant afternoon.  

While we waited on our tea to arrive, we soaked up the atmosphere and breathtaking views of the Opera House and harbor and watched people strolling along the boardwalk.  

Park Hyatt Sydney Tea Room.

People watching from the Park Hyatt Tea Room

Our menu was preset and vegetarian.  However, we could choose between the Classic or Champagne Afternoon Tea.  For my birthday celebration, we went with the latter.

Afternoon Tea Menu

Chandon Brut Imperial Rosé

The tea meal arrived full of delectable sweet & savory appetizers served on a beautiful three-tier curate stand.  The presentation was visually appealing.

Morning Tea Curate Stand

The top tier held an array of pastries with fruits and nuts that were meticulous in detail and attractively displayed on the plate.   

Hats off to the pastry chef for having such a good sense of color and style in the arrangement.  

Desserts Tier.

The chocolate & berry rocher was almost too dainty to eat.  It was sweet and creamy - real tea party stuff here!  The touch of raspberry almost made it seem like a healthy choice.

Chocolate & Berry Rocher

All of the desserts were delicious. However, the most intriguing to me was the exotic pavlova with mango, passionfruit, and lemon.  

I had never heard of it before and am told it's an Aussie favorite.  Made from meringue (egg whites)  sweetened with castor sugar and filled with exotic fruit, its hard, smooth exterior is actually quite fragile and melts instantly in your mouth.

Pavlova recipe.

The traditional gemmed scones owned the middle section.  It was actually the first treat we ate.  They were soft and warm with crusty sprinkles of sugar that gave them a crunch and just the right amount of sweetness.  

I added clotted cream which was thick and scrumptious while my daughter went for the firm strawberry jam - absolutely no dripping out of the scone.   No fuss - no mess, just a great pastry!  

Authentic Scones

Scone with jam

A small assortment of colorful finger sandwiches filled the bottom layer.  Each one was a different texture and shape which created an artful food display.  

Like everything on the menu, they were prepared with fresh, high-quality ingredients that included typical tea sandwich favorites like cucumbers and olives.  

Savory Selections.

My favorite was the cucumber, labneh, dill & pint pepper wrap, which is the black one.  My daughter enjoyed the salmon . . . Aka, chickpea bouchée, sour cream, and mint.  

Cucumber, labneh, dill & pint pepper wrap.

Chickpea bouchée sour cream and mint.

Although we really didn't consume that much food, we devoured enough sweets for one afternoon and asked for a doggie bag to take home our unfinished desserts.

That was a mistake. . . 

A huge mistake . . . 

Shouldn't have done it!

The waiter, who didn't seem to speak a lot of English, gave us a look and whisked away our plates.  

He returned with a takeaway container that included our leftovers and a health warning label!  

Take-a-way

Isn't this the same food we were about to eat?

You can't make this stuff up!

And, it didn't stop there!  

We were then served with a Take-Away-Waiver that we had to sign absolving the restaurant of any and all blame if we were to become ill after eating food taken out of the restaurant.  

My daughter and I were both very confused.  However, she signed the waiver, and we left the restaurant quite tickled.

About twenty minutes after leaving the restaurant and walking in the Sydney summer heat, we found out that the waiver was a smart move on the part of the restaurant.

Take-away after taking it away.

The contents of the takeaway container had self-destructed!

The waiter could have told us that the birthday cake was a mousse, which is made with whipping chocolate, cream and egg whites.  

After it was all said and done, we had an enjoyable afternoon, a good laugh and me, a great birthday.

  

Afternoon tea parties . . . 

Warning labels on take-a-way . . . 

Doggie bag waiver form  . . . 

I am NOT in Kansas!