The Tea Room - Queen Victoria Building

(click on image to see larger picture, and because I'm technically incompetent, this is the best you're gonna get)

I TRADITIONAL HIGH TEA FOR TWO

A Savoury

1. Spinach scroll: puff pastry with spinach fillings. Reasonable. (Pictured on plate with scones)
2. Chicken scroll: puff pastry with chicken fillings. A little too heavy-handed with the mayonnaise, but again, reasonable. (Pictured on plate with scones)
3. Finger sandwiches: disappointing! The sandwiches are what you would expect from a high tea - tuna, cucumber with cream cheese. Yet precisely because these are staple items in high tea, that makes them open to comparison - and these sandwiches just don't match up to those offered by other establishments. The bread is dry and tastes like super-market sliced bread, and again, too heavy-handed with the mayonnaise. 
4. Truffle egg tart: delicious! The truffle aroma is strong (though most people rave about how wonderful truffle is, I have always found it to be an acquired taste - perhaps people automatically think it tastes great because it's expensive? Anyway, you get a full-bodied truffle taste with these tarts). Only criticism is that I had to pour oil out of these tarts - yes, they were swimming in a puddle of oil. This sounds worse than it actually was, in its defense, it didn't really bother me.
5. I don't exactly know how to describe the next item - it's a little disc with avocado and sun dried tomato on top. The disc was dry and cardboard-like. So no, not a fan. 

B Sweet

1. Raspberry macaroon: look, it's ok. However, when you have Zumbo less than 100m away, it's less ok. The flavour isn't nuanced or creative enough, and there is just way too much cream in the middle. 
2. Opera cake: this one is delicious. Layered well, soft and creamy. 
3. Chocolate mousse slice: creamy chocolate mousse in the middle - the floury case is a little too dense and sweet, which makes stomaching it difficult when I'm already full on the other items, but all in all, not bad. 
4. Blueberry jam tart with meringue: what is that. I mean, you can't just scoop some blueberry jam into a dry little tart cup and top with meringue. You're not a teenage Youtube star doing 'fun Valentine's day treat ideas!', The Team Room!  

II ORIENTAL HIGH TEA FOR TWO

A Savoury

1.  Dumplings: delicious, delicious, delicious! I think it was fish, but I could be wrong. Highly recommended despite unidentified meat content.
2. Crab meat cones: crispy dumpling skin wrapped around some overly-mayonnaised (can you  see a trend emerging?) crab meat. Despite my comment, it was oddly satisfying and I happily gobbled mine up. 
3. Duck pancake: nothing you wouldn't expect from a Chinese restaurant, except cold. Boo. 
4. Weird disc thing: same as above, but with an additional gross stinky eel piece. Not impressed. 
5. Sandwiches: see above.

B Sweet

1. Lime macaroon: much the same comment as its raspberry sister above, the cream filling was too much and too heavy. I actually only ate half of these macaroons as I shared all of my sweet items - and frankly, I don't see how someone could stomach an entire one of these. 
2. Fruit tart: delicious! The custard had vanilla beans in it, the flavour was perfect - not too sweet, very smooth. However, as odd as this might sound, I would have preferred canned mandarin pieces rather than fresh ones - perhaps because that's how I remembered fruit tarts from my childhood. Trust me though, canned mandarins are good! 
3. Chocolate mousse slice: see above.

III SCONES

These are delicious. Giant, fluffy, with a generous swerving of raspberry jam and cream. The jam is deliciously tart, which balanced the decadent cream. I would have preferred the scones to be warmer, but I can't complain.

IV TEAS

1. Chai: bold, strong, full-bodied. Perfect with some milk (which they served frothed) and some sugar lumps.
2. Nilgiri Mountains: a delicate, soft tea, best served without milk, even though they do provide you with a jar of cold milk with this tea.
3. Darjeeling's Delight: beautiful, fresh, golden tea. Can be served with or without milk.
4. Wokou Garden: delicate and fragrant, with a sweet after taste. I personally prefer stronger green teas, but this one is lovely for those who prefer lighter teas.  

 

V GENERAL COMMENTS

I was disappointed.

The Tea Room is one of the best known afternoon tea spots in Sydney, and the decor is beautiful - gave the place an old world feel with its high ceilings trimmed with gold and large chandeliers. However,  how well-known and busy this place is also happens to be its downfall - a lot of the finer details slip: I sat in a chair with biscuit crumbs on the carpet; most of the items were cold; the bread and the pastry bases of several food items were dry and did not taste as fresh as I would have expected; and the teas did not come with the food items - instead of laying everything down as high tea establishments usually do, we waited more than 10 minutes for our teas to arrive after the food had already been served.

The place had a general busy, harrowed feel - which is at odds with the very concept of the high tea, which is supposed to be an elegant, slow, calm event.

Would I recommend The Tea Room? Under some circumstances - for example, if you have friends visiting from out of town. The fact that it is situated in the QVB with its faded, slightly chipped tea-ware has its charms. Would I recommend it above other high tea establishments? That would be a no.

Final score: 3.5 / 5

VI INFORMATION

Cost: The Traditional Afternoon Teas are $45 pp. The Oriental High Teas are $88 for 2 persons. 

Address: Level 3, Queen Victoria Building

Website: http://thetearoom.com.au/

Others: Booking highly advised, particularly for weekends. All information as at 20 Sep 2015.