Afternoon Tea: The Four Seasons Sydney

Before you lambast me for tardy Mother’s Day planning, you should know that I did have another idea in mind to treat the Mother but with dismal weather being forecasted, I had to do quick a u-turn in my Mother’s Day plans. This led me to some frantic phone work on Friday and as I found out, trying to book a last minute table for High Tea two days before Mother’s Day was about as difficult as scoring a date with Daniel Craig.

After fruitlessly calling most of the big Hoteliers and the usual haunts (I swear some of them were trying to suppress a laugh), an internet search led me to discover that The Four Seasons were also offering Afternoon Tea. A quick survey amongst friends and it seems that I wasn’t the only person unaware of The Four Season’s offerings but since I was desperate, I snapped it up and secretly crossed my fingers that it wasn’t going to be a similarly disappointing experience as the Shangri-La.

Afternoon Tea is served from 3pm, which meant I had to restrict the intake of lunch…just in case. It was served upstairs on Level 2 at The Cafe, under the gentle tones of easy listening muzak. However service was warm and on-the-ball right from the get go. I’m guessing they were just happy to do something as it was pretty quiet in here.

It wasn’t the most extensive of tea menus but suited us tea amateurs as we’re happy to settle for English Breakfast, Darjeeling and a rather odd Liquorice tea that exuded a more pepper-like quality. The Captain (formerly known as Mr S. who requested a none-too-subtle name change!), is an avid lover of Cunard cruise liners so was it any surprise that he ordered a pot of Queen Mary?

Almost immediately the food was laid out before us on plates (I was hoping for cute cake stands but oh well). The flat scones reminded me more like deep-fried Mantou (steamed chinese white bread) with it’s golden and almost crunchy exterior. Quite unlike the floury, risen scones that I liked, however, my mother and Miss Kitty enjoyed the slight doughy texture.

The two varieties of Traditional and Apricot and Thyme scones were lovingly slathered in strawberry jam and whipped cream and devoured in quick succession as my beady little eye was pinpointed at the huge splodges of smoked salmon on the sandwiches.

After the soggy, knuckle-imprinted schoolyard sandwiches of The Shangri-La, I was relieved to see four relatively neat sandwiches before me, though they still weren’t the dainty crustless finger sandwiches that you normally find at The Tea Room.

Ham and cheese and egg and mayonnaise are your average joe sandwiches. Here, however, they are given a slight makeover with the offerings of Double Smoked Ham and Sharp Cheddar on Sourdough and Egg Mayonnaise with Watercress and Tomato on Wholemeal Bread. I loved the Roast Beef with Rocket and Roasted Onion however the Soy Linseed Bread proved a textural annoyance with its hard crusts and seeds.

But oh joy! The pleasure of Smoked Salmon served with a Lemon Chive Cream on an Orange Brioche! My love goes out to any eating establishment who are generous with their smoked salmon portions and The Four Seasons lays the love on thick and neatly rolled into rosettes. The pairing of the fish with the citrus zing of the cream cheese and the sweet brioche will not be long forgotten. If I could only change these dainty little things into sofa-sized sandwiches, I’ll happily gorge on this forever.

The strain was showing but it would be a travesty to waste the desserts! Especially when one was a Almond and Orange Slice that was cakey, dense and gorgeously orange-scented.

These Spring Berry Tartlets with Rosewater Scented Cream was pretty enough but it was standard fare with a slightly tasteless pastry and no detection of my favourite Rose flavour. Still I could never resist fruit tarts, whatever standard they may be.

Again my love of citrus was satiated by the Lemon Roll – zesty and perfectly paired with a soft, thin sheet cake and a slice of chocolate . Finally the Wattle Seed Chocolate Mousse with a Hazelnut Crumble was lusciously rich but at this point in time, it was the nail in the coffin as it tipped me over the edge of acceptable stomach capacity. But the mousse was too good so I pushed on with every spoonful before regretting it for the next ten minutes (tip for next time, start with the rich stuff!).

The teas proved to be a good digestive but we were all still rolling on home clutching our stomachs. Looks like our preconceived notions that the High Tea won’t fill us up were painfully unfounded and any plans of a post-tea beverage at Guylian Cafe were quickly dashed.

At $29 per head ($39 with sparkling wine), this is perhaps one of the better value afternoon teas in Sydney with a menu that’s less generic and frankly, tastier than other overpriced options that I’ve tried.

Check out my other High Tea posts!

• Popping My High Tea Cherry at Shangri-La Hotel

Tagged as: Afternoon Tea, Four Seasons, High Tea, Sydney, Tea, The Rocks