Crossroads Bar in Swissotel, Sydney CBD

Has anyone ever met a girl who doesn't like high tea? There's something that makes us feel that much more sophisticated, sipping on tea in dainty cups while eating bite-sized dessert morsels, sandwiches with the crusts cut off and scones! Oh how I adore scones with fresh cream and jam... Of course my friends and I could not let the opportunity to buy high tea coupons for 4 for only $79 at the Swissotel pass us by!

The Swissotel does high tea on level 8 at the Crossroads Bar. We were about to be seated by the window overlooking Sydney, but we loved the look of the squishy couches and luckily enough for us, the waiter happily obliged us of our wishes and we sunk into the cushiony seats with sighs of happiness.

The tea and coffee was at a separate table and is self serve. There was a decent range of teas but I can't say I'm the biggest fan of bagged teas. I normally love loose leaf green tea, and while this Lipton one smelled absolutely FANTASTIC (had such a beautiful floral scent), it tasted extremely bitter... I'll stick to the champagne!

Service was extremely efficent and our stands came out super fast!

I always start with scones as they are best when warm! These scones were studded with plump little raisins and so good slathered with a tonne of whipped cream and jam :D

The tuna sandwich had a good amount of creamy tuna inside and rocket. The bread had pepitas (pumpkin seeds) scattered on top which provided a lovely crunch! I was a huge fan of the wrap which encased a soft eggplant which melted on the tongue, sundried tomatoes which made the wrap oh so flavoursome, rocket and cream cheese. The egg sandwich was pretty decent but I loved the smoked salmon, cream cheese and rocket mini-bagel! I like the texture of bagels - they are much like a denser bread.

Onto the dessert tier! The chocolate cake had layers of dense brownie-like cake and a velvety chocolate mousse. Very rich indeed. It was interesting that they've included jelly, green jelly as a matter of fact. I was amused at the novelty of scooping the jelly out with the little spoon. I very much enjoyed the profiterole which had a good amount of smooth custard inside but the waffle with whipped cream and fresh strawberry was a favourite! There was a light layer of sugar that was slightly melted so that it stuck to the waffle but maintained its crunch. I topped the waffle with the remaining jam left over from my scone to make it extra sweet! I do have too much of a sweet tooth...

Overall, I really enjoyed my high tea experience at Swissotel and a shoutout to my wonderful girlfriends who made it all the more lovely! Two of them had never had high tea before - I was glad that they loved it as much as I did :D

Crossroads Bar, Swissotel
Level 8, 68 Market St
Sydney NSW 2000

Opening Hours

Coffee and light breakfast:
Daily: 8:00 - 11:00 am

All-day dining:
Monday - Friday: 11:00 – 1:00pm
Saturday - Sunday: 11:00 – midnight

Express Lunch:
Monday - Sunday: 12:00 - 2:00pm

Tiered High Tea:
Monday - Friday: 2:00 – 4:00pm

Buffet High Tea:
Saturday - Sunday: 2:00 – 4:00pm

The Victoria Room Tea Salon, Westfield Sydney, CBD

When I first heard about scones, I never understood what the hype was about. For one, they were lumps of flour to me, and two, they looked super ugly!! But then I discovered cream and jam and was it just me, or did it make everything that much more awesome? When I bit into my first scone at the Tea Room, I fell in love. SCONES!! And what pairs better with scones than tea? With such dreary weather in Sydney this past weekend, I was craving nothing more than a hot pot of tea and scones.

How cute are the teacups? Loving the gold :)

Soy chai latte, $5.00

I wanted nothing more than a huge hit of spices to hit me when I drank my chai, but unfortunately neither of us got that :( I was happy that they used fresh spices, but the flavour definitely did not seep into the soy milk despite letting it sit for ages at the table. Ah, looks like I'm still in the search for a good chai.

Scones from front to back: lemon, pistachio & currant / rose / dark chocolate chip, served with conserve & cream, $6.95 each

Loved the flavour of all the scones, though not as fluffy as the scones at the Tea Cosy but still decent :) Pistachios are always a winner for me, and I was scared that the rose scent would be overpowering, but the perfume of the rose was just a light enough and it was so good with the jam and cream. The all had a lovely crust on the outside. The dark chocolate chip was definitely a favourite and was rich enough without the need of either of the condiments!

What is great about afternoon tea with scones is the atmosphere. Great place to catch up with your girlfriends don't you think?

The Victoria Room Tea Salon
188 Pitt St, Shop 4042 Level 4 Westfield Sydney
Sydney, NSW, 2000 

Opening Hours
Daily excluding Thursday: 9:30am - 6:30pm
Thursday: 9:30am - 9:00pm 

 

Girls Day Out

A couple of days ago, I went out with a friend all day for some girly shopping! Surprisingly, we didn't buy too much. Feeling peckish mid-afternoon, we decided that we wanted some tea. The Tea Salon in Westfield Sydney was the first destination we had in mind, but alas it was not meant to be. The line was so long! Wandering around, we managed to find another place hidden inside the Glasshouse called the Tea Centre so we settled ourselves in for some refreshments.

Large pot of tea, 2 scones with strawberry jam & cream, $15.00

We ordered a pot of pina colada tea. It came all pretty and pink! It smelled divine, like creamy coconut. But I have to say, it didn't taste like that at all! It was more on the fruity side however, it was quite bland and on the watery side. The scones arrived a bit flat (looks like we got dud scones!), but weren't too bad lathered with cream and jam ;) Maybe the kitchen was having an off day because I see big fluffy scones on other blogs who have visited.

Continuing on, I was definitely excited about two notebooks I bought from Typo though - they are so cute, don't you think?

Typo notebooks, normally $16.95 each

My friend works in the Cotton On chain so I received 50% both these purchases. I love how they look like novels but are actually notebooks!

Aren't the interior covers amazing?

Our shopping day turned into dinner at Mizuya after feeling like some sushi. Turns out, they also have Happy Hour from 5-7pm daily.

L to R: Pina Colada, Coconut Kimono, $10.00 during Happy Hour (normally $14.80)

There are definitely some major perks to being a girl - we can order girly cocktails with whipped cream and cherries on top all the time! These two were deliciously drinkable cocktails with the pick of the night being the Coconut Kimono with Malibu, plum wine and coconut juice, topped with whipped cream. I don't know what exactly made it blue, but it tasted amazing!

Spider roll, $14.80

 Because who can say no to soft-shelled crab?

Eel roll, $14.80

And throw in a grilled eel roll for good measure.

Shopping is definitely counted as exercise in my books. We managed to walk non-stop for over 6 hours!

The Tea Centre in The Glasshouse
146 Pitt St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours
Monday-Wednesday, Friday: 9:00am - 5:30pm
Thursday: 9:00am - 8:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am - 4:00pm



Mizuya Japanese Restaurant and Karaoke
Basement, 614 George St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours
Sunday-Thursday: 11:30am - 12:00am
Friday-Sunday: 11:30am - 2:00am