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

Morena, Surry Hills

Managed to score a deal for high tea at Morena for $23 per person so of course I dragged the sister with me :)

We managed to get service all to ourselves today. Thursday lunches are apparently not very busy!

It definitely felt like one of the nicer places to dine at when we entered. First time trying Peruvian cuisine! Service was very friendly and helpful. I guess it does help that we were the only ones there ;)

Coco leaf tea

I think I prefer Chinese green tea - it delivers a much stronger flavour.

Savouries board

I am going to be honest here and say that I wasn't quite sure what this was :( They were fritters of some sort but I am unfamiliar with the flavour. I think it was cassava and there were dried olives on top. I enjoyed it nonetheless though.

Mushroom frittata with avocado cream and sun-dried tomatoes

This was a really good frittata! I really do love my egg. The avocado cream had a good douse of lemon which gave it the frittata element of tartness when combined with the sundried tomatoes.

Alpaca burgers and pork crackling

Mm, pork crackling... So crispy! One of the best pork cracklings I've had :D Onto the alpaca meat - who has actually eaten alpaca meat? It was reminiscent of camel and beef, but definitely juicier than camel meat. The buns were soft and slightly sweet, balancing the gerkin-like sauce and roasted onion. Good burger!

Dessert board

Hello sweets!

Chocolate cups with rice pudding and kirsch cherries

Chocolate is chocolate which is always good :) The rice pudding made these bite-sized morsels super creamy!

Tres leches cake with nutmeg roasted pineapple and a dusting of chocolate powder

I have been wanting to try tres leches cake for the longest of times and this was a damned good one! Super dense, sticky, and amazingly sweet from the cake soaked in three types of milks (evaporated, condensed and whole) - it was very decadent indeed. The texture was not what I was expecting at all! I wonder if all tres leches cakes have this texture?

Peruvian caramel with gooseberry compote, mini meringues and crumble

I would have to say that this is my favourite out of the three though. Not the prettiest of desserts, but we've learnt by now not to judge a book by it's cover right? The caramel was almost like an intensely soft yet thick custard which wasn't as sweet as I thought it'd be and when eaten with the buttery crumble and tart gooseberry compote, it just went together so well! I absolutely loved how the caramel seemed to melt/dissolve in my mouth. It was very therapeutic.

Have any of you tried Peruvian cuisine? If so, do tell me about your experiences!

Morena
425 Bourke St
Surry Hills, NSW, 2010
0405 902 896

Opening Hours

Lunch
Friday-Sunday: 12:00-3:00pm

Dinner
Tuesday-Sunday: 6:00pm until late

Food Society, Darlinghurst

A while back, I bought a high tea groupon for two at the Food Society for $49 - how cheap! I think they used Groupon as a means to introduce their new vodka high tea menu which normally costs $45 per person plus another $18 if you want matching cocktails. I've been meaning to eat at the Food Society for a while, though I definitely didn't expect my first visit to be high tea. I sure was excited to see how they would put a twist on the traditional high tea!

Decoration was quirky, yet cute and homey at the same time.

We started off with some bubbly champagne - cheers!

Our first stand arrives. Yay for savoury canapes! We start off with the bottom stand with the burek cigars of Bulgarian feta, spinach and ouzo which was not a favourite of mine. I like normal spinach and cheese triangles! I think the ouzo added a bit too much tang that wasn't quite suited to my tastebuds. Normally I love lentils, and this spiced lentil salad in the witlof leaf was ok. The texture of the lentils was good, though there didn't seem to be too much flavour... However, the croquette of confit duck with horseradish cream and smoked paprika (lurking in the background) totally blew my mind though. The confit duck was so awesome inside the crunchy batter.

The top stand consisted of Jerusalem artichoke tartlets which were pretty amazing, and blinis of vodka and beetroot cured ocean trout and ocean trout roe. What can go wrong with ocean trout? :D I loved how the vodka gave it that slight extra oomph though I'm sad to say I couldn't taste the beetroot :(

I was expecting tastiness when I saw this on the menu - mini brioche slider of pulled pork, apple relish, fresh apple and celery leaf. And it was!! I felt happiness as soon as I took my first bite. I have never had pulled pork that I haven't liked. Mm, pulled pork... There was also a petit side salad of watercress, fennel, apple and almonds but who cares about that when you have mini brioche sliders?

Onto the sweet canapes! It was actually getting incredibly busy in the restaurant at this time and literally everyone in the restaurant were Groupon holders who were having the high tea menu! It sure was popular... So it took a while for our dessert board to come out which was disappointing. But the desserts were tasty so all was forgiven.

Lime meringue tarts! The tart itself was very buttery and crumbly, so good... The sourness of the lime was offset by the sweet meringue and I love desserts with a tang so this lime tart went down a treat.

I didn't even know you could make donuts with ricotta, but I'm sure that's what made the donut so fluffy! The donuts were rolled in lemon sugar and there was a dollop of amaretto honey on top. I think this is actually one of the tastiest donuts I've ever eaten...

Lucky last coffee cream in a tube with housemade honeycomb. Nothing beats freshly made honeycomb, though I think I was too enamored with the other two desserts... :D

Do tell me, would you all try pursuing a menu that seems out of the ordinary at a restaurant and give it a chance?

Food Society
91 Riley St
Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010
8090 3462

Opening Hours
Monday: Closed
Tuesday-Thursday: 6:00-11:00pm
Friday: 12:00-4:00pm & 6:00pm-12:00am
Saturday: High tea 12:30-4:30pm & Dinner 6:00pm-12:00am
Sunday: High tea 12:30-4:30pm

Kuaizi, CBD

Today my baby sister celebrated her birthday and officially entered the world of adulthood - she is now eighteen! Groupon had some coupon deals for Kuaizi a while ago - high tea for two for only $39! It promised that there were going to be tiers with Asian fusion twists, a glass of bubbly each, selection from three high tea menus, dainty sweets like cupcakes, assorted danish pastries and fruits. This coupon was supposed to be valued at $112 so my sister and I were definitely excited about having a girly afternoon sipping tea and champagne.

We weren't quite sure if they were actually open yet when we first arrived as no one was there to greet us so we hesitantly wandered in, not sure if we were going to get kicked out. Turns out they were open and they allowed us to pick a seat anywhere we like as the restaurant was quite empty. Upon showing them my voucher, we were given tea menus to pursue.

The waitress informed us that we could choose one from three types of sandwiches: prawn and mixed herb with thousand island dressing, belly ham and pear with yogurt, or spicy tuna and baby rocket with creme fresh. I allowed the birthday girl to choose and she went with prawn. Despite the website saying that there were three different menus, the waitress informed us that everything else on the tiers were exactly the same and only the sandwiches differed. So we shrugged and put our orders in for the tea and sandwiches.

We heard the pop of the champagne cork and that quickly arrived at our table. Cheers!

Champagne, english breakfast tea, and jasmine green tea

My sister's English Breakfast came with a little jug of milk, and both our teas came with a packet of sugar. I don't see why green tea would need sugar, so I gave it to my sister to use for hers. Aren't the teapots and teacups pretty? (: They used prepacked teabags as opposed to loose leaf but they weren't bad considering.

We clapped our hands in glee as our stand arrived at our table.

We started with the sandwiches. There were two types, our prawn with thousand island dressing which was pretty nice - it really reminded me of the seafood Subway for some reason. The second one was a tomato, cheese and rocket sandwich which is always nice.

Then we moved onto the scones! Definitely not made on the premises and pretty sure they were pre-bought and then warmed up in the kitchen. Despite that, they were still fluffy and not stodgy and dry like ones I've bought from Woolworths. They were sort of like a fluffier version of a bread roll. Well, after we lathered it with jam and the sweet whipped cream, it tasted pretty good. Mind you, nowhere near as good as the house-made jam and whipped cream from when I had afternoon tea at the Tea Room in the QVB! But they were pretty damn excellent.

Hello cuppycakies! There was a chocolate cupcake with cookies and cream icing, and also a vanilla one with sprinkles. Why do I feel as though I've seen these somewhere before? They remind me of the cupcakes I've had from Coles both in flavour and texture, hm.

L to R: chocolate mud brownie, caramel brownies, cookies and cream brownie

By this stage we were both extremely full and looking at these three extremely rich looking brownies, we felt slightly deterred. After a little break, we ploughed on to attack these three. Which were all very, very sweet indeed! And we suspected right - EXTREMELY rich.

Thank goodness we had some fruit at the very end. It really did feel refreshing after that tier of sweets and it felt like it was needed.

However, by this stage, I was wondering: where are the Asian fusion twists on the high tea that was promised?!

My sister enjoyed her first high tea experience which was definitely nice. Though next time I'd definitely take her to an even nicer place (: At $20 per person, this was definitely cheap and quite worth it and we both left extremely satiated and happy. However, at the normal price of $45 per person (which is more than the Tea Room!), I don't think I would be willing to pay that much for the quality of the tea and food that was served to us.

Kuaizi Modern Fusion Cuisine
1-325 Sussex St
Sydney, 2000, NSW
9283 8825
http://kuaizi.com.au/

Opening Hours
Open 7 days
Lunch: 12:00 - 3:00pm
High Tea: 12:00 - 6:00pm
Dinner: 6:00 - 10:00pm

High tea, Zumborons & Batman!

Today was my first experience of high tea! With me, I had my wonderful workmates A, D and J and it was the last time we could talk to J before she leaves for the USA for exchange this semester - how exciting! I am incredibly jealous because she gets to go to America. What a lucky ducky.

J confirmed our booking and we were lead inside to our table with comfy plush seats! I was instantly wowed by the decor in the Tea Room on the Northern side of QVB. The high ceilings, chandeliers and flora wallpaper created such a sophisticated atmosphere. We had all decided on traditional high tea ($39 per person during weekdays) with pots of Vanilla, Milma Gold and Green Dragon tea. D said she was going to be an hour late as she had to run a few errands for her mum and encouraged us to order first.

I love the classic floral chinaware! Our tea had arrived first and we all tried each other's orders. The Milma Gold was described to be spicily fruity but we all agreed that it lacked any aroma at all and didn't have any of these elements at all! We were quite disappointed that it tasted like the black teas you can buy in bags at the supermarket. The vanilla tea however, but wonderfully aromatic. The Green Dragon was also a favourite as it was a light and refreshing green tea.

Our high tea stand!

Scones, spinach & cheese pastries

The scones were served on a separate plate and arrived warm. We started with the spinach and cheese pastries which were really good with nice, flaky, buttery pastry! The absolute real winner here were the scones though. The outside was nice and crispy with a deliciously fluffy inside. Of course, we topped them with lots of cream and jam ;) Check out the monster scone in the background!

Egg, cucumber & beef sandwiches, savoury custard tarts

I don't know what it is, but there's just something decadent about eating sandwiches with the crusts cut off for you! I enjoyed all the sandwiches but the beef one had to be my favourite. Egg sandwiches are always good and it's pretty hard to mess one up haha. I couldn't particularly tell what the tarts were made of - they were creamy, yet slightly eggy at the same time. A bit hard to discern, but it tasted nice and was gone in a bite! The base goes soggy quite quickly so I would suggest eating these first.

Fruit tarts, opera cakes

I really enjoyed the opera cake! It tasted like a creamy tiramisu and was gone much too quickly. The fruit tart was also nice, the sweet fruit and cream giving way to a buttery shell.

Raspberry macarons, passionfruit melting moments, lemon meringue tarts, mini lemon cupcakes

A favourite on this stand would have to be the mini lemon cupcakes! The cake itself was really flavoursome and moist.

Service was a tad slow, but we had several refills in our pots throughout the afternoon without having to ask. The company however, made up for this and it ended up being a lovely afternoon which went by much too quickly. As we were leaving, we realised we had been sitting and chatting for 4 hours! Oh how time flies by when you are enjoying so many lovely sweets with delightful company ;)

I met up with the boy after I said my goodbyes to the girls and he had a late lunch/extremely early dinner at Pepper Lunch (happy hour from 2-6pm!) before we headed off to The Star. I had some macarons to buy!

I was very disappointed with service there. The girl that served me looked like she didn't want to be there and was blatantly very rude. My sister had wanted some popcorn macarons so I asked whether they had any as I saw some on the storage shelves next to the counter. She cut me off saying they had nothing except for what was in the counter. So I picked out from what was there and left.

From left to right: 2 salted butter caramel, custard crunch, malted milk, peach ice tea, mandarin & yogurt

The first one I tried had been the mandarin and yogurt one and it had gone extremely soggy. To the point that it had almost falled apart when I tried picking it up. And it didn't taste absolutely stunning either as all I could taste was tangerine and absolutely nothing from the yogurt - no tang whatsoever. So I would not recommend getting this one. I've gotten salted caramel and peach ice tea before, so they are always winners. The unexpected surprise was the custard crunch! It had a wonderful creaminess and a little piece of crunchy biscuit in the middle. The malted milk one was nice, but nothing spectacular.

Charlotte, $9.00

INNARDS!! From bottom up: coconut sable, soft coconut sponge, pineapple compote, pineapple cremeaux, toasted white chocolate & pepper mousse, toasted white chocolate

I enjoyed this cake and I could actually taste the pepper! At first, I was like hm what's the flavour that seems so familiar yet I can't place? And then I figured that it was pepper!! Don't worry, it's not like eating a spoonful of pepper, it only gives a slight kick. The cake was pretty yummy overall, though the V8 and coconut mille fuille still holds a higher place in my heart.

Number 2, salted caramel & white chocolate, $5.50 for 2 scoops

We also made a pit stop at Gelato Messina with their tempting gelato displays! It was raining and we did not want to venture outside into the wind and cold and decided to buy some gelato instead. At first I was like why is it called Number 2? But I decided to question it not after I tasted it. Peanut butter gelato, chocolate brownie bits and dulce de leche all in one scoop? I died in a little pool of deliciousness. It was so good. And salted caramel was good, but it couldn't hold a flame next to Mr Number 2. I must go back to eat more of you!

Even after we finished our gelato, it was still dismal outside. But we had to go out to catch our bus as we had a movie date with several other friends at Burwood to watch Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. The cinemas were pretty packed despite being quite a late session. I had my doubts about Anne Hathaway being Catwoman but she was actually really good! I really enjoyed the movie, it was incredibly epic. I shall not write about any more in fear of spoiling it for everyone else!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

xx