My Vintage Tea Party
Ramblings and Reviews From a Lover of Tea and All Things Vintage
Well everyone, I have returned to the land of eternal humidity. As promised, here is a review of the tea room my mother and I visited in Boston on Mothers Day: Rowes Wharf. Actually a restaurant, this establishment is located inside the Boston Harbor Hotel and hosts afternoon tea services on a regular basis. Being Mothers Day, tea was actually being held in a different room instead of the restaurant, which was a nice surprise. We had a nice view of the harbor as you can kind of tell from the picture. The had placed pink rose petals on each table, which I thought was a very feminine and classy touch. No fancy china teaware, though, so that was just a tad bit disappointing. I'm just a sucker for a daintily painted cup and saucer and matching pot. First, I must mention that they were more than helpful when it came to my dietary restrictions (the whole gluten free thing). The tea sandwiches were prepared with gluten free bread, and I got a small selection of gluten free sweets so I didn't have to feel like I was missing out. The tea selection was rather small and basic; the usual Earl Grey, green tea (they did have jasmine green tea so they get good marks for that!), herbals, and so on. One issue I did have with the tea menu was their placement of Orange Pekoe under "flavored teas." I have probably mentioned this in another post, but Orange Pekoe has nothing to do with actual oranges. I asked the server for clarification about whether it was actually flavored orange or if it was mistake (if it had been a mistake, I would have ordered it because I love Orange Pekoe, but I hate fruit flavored teas as a general rule). I didn't get a really clear answer, because unfortunately he seemed very confused and not knowledgeable about tea at all. So just to be safe, I went with an oolong. One of my biggest disappointments when going to a tea room is not being able to have a real discussion about the types of teas with the staff. I suppose the tea service here was more meant for the novelty of having afternoon tea....I especially got this feeling when I saw "high tea" somewhere on the menu and this definitely was not high tea. Gosh I sound snobbish. Moving on! Here is our spread! They put all of my food on separate plates so there was no confusion as to what was gluten free and what wasn't. I really appreciated that. The sandwiches were smoked salmon with caviar (which I actually liked....wow), whipped egg, and some strange salty substance on top of a cucumber slice. I forgot to ask what it was. There was also a small sprig of lettuce with bacon, but I traded that for my mom's smoked salmon. The sweets I ate were amazing. I didn't eat the macaron because it was berry flavored and I don't do fruit, and I also passed on the coconut pudding. So in the end I had a gluten free scone, chocolate chip shortbread, chocolate cake, and a couple bites of the little meringue dessert that looked like a large Hershey's kiss. I am quite sure I ate entirely too much sugar and carbs. It was a very nice and relaxing experience, and definitely one of the more casual afternoon tea events we have visited. And that is by no means a bad thing-- I love experiencing them all whether they are fancy or low-key. I had really, really wanted to have tea at the Boston Public Library too but our schedule just didn't allow for it. I am still sad that we missed it, but I suppose that just means I'll have to go back someday!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
About Me
Greetings, readers! My name is Jordie, and I am a tea obsessed, history loving young lady who just happened to be born about 60 years too late. Archives
February 2017
Categories
All
|