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Puppylove
05-15-2007, 10:35 PM
So my sisters and I took my mom to tea or mothers day. We go to tea regularly (w and w/o each other) and this might have been my worst tea experience ever! It was so bad that it was actually funny - we were looking for the hidden camera!
My sister had been at this tea place 9 months ago and thought it was great but 6 weeks ago they changed ownership.
We should have taken the hint when we saw the two women running the place dressed in jeans and t-shirts.
Tea
Then we looked at the menu - standard tea menu, except they charged extra for loose leaf tea. The server brought out a box and tray of assorted teas, stacked them down on the table and said "here are our teas, take a look and let me know which one you want."
We paid the extra and I specified that I like mine extra dark, it was fine. My sister didn't specify and her tea never got dark enough to drink.
Food
The sandwiches . . . had a lot of character . . . and a great sense of humor.
They were: Cheese Whiz on white bread, Tuna (it was brown) with cucumber, chicken with pineapple and peanuts, egg salad, and an olive based something that was way to strong to eat. Not that I wanted a lot of any of these, but they were not generously proportioned.
Scones
Or should I say dinner biscut with stratigically placed raisins. 'Nuf said.
Dessert
Okay, first the lady brought our check out before we were even done with the scones and, though I'm still not sure why, we reminded her that we hadn't even had dessert yet (there is something whimsical about afternoon tea that can, apparently, impair ones judgment in these types of situations).:rolleyes:
So the waitress say "hmmm, let me see if we have anything good." I am NOT kidding.
She brought out 2 slices of lemon cake and a slice of choclate cake, after informing us that, since they are closed Sunday and Monday, they really don't make anything fresh on Saturdays and we got the last of it anyhow! :eek:
The only thing that saved our afternon was finding an English food product called "Spotted Dick.":D That was a good 30 minutes of fun - and at least we got a great story out of it!
Now I need to go detox at my favorite tea place, what an excuse!

HejazSunKat
05-16-2007, 05:13 AM
Oh dear, that sounds like a Mother's Day to remember. Glad you could all laugh abou it. Usually new ownership means they're trying harder but sounds like this place was the polar opposite. Nice idea for Mom's day too. I might steal that for next year.

GingerPow
05-16-2007, 05:24 AM
Such blasphemy! Afternoon tea is supposed to be a sublime and elegant repose - not some clown circus with stale cake! Thank goodness you all had a sense of humor about it - I'm sure that saved the day. :D

patissac
05-16-2007, 10:16 AM
Your not in Florida by any chance are you?:)
While my experience was not that bad, mine wasn't what I expected either.
A bunch of us from work went to an English tea room last month to wind down from open enrollment, well this place was owned by an english couple so I had high expectations. They served us these quiches that were probably those frozen Nancy's ones and some Sara lee eclairs:rolleyes: They also gave us some clotted cream which was very small and we all had to share it for our scones, well on the menu it fails to say that everyone who shares this cream will be charged $2.50 each. I think I'll save the money and do my own next time!

GingerPow
05-16-2007, 11:29 AM
They also gave us some clotted cream which was very small and we all had to share it for our scones, well on the menu it fails to say that everyone who shares this cream will be charged $2.50 each. I think I'll save the money and do my own next time!
Patissac - do you have a Whole Foods nearby? I found true English Clotted cream last time I went. Made homemade currant scones, then topped them with the clotted cream and strawberry jam. Made a hot pot of Twinning's (loose leaf) English Breakfast Tea and it was heavenly. You can do it yourself and it will be wonderful. (Of course, it is nice to be pampered sometimes).:D

patissac
05-16-2007, 05:41 PM
You know ginger, there is a Whole foods all the way in Sarasota and I've been debating on making the trip out there....just might have to do it now;) What brand of cream did you buy from there?

Puppylove
05-16-2007, 06:03 PM
And, Ginger, did you charge yourself extra for the loose leaf?:rolleyes:

Debralynn
05-16-2007, 06:39 PM
Funny. At least its a Mothers day you will remember!!! Debbie