I have a new weekend "hobby." And although I say "hobby" now, I think it might just have to turn into a
weekly monthly ritual. What is this new found love, you might ask...
Afternoon Tea.
Now, I'm a tea fanatic to begin with. Not so much a fruit/spice tea fan as I am a black tea one (with cream and sugar of course), but suffice it to say that I LOVE the stuff. Good thing it's "good" for me! Keepin' hydrated, people!
And although I drink cups of tea daily, up until recently, I've only been to formal afternoon tea a handful of times. That is all about to change however. From now on, it is my mission to "tea" as much as possible. The only difficulty being that it is often only a weekend occurrence at many of the places that serve it. No worries though - come Saturday or Sunday - at least once a month (hopefully), I will get my fill of it.
I recently "tea-ed" at the Boston Harbor Hotel. We sat in a lovely sunlit room overlooking the harbor in Rowe's Wharf. After waiting for quite some time, our waiter came for our tea selection. I chose "English Breakfast" - boring, I know. After a couple minutes, another waiter served us our tea and told us our pastry and sandwich assortments would be out soon. We sipped on our tea and gabbed on as we waited for our food.
As the time tic-toc-ed by however, we began to get impatient...and hungry! Neither waiters were to be seen. We called over a waitress, who apologized and brought out our tray. Scones with clotted cream and jam, pound cake, various finger sandwiches, and delicious bite-sized pastries sat on the tiered stand before us. Naturally, we dug in - enjoying the savory, the sweet, and the tea... as well as the setting and each other's company. The food was great.
The service, not so much. And because of our poor service (the restaurant was hardly busy too I may add), I don't think I'll be jumping to go back any time soon.
Fast forward to this afternoon.
For this weekend's tea, I went to the
Taj. A beautiful hotel at the end of Newbury Street, just across from the Public Garden, the Taj Boston came highly recommended.
I booked us a 3 o'clock tea seating and at just a few minutes before 3, we walked into the lobby, up the wooden stairs, and into the warm, golden-lit French Room. We were seated at a table by the window, looking down onto Newbury Street, and given our menus. A violinist was playing nearby, setting the mood for a calm and relaxing experience.
A waiter came for our order - Taj Tea for two. This included scones, sandwiches, and pastries.
This time I mixed it up and sprung for a vanilla earl gray.
Our tea arrived in no time...
and was delicious. Good call on the vanilla.
Our waiter was very prompt, polite, and helpful - pouring tea before our cups were empty and fetching more water when needed.
Our sandwiches were served not long after. Egg salad, chicken salad, salmon and cream cheese, cucumber, and ham and cheese were among the pickings. All delicious. The ham and cheese by far my favorite.
Once finished with our savory, it was on to round 2 of yumminess... sweets!
The waiter presented the beauteous tray, describing in mouth watering detail what everything before us was.
On tier one, we had lemon poppy-seed madeline cookies dipped in white chocolate, and juicy chocolate covered strawberries .
On tier two sat currant, and strawberries & cream scones, with lemon curd and clotted cream.
The currant scones... SO. AMAZING.
And then on tier three lay grapefruit french macaroons, lavender shortbread cookies, a raspberry mousse tart, chocolate layer cake, and a passionfruit cheesecake/tart hybrid.
OINK.
Having stuffed ourselves full with beverage and bite, we sat for a few and relaxed a bit more. And then spent the rest of the afternoon walking and shopping around Boston, wishing that the notion of "weekend calories don't count" was actually a thing.
Taj Tea gets a thumbs up in my book.
xo Belle
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