I was invited to try out The Vines Resort’s new Summer high tea menu last month and I think I picked the hottest day in Summer to go!
I decided to take burger boy’s Italian mum as she lives around the corner at The Vines, if it weren’t so hot we would have walked over. When we arrived we were seated at a table overlooking the pool outside (I would have liked to have been in that pool!) but unfortunately even with the air con on, I stuck to the leather seats.
I have a soft spot for Dilmah teas especially after having high tea with Dilmah founder Merrill and his son Dilhan two years ago. I remembered Merrill saying most people forget the tea in high tea now days, with champagne/sparkling taking over the occasion. So with that fresh in mind, I was on a mission to drink a whole lot of tea that day!
Although I couldn’t resist the glass of champagne that was brought out (the iced coffee is my mother-in-law’s, she’s not a tea drinker!)…
We were served three tiers of savory and sweet delicacies to share…
The first tier had cucumber sandwiches, egg sandwiches, salmon roulades with malt bread, quiches with gruyere & spinach and prosciutto and asparagus pini.
The second tier had freshly baked scones served with jam, cream and butter, pain au chocolates and red velvet muffins.
The third tier was full of sweet desserts! Macarons, friands, truffles, vanilla slices, raspberry roulades and petit fours.
The petit fours are from Mozarts patisserie and the sandwiches & scones are made in house at The Vines Resort.
High tea at The Vines Resort is held on weekends from 2 – 4:30pm and costs $45 per person with unlimited tea, $50 per person with a glass of sparkling wine and $58 per person with a glass of French champagne. To book or find out more visit www.vines.com.au/Restaurants/High-Tea or call (08) 9297 3000.
Prior to December last year my high tea experiences had been mainly at resorts/hotels similar to The Vines Resort where some of the delicacies are made in-house, some outsourced and the high tea menu is nice without standing out. These high tea settings I feel are often corporate and not intimate, but the space makes them perfect for large groups.
Since December last year I have enjoyed high tea at Rochelle Adonis and Maddison Cottage. Both these venues specialise in high tea and have played a part in elevating my high tea expectations. If I’m paying over $45 for high tea, I expect a tailored menu with house-made high tea delicacies and an unique experience, otherwise I’d just go to my Italian mother-in-law’s for home made biscuits/sweets and BYO tea. Rochelle Adonis charges $49 per person plus $10 corkage per bottle of BYO sparkling for a house made menu which changes daily. Maddison Cottage charges $32 per person for unlimited tea and offers three tiers of house made delicacies.
If you were staying at The Vines Resort for a special occasion then I would say high tea is worth a try as the high tea delicacies were nice and I personally loved Dilmah’s range of loose teas but I would have liked a house made menu with more “wow” factor.
