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Gunners’ Barracks: Sydney’s Best Afternoon Tea Spots

October 7, 2014 / Cheese, Mosman, North Shore, Sydney, Sydney Food / 0 comment

The Gunners’ Barracks has been one of my favourite afternoon tea venues for a long time. Alec and I were even married there almost five years ago because we just loved it so much. I’ve been to many, many tea venues over the years and I can’t think of any that can match Gunners’ for their delicious food, efficient staff and stunning location.

Our return was to celebrate my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. Gunners’ is really the kind of venue that is perfect for special occasion like this. The staff really go out of the way to elevate a simple afternoon tea into an unforgettable event.

First: tea selection. I chose a white tea on this occasion. The tea pot gives around two full cups of tea, and the obliging staff stop by later to refill your pot if you’re low on water. How gorgeous are the real silver pots, by the way?

While Gunners’ do have a Children’s Traditional Afternoon Tea on the menu, it’s really for older kids. At $18pp, it’s too pricey for a toddler who will only pick at one of two things (it includes petit pastries, finger sandwiches, scone, jam and cream and a choice of hot chocolate, soft drink or juice). Instead, we ordered Miss E a chocolate milkshake ($7) and let her try a bit of anything from our platters that struck her fancy. During the week there is a more varied menu for children that has a more reasonable afternoon tea option.

I want to note here that I was a little concerned that Gunners’ was not the most appropriate venue to take a very active 3-year-old, but I was so pleasantly surprised with how charming the staff were to my child. When we entered the dining area on the balcony, Miss E was greeted personally by a member of the wait staff, who inquired before we had even sat down if he could get something for her. Outstanding service.

My family all ordered the Traditional Afternoon Tea ($45pp). It included three finger sandwiches per person (my vegetarian ones were salad, egg salad and mozzarella, tomato and basil). The sandwiches were perfect. Light, fresh, no crusts, and absolutely more-ish fillings.

The savoury platter included one large scone, a chickpea samosa and mushroom tart per person. I gave my mushroom tart to Alec as I’m not a mushroom fan, but I really loved the tiny samosa and fluffy scone. The scones were served with thick fresh cream and tart raspberry jam.

Ahhh on to desserts. They were: panacotta with raspberry, vanilla macarons, lemon cheesecake, orange and almond cake and a chocolate coconut slice with raspberry. While every dessert was delectable, my favourite was the cheesecake. It was so tangy and light, with a crunchy perfect base.

The Gunners’ is right next to the Georges Head lookout, perfect for taking kids before or afterwards to run off any steam (or sugar!).

Last bite: The perfect afternoon tea venue. The Gunners’ Barracks is very popular, so book a few weeks in advance.

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: Yes.

Gunners Barracks
End of Suakin Drive,
Mosman NSW 2088
Phone: (02) 8962 5900
Prices: $$$
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm Sat-Sun 10am-3pm
Online
Get Directions

Afternoon Tea By The Sea: House Eatery By George

October 6, 2014 / CBD, Cheese, Circular Quay, Sydney, Sydney Food / 2 Comments

After seeing the show Fluff at the Sydney Opera House recently, we stopped at the new House Eatery By George to try their afternoon tea. With a killer view and perfect location for shows at the House, it’s the perfect place for a nice lunch if you want to make it a special day out.

I’m a sucker for afternoon teas, and and on a mission to try every tea spot in every city I visit. Big goal. The House Eater Afternoon Tea consisted of three tiers, with a tray of 6 soft little finger sandwiches, two giant scones with butter and jam (no cream!), and a selection of sweets on top (two macarons, two slices of what I think was coffee opera cake and two lemon coconut cakes. The afternoon tea also included a choice of coffee or T2 tea. At $33 per person, it’s a reasonable price for an afternoon tea in Sydney, particularly taking into account the spectacular location.

I requested vegetarian sandwiches for myself and Missy E, and was told by the waitstaff that she would request it with the chef. I was not entirely sure what this meant, and if I would be served meat or not, and it looked like, when the tray came out, that I was basically lucky that some of the sandwiches were vegetarian by happy coincidence. Note to diners with special dietary needs: this is not the afternoon tea for you!

While the service was a little … spotty (for example, we had to flag down another staff member to ask for water to be brought to the table), the food was really delicious. The egg salad and cucumber sandwiches were fresh and light. The huge scones were fluffy and tasty. I would have liked cream instead of butter, but they were still great the way they were served.

I managed to get through my coconut-lemon cake (fresh and light) but that was it – I was too full for the rest. The wait staff obligingly boxed up the rest of the desserts we couldn’t finish for us to take home.

For Missy E, we ordered the Kids Afternoon Tea, which consisted of two finger sandwiches (egg and ham and cheese), a scone, mini biscuit and babycino for $7. I thought it was great value and would have suited me for tea for one. It was way too much food for Miss E to eat, but she did enjoy picking at most of it to give it a try.

After lunch, take little ones to the Royal Botanic Gardens next door to run off their energy. It’s one of my favourite spots to take Miss E because it’s one of the few places to take kids to play that makes everyone happy. Plenty for kids to do, and plenty for adults to enjoy as well.

Highchairs: Unsure.
Stroller storage: Yes – outdoors, there it plenty of room for strollers.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: Yes.

The House Eatery By George
Colonnade on the Western Broadwalk
Sydney Opera House
Prices: $$$
Hours: Open 7 days a week from 11am till late Monday – Sunday.

Addie And Me: Kid-Friendly Cafes, Hammondville, Sydney

September 7, 2014 / Cheese, Hammondville, South West, Sydney, Sydney Food / 0 comment

I’ve been taking yoga classes in Hammondville, and every time I finish a yoga class I walk past Addie And Me back to my car. I always take a peek inside and see ladies with their babies, or old friends catching up for coffee. The cafe looked so sweet, like it had sprung straight out of Alice In Wonderland, so it was only a matter of time until I found someone to try it with me. My dear friend who has a sweet tooth like me, joined E and I with her three kids for lunch on a Friday afternoon. The cafe was packed — the lovely staff looked pretty wiped out by the time we sat down and admitted it was an unusually busy day. Addie And Me is part shop, part cafe. Lining the walls are an array of frilly tulle outfits, baby gifts, and older kid toys. Signs remind parents that these are for sale and not for playing with – so definitely a bit of an uphill battle for me and my curious three-year-old who wanted to explore every single shiny frilly item in the store. Thankfully my friend and her crew turned up before I had to buy out the store. We sat down at a large table in the rear, next to another family with two small kids. Our crowd of kids were like any crowd of little kids — up and down, a bit loud, a bit whingy at times, and always in danger of breaking something. A big thank you to the staff for not batting en eyelid even when their ceramic bunnies were in danger of being smashed to smithereens. We ordered each of the kids the Tiny Tots Rabbit Nibble Platter ($7). It came with a choice of sandwich (ham, cheese, vegemite, jam or honey), savory and sweet finger food: cheese, fruit, cookies, crackers and a small plain or flavoured milk. For the adults, we ordered an Iced Chocolate ($4.50) which was DIVINE, a coffee ($3.50), and two sandwiches. While all of the sandwiches on the menu included meat, the staff very happily made me a custom plain cheese and tomato sandwich on sourdough. My friend ordered the Turkey sandwich ($7.50) with Swiss cheese, rocket and cranberry orange relish on sourdough. It was a super busy day and I expected our meals might take a while, but I was pleasantly surprised with how quick they were relative to how many staff were on and how many customers were there. Our sandwiches were simple and really tasty. Perfectly toasted real sourdough — the perfect light lunch for an outing with four kids. It’s also worth noting that when I ordered the turkey sandwich, they said they’d run out of turkey but would run up to the shops to get some more to make the sandwich — really sweet of them considering they were already run off their feet. Our trip to Addie And Me couldn’t have been better. The staff really made us feel welcome, with big smiles and an easy-going manner. Even with lots of breakables sitting on every surface and two extremely active toddlers, we had a pretty relaxing lunch (well, as relaxing as it can be eating out with multiple young kids!), with so many things to entertain the kids that they didn’t know what to look at or play with next! From the rabbit plates for the kids to the waterproof rose table cloths, every detail was thoughtfully planned with little and big guests in mind. We will absolutely be taking another trip down this rabbit hole again very soon! Last Bite: A whimsical cafe best suited to non-moving babies or older children who won’t break the pretty tea sets! A delightful lunch or afternoon tea for a special date with your little one. Highchairs: Yes. Stroller storage: Yes. Easy access: Yes. Change tables: No. Kids’ menu: Yes. Addie And Me 7 Stewart Ave Hammondville NSW Get Directions

A Rawther Fancy Tea Party With Eloise At The Plaza

June 9, 2014 / Cheese, Manhattan Munchies, Midtown, Midtown East, New York Food / 2 Comments

Something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time is take little E to an Eloise-themed Rawther Fancy Tea Party at the Plaza Hotel. The Rawther Fancy Tea Parties are part of the special events run under the Plaza Hotel in the Eloise store. I ADORE the Eloise character and have been so excited to share her with my own Miss E. So it happened on a steamy, rainy Friday that the Little One and I found ourselves at the pinkest tea party that ever might be.

Our host, Stephanie, made us feel extremely welcome. Stephanie ran the tea party for us, providing us with pink lemonade as well as real tea (E and I both had citrus chamomile). It was E’s first “real tea” and she flipped out when I gave it to her, because it made her feel like such a big girl to be drinking adult tea with mummy.

Our afternoon tea delights arrived on a three-tiered platter of illustrated Eloise plates. The bottom plate held fruit skewers, the middle plate had sandwiches (egg salad, cream cheese and cucumber and peanut butter and jelly), and the on the top plate, sweets (mini cup cakes, chocolate brownie and choc chip cookies). Please excuse the terrible photo of the tea platter. E was SO EXCITED when it was placed in front of her that she photobombed me and I laughed so hard the camera shook.

The Rawther Fancy Tea Party was held in the party room in the Eloise Store, which is under the Plaza Hotel, next to the Plaza Food Hall. We’ve visited the store before on many occasions and E has always been attracted to the tiny chairs and tables — a perfect size for this little one to feel like a big girl, while at a very special tea party with kids her age in mind.

E tried a little of everything, but particularly loved the mini cupcake and the fruit. I happily ate the sandwiches (LOVE me some tea sandwiches) and can report that they were delicious. The fruit was super fresh and tasty (they didn’t taste like the fruit had been sliced hours earlier, languishing in a fridge), and the baked goods were all kid-friendly crowd pleasers (it is hard to go wrong with cookies and brownies.) As often happens with me and tea, we couldn’t eat all the sweets so we had them boxed up to take home.

Our fellow tea party goers were girls of similar age, along with their mum or mum plus an out of town friend. After our tea party we all wrote letters to Eloise. Stephanie told us that Eloise always writes back, so we’re very excited to receive a special letter in the mail. Miss E “wrote” her letter in some beautiful swirly drawings, at the end of which I added that we loved our tea party and wished Eloise had been able to make it.

The letters were all posted in the appointed Eloise mail box, ready for delivery upstairs to the Plaza’s most famous resident. E loved posting the letter so much that she took out everyone else’s letters and reposted them all several times.

Next came story time. Stephanie read two shorter Eloise books to the party in the back room of the Eloise store, while we lounged on the bright pink ottomans.

And then the party was over! Each child received a gift bag containing an Eloise pencil, postcard, mints, gift voucher to the store, and a book.

We shopped around, said “hello!” to Eloise, and went home. We love, love, love a tea party! Thanks Eloise and The Plaza!

Rawther Fancy Tea Parties are held on Friday at 4pm at the Plaza Hotel. Cost is $100 for an adult and child pair. Reservations are required.

The Plaza Hotel
Fifth Avenue at Central Park South,
New York, NY 10019

Tea & Sympathy: A Touch Of Britain In The West Village

January 6, 2014 / Manhattan Munchies, New York Food, West Village / 0 comment

I have to admit, I like a challenge. When Alexis recently wrote a post on the best afternoon tea spots in New York City, and listed Tea & Sympathy as the least kid-friendly, it sparked my interest. “What?! But WHY isn’t it kid-friendly?” I thought. I LOVE afternoon tea and am constantly in search of proper English scones like I used to get at home. This overwhelming desire to immerse myself in a proper British afternoon instilled enough bravery in me to attempt an outing to Tea & Sympathy with Miss E.

Tea & Sympathy don’t take reservations. It’s a teeny tiny little cafe in the West Village (it fits about 30 people). It is literally so squishy that people are sandwiched together while eating their scones with jam and cream. Watch out for your elbows, there is hot tea on its way through!

It’s also a super popular afternoon tea spot, not just for the expat crowd like us, but for anyone craving a bit of REALLY good British food. While Tea & Sympathy is best-known for their afternoon tea, they actually serve a full British menu, including items like bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie and baked beans on toast with grated cheese. (Side bar: British baked beans are VERY different to ones made in the USA. They’re less sweet and more . . . beany. I found a store that stocks imported British baked beans and it seriously changed my life.)

Even though we arrived in prime lunch time (they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, none of this brunch business), we only waited a few moments to be seated at our table. Our friendly Irish waitress came by for a chat and took our order, and, pretty quickly, the order arrived, hassle -free. I ordered the Afternoon Tea For One (Assorted finger sandwiches, vegetarian upon request, scones with clotted cream and strawberry or raspberry jam, a selection of cakes and a pot of steaming hot tea, $35). Alec ordered the Shepherd’s Pie ($14.95), which he had been craving (we eat a lot of savoury pies in Australia and REALLY miss them).

Everything arrived pretty quickly, which was great considering how tightly we were squeezed into our table with a restless toddler. Our table was literally so small that we had to put the tea pot and my water glass on the windowsill.

Back in Sydney, we eat a lot of afternoon tea (well, I did anyway). The Aussie-style of afternoon tea is basically British, which is a bit different to the American style in subtle ways. The scones are drier and less sweet, the cake is a sponge with thick clotted cream (not sweet cream, so dense it stands on its own), and there is usually a bit of sticky date pudding. My afternoon tea was expensive, but so large it could be eaten by two people. It contained: three sandwiches, two scones, a huge slice of sponge cake with cream and jam, and a sticky date cupcake. Lucky for me our cheery waitress offered to package up everything I didn’t eat for me to finish off later.

Alec loved his shepherd’s pie — the perfect amount of fluffy mashed potato on top of a steaming boat of mince, with peas and corn on the side. Just like home.

The scones were phenomenal — I have to say here that I’ve grown to enjoy American scones too, but oh man, there is NOTHING like a traditional English scone with tea.

Next door is a store selling everything British you can imagine food-wise, plus some cute paraphernalia like teapots. They’re expensive, so shop with care. We were happy to be able to find some Mars Bars and Ribena. SCORE!

Last Bite: Tea & Sympathy is not for the feint of heart if you’re bringing small kids. Be prepared for a possible wait, super tight surrounding that require kids to stay seated. You will, however, have one of the most authentic afternoon teas in New York City, making it totally worth the adventure.

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes – in the store next door, for folding strollers.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: No.

Tea & Sympathy
108 Greenwich Ave,
New York, NY 10011
Phone: (212) 989 9735
Hours: Mon-Fri 11:30am-10:30pm, Sat & Sun 9:30am-10:30pm
Get directons

Return to Gunners’ Barracks – High Tea

April 6, 2010 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

The wonderful folks at the Gunners’ Barracks gave us a complimentary Champagne high tea as a thank you gift after our wedding, so we decided to use it to celebrate our three-month-versary over Easter weekend.

It was a bit of a gray day, but the view still looked spectacular.

The husband. Musing over the last time we stood in this exact spot three months earlier.

Elegant china.

Tasty savories – scones, curry triangles and cheese tarts.

The sandwiches and delicacies came wrapped in a napkin to protect them from the predatory kookaburras. The waitstaff told us they liked to target the sandwiches… we laughed and started to eat up. True to the warning, a kookaburra swooped in and snatched a sandwich off a plate and took off before I caught a good look at it. Stealthy little bugger. Seriously impressive sandwich-stealing ninja skills.

The sandwiches – a mere moment before the kookaburra stole one.

Beautiful teas in polished tea pots. Mine was called “blueberry muffin” and indeed tasted like its namesake.

A very civilised way to spend a public holiday.

Amazing view from Georges Head.

I love you husband!

Gunners Barracks High Tea

April 25, 2009 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

My absolutely favourite place for high tea in Sydney is the Gunners’ Barracks. I like to request a table on the balcony for the stunning view (just watch out for kookaburras stealing your sandwiches).

High Tea At The Queen Victoria Building

August 2, 2008 / Family, friends, Sydney Food / 2 Comments

I’m a bit freaked out about having my last 20-something birthday next week. I thought I would try and celebrate it as much as possible to hopefully leave me less freaked and more excited …

I’ve been wanting to try high tea for a long time, so Beverly suggested we go for my birthday and helped me selected the perfect venue – the QVB Tearoom.

The Tearoom is situated at the top of the old QVB. I’ve been visiting the QVB all my life and never realised it was even there.

Entering the Tearoom is like taking a journey back in time to a more elegant era. The decor is amazing – beautiful plush seats, chandeliers and very smartly dressed waiters with white gloves.