TEALICIOUS-- DELRAY BEACH

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Tealicious is located in an abandoned shopping plaza in West Delray. Alright, it’s not actually abandoned, but it does look as if it is when you’re driving through. The tea room is tucked into a corner. One perk of this is that there’s plenty of parking. After you walk through the entrance, though, you’re greeted with a bright, airy atmosphere full of the usual charming decorations. The tables are set with dainty china teacups and saucers. Chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and paintings and knick knacks adorn the walls.

Only one other table in the restaurant had customers when we arrived, so the place was quiet, and we received a lot of attention. The first things we noticed was that the turquoise napkins matched the little ribbon tied to the corner of the menus, and that fresh cut flowers were on every table. We ordered their special “High Tea” the “Abigale Rose.” At $30 per person, it was a bit pricier than other places we’d visited. We looked around while we waited for our tea to steep. The décor was pleasant but not extraordinary. There were no hats or scarves for playing with, as we’d occasionally found in other locales. A large mural decorated one wall, and while it did evoke a relaxing, tropical picture, it didn’t quite fit with our image of an “English Country Tea.”

The first course was soup. Veggie was the only soup option available, and we commented to ourselves that we aren’t huge soup fans and veggie wouldn’t be our first choice. Yet, when we tasted the soup, we were impressed because each bite seemed better than the last. It was full of fresh veggies that had a nice crisp feel, and Michelle noted that it had a good, full flavor without being overly spicy. It definitely seemed homemade.

 

When our tiered tray arrived, it was full of a wide variety of delicacies. Some of the offerings were unusual. There was a stuffed mushroom, a zucchini frittata, spanakopita, and a couple of mini quiches along with the more typical finger sandwiches. When we began tasting them, we could see where the shop got its name. I needed a thesaurus to find another word for “delicious.” The stuffed mushroom was delicious! The frittata was delicious! The Quiche was delicious! We had to pace ourselves to keep from getting overly stuffed. The scone had a cinnamon, spicy flavor, which was, of course, delicious!

The dessert selection was a little more sparse than some we’ve seen. It had primarily two selections: a pumpkin bar and a round chocolate ball. Both were wonderful. The scones and a brie and pear sandwich rounded out the dessert tray.

We lingered over our remaining tea and conversation, but began to feel that they may be getting ready to close. We inquired and were told, yes, they closed at 3pm. So we began wrapping up, though I did notice that it was only 2:30pm. They graciously took our picture and let us wander around some more before we left. 

In the future, we may have to start giving separate teacups for food and for atmosphere as well as for overall experience, because this place would get full “stars” for the food. Yet, the ambiance, location, and price made the complete experience not quite on par with some of the other tea houses. Still, it was a lovely afternoon and a wonderful ladies luncheon!

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