Oscar’s Tea Room and Gift Shop in Wilton Manors, 12/6/14

Oscar’s Tea Room and Gift Shop in Wilton Manors, 12/6/14

Oscar’s Tea Room impressed from the very first phone call. After mentioning that I was booking fairly far in advance, the gentleman replied, “And a good thing too, we are already quite busy that day luv.” I think he called me darling three times in that conversation alone. I was already in love.

On the day of our seating, we drove by, missing the Tea Room the first time that we passed it, but after a U-turn, we successfully located it right by the railroad tracks. The exterior was marked with two Buckingham Palace Toy Soldiers that were almost as tall as I am. There was a quaint seating area out front. The interior was done in reds and golds. The owners seated and attended to us throughout our visit

We were by turn, “Darling,” “Luv,” or “Girls.” Kevin suggested we start with a traditional black tea and move onto a fruity one later, and we took his advice. While they put in our order for “High Tea,” Michelle and I milled around the room admiring the trappings such as the salt and pepper shakers in the shape of the Queen and her Palace Guard, the welcome message on each table, comfy sofas, and huge crystal chandeliers. There were lots of treasures for sale too, like teapots with the Queen’s picture or in the shape of Big Ben.

Soon, Craig brought out a 3-tiered tray filled with delicacies.  He described each item in detail and shared with us that everything here was homemade and based on a traditional English Tea. 

The tray included two different flavors of warm scones. In typical scone fashion, they were a tad dry but delish when embellished with clotted cream and strawberry jam. We sampled finger sandwiches: cucumber, tuna, chicken, and egg salad. There were mini quiches and also a bowl each of potato salad and coleslaw. The quantity and size of items looked a bit small, but we were surprised that we soon started to fill up, so we decided to take some of our treats home in order to save room for dessert. At one point during our lunch, Kevin randomly broke into song. At another point, when a train was whistling by, Craig announced loudly, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Oriental Express is passing us by now. The Queen will be passing shortly.”

 Kevin made recommendations for tea to go with our dessert. When Michelle inquired if cream would go with the tea selection, he paused and said, “I wouldn’t.” We could see he was struggling to add the expected, “But you can if you’d like.” He wasn’t able to bring himself to, though, so instead repeated, “… I wouldn’t,” in his adorable way. The desserts were lovely and included a dense cake bite with a cream center, fruit, mincemeat pie (which wasn’t our favorite, but we were happy to try it), and a chocolate tart. We enjoyed two more pots of tea: Christmas tea and Orange & Cinnamon. We drank so much tea, I found I had to explore their restroom, which was an experience in and of itself. It had a life size image of one of the royalty on the back of the door, framed pictures of the royal family all over the walls, and two mirrors that created the endless repeating mirror look. Many of the pictures had captions beneath them, written out in someone’s dainty script. 

Throughout our visit, I couldn’t get enough of hearing them say, “That’s fabulous Darling,” or “No problem, Luv.”  All in all, we were quite charmed by the entire experience and looking forward to going back!

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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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Serenity Tea Garden

Serenity Tea Garden is housed in a renovated antique home in Southern West Palm Beach. The first thing that I found appealing was that it has its own (free) parking lot which made the usual shark hunt for a space unnecessary. We were able to park leisurely and stroll in unstressed.

Before being shown to our table, we asked if we could wander around. In one corner, we discovered a red British phone booth that housed a tea and crystal set. A back room that would be perfect for a party, held a tree-like decoration that formed a shady umbrella over the table. Walking through the rooms, you could envision a family living in this home during another time. The wooden floors gave an occasional creak, and while taking a picture, we noticed that the floor of one of the rooms bowed down slightly. Instead of detracting from the experience, these characteristics added charm and a feeling of authenticity to the atmosphere.

The staff was friendly and accommodating. We perused the tea selection while we settled in. Michelle got a pot of fragrant black vanilla tea, while I opted for a sweet peach iced tea. Both were delicious. While we chatted, we pointed out the many adorable details to one another. Hats decorated the chairs, teacups dangled in a row over one of the doors, and art work for sale hung on the walls. The curtains were swept back and hooked over crystal doorknobs.  In the bathroom, there was a porcelain sink with a two handled faucet, and the tub was artfully arranged with books, an antique iron, and other trappings. An old fashioned mail box was open to reveal different types of hand soap.

Our high tea started with a choice of soup served in dainty bowls. Next came the lovely tiered tray full of goodies. Two scones with a side of strawberry preserves, clotted cream, and lemon curd were on the first tray. We were instructed on the “perfect bite” technique, where every bite has a bit of each of the three flavors. I heartily approved of this strategy and had to ask for a second helping of the toppings, which were cordially provided. The scones were cool and a bit dry, so the accoutrements helped, but we would have been even more pleased if the scones came out fresh and warm.

The second tier contained the usual selection of finger sandwiches. We found tuna, egg, chicken salad, tomato and herb, and a cucumber sandwich, all of which were enjoyable. The final tray contained a generous selection of dessert delicacies. These ranged from a scrumptious bite of chocolate cheesecake to a more ordinary tasting red velvet cupcake. We also enjoyed a yummy custard filled pastry puff and a small éclair.

On our way out, we lingered in the lobby and asked the staff to snap a few more pictures of us, which they happily accommodated. As we said goodbye to the charming little tea shop and exited, we marveled at one last detail: little teapots carved into the entrance gate and stenciled around the woodwork of the windows.

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