* I dined as a guest of the Burbury Hotel, however all opinions are my own.
A few weekends ago, a friend and I dined at Burbury Terrace for high tea courtesy of the Burbury Hotel. Our reservation was for midday. When I arrived at the hotel foyer, I quickly spotted a sign stating that high tea was on level 7 and to take the elevator up. As the elevator doors opened on level 7, there was another sign pointing to the entrance of the high tea room. I spotted my friend who had already been seated by the open window looking out to the rest of Barton and all the way to Telstra tower.
As soon as I sat down, I was approached by a staff member asking whether we would like the regular high tea (usually $50 per person) or the high tea with Piper-Heidseick Champagne (usually $60 per person). As neither of us drink alcohol, we opted for the regular high tea. There were six TWG teas listed on the menu for our selection. I chose the Love Me Tea – a green tea enhanced with a bouquet of fragrant floral blossoms, while my friend chose the Napolean – a black tea consisting of a blend of French spices and vanilla. We each received our own large tea pots, tea cups and strainers. Our high tea stand arrived almost immediately after our tea pots.
I tried the scones first thinking they would be warm and fresh from the oven. Sadly, they weren’t warm but they were a nice golden brown colour. My friend and I thought the buttermilk scones were dry and a little crumbly. The cranberry and orange zest scones were nicer, but again they were too dry. I did love the house made berry preserve which helped compensate for the dryness of the scones.
The savoury tier consisted of smoked salmon, cucumber, wasabi and lime mayonnaise sandwiches. Though the filling was tasty, the bread was too dry and quite rough. The prawn and chive sandwiches were my favourite of the two filled with a decent portion of chopped meaty prawns. Super tasty. But again, the bread was too dry. The chicken waldorf wrap was filled with lettuce and walnuts and we liked the generous portion of fillings. The capsicum, baked ricotta and basil tart had a lovely buttery and slightly salty shell with a light filling.
The sweet tier looked quite colourful with six items to sample. The paris-brest eclair was my favourite filled with a delicious cappuccino cream. Followed by the passionfruit profiterole covered in white chocolate icing and crushed pistachios. I’m not a fan of pavlova so my friend had mine. The dark chocolate mousse cups were rich and creamy. The mini tarts were topped with a raspberry marshmallow, which once eaten, revealed the chocolate hiding underneath. The strawberry macarons were a nice touch.
Overall, we had a pleasant high tea experience at Burbury Terrace. It was relaxing and quite a casual high tea overlooking parts of Canberra. It did get a little bright out on the terrace, so sunglasses might be required depending on where you’re facing. We were well looked after during the service, and I was impressed with how easy it was to get to high tea without having to stop and ask someone for directions. Staff welcomed feedback to provide diners with an improved experience.
High Tea at Burbury Terrace is available Saturday and Sundays from 12-2pm.
The Burbury Hotel can be found on 1 Burbury Close in Barton.
Foodgasm 7/10
Value for money 7/10
Service 9/10
FPJ score 22/30
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