Parlour Wine Room has introduced high tea on weekends for $45 per person. High tea is available on Saturday (morning and afternoon sessions) and Sunday (11am session only). A glass of sparkling wine is included in the price as well as tea and coffee.
Since I don’t drink, I asked if I could swap the sparkling wine with something else. Staff were happy to oblige and brought out a mojito mocktail for me. I was asked whether I would like some tea and our waitress was able to rattle off all the teas they had. I chose the Red Apple tea and a huge teapot came out a few minutes later.
We were the only guests for high tea that session so it didn’t take long for a three-tiered stand of goodies to come out.
The top tier consisted of choux pastry swans filled with vanilla bean crรจme pรขtissiรจre. The creme pat was absolutely amazing – there was quite a lot piped into each swan but it was so light and fresh that I could have easily eaten more. The choux was a little hard but the creme pat more than made up for it. There were also large strawberries dipped in dark chocolate for each person.
The middle tier had bread and butter pudding with a glorious caramel top that cracked and reminded me of crรจme brรปlรฉe. The meringue on the small lemon meringue tarts were as soft as whipped marshmallows (is there such a thing?), airy and like small sugary clouds. Very lickable. The lemon curd was glossy with the consistency of custard. The pastry was thin and crispy – I would have preferred a thicker base to even out the ratio of elements.
The bottom tier had cucumber, spinach and cream cheese sandwiches, bacon and cheese tarts, and tuna sashimi on crackers. The sandwiches were decent using wholegrain bread. The bacon and cheese tart hit the spot and were still warm from the oven. I loved the thick slice of tuna with mayonnaise and caviar on top. The tuna was fresh and such a gorgeous shade of red.
And then there was more. Not everything could fit on the tiered stand, so another tray was brought out for us. More sandwiches – this time cheese and spinach on wholegrain bread. The fried chorizo balls were hot savoury morsels that were very moreish. The rhubarb tarts were one of my favourite items. Cooked perfectly so it was slightly crunchy on the outside, soft melt-in-your-mouth and a little bit gooey on the inside with chunks of rhubarb towards the bottom. I think there was a bit of white chocolate in them to make them nice and sweet. The chocolate mousse was decadent – lusciously chocolatey and one of the better mousses I’ve tried. But since it was the last item I tasted, I was too full to have more than a few spoonfuls.
Overall, we all enjoyed high tea at Parlour and were satisfied with the amount of delicacies we received. Service was pleasant, although we were the only table there for high tea that day. I absolutely love the fit out inside, so it was a good chance to frock up and enjoy ourselves. I was just thinking that this would be a great spot for a hens afternoon.
Parlour Wine Room’s high tea is available Saturday and Sunday. Bookings are essential.
Foodgasm 8.5/10
Value for money 8/10
Service 9/10
FPJ score 25.5/30
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