The Reviews

 

              ALEX: I’ve been to English Rose Tea Room once before, and when the girls and I started Steeped In                 Tea, I knew I would have to take them there! While the food—from the scones to the quiche—and the                 dozens of teas are all delicious, there’s something simply addicting about the atmosphere of the place.               Every chair, napkin and piece of décor is colored pastel, gold, or more often than not, floral. Each place setting has its own unique set of china. Cardboard cutouts of the queen and other portraits of the Royal Family regally watch over your tea. All of the waitresses speak in slight British accents. There’s a giant trunk in the back filled with two dozen hats decked out in lace and flowers to wear if you didn’t have one handy at home. The shop is homey, charming and completely adorable. I can’t wait to return a third time!

 

 

 

              CAROLINA: The English Rose Tea Room definitely exposed me to some new teas. I was also introduced               to some classic dishes for drinking tea. We ordered the restaurant's “Duchess of Bedford Formal                       Afternoon Tea," a 3-tiered cake stand with finger sandwiches, scones with strawberry jam and rich                   clotted cream, and many tiny adorable desserts such as a mini pineapple cheesecake cupcake. We could barely finish it. I was especially excited about the scones with clotted cream and jam, apparently called “cream tea” in England. We split two huge, sweet, crumbly scones with the jam and cream. The proper method of eating these is to spread the cream on the scone and then load on the jam. The clotted cream was sweet and rich; it was delicious with the slight tartness of the jam. The scone itself was very soft and melted in my mouth. Although I loved the Paris tea we had with our meal, the scones were my favorite.

 

 

 

 

               MOLLY: We ordered two pots of tea at the English Rose: a blackcurrant tea and their best-ordered tea,                which is a black tea called Paris. I loved the Paris tea so much I bought a tin of it in loose-leaf,                    which was a fairly reasonable price, I thought, at $12. The Paris tea is made with vanilla, caramel                  and bergamot oil and is very sweet, lacking the bitter and smoky flavors that are fundamental to some black teas. I’m a sucker for a couple sugar cubes and a generous helping of cream in my tea, and despite all that caloric content, I think the Paris tea was worth it. It’s perfectly smooth and sweet – an absolute delight to drink.