Romance on the High Teas

After a little bit of a hiatus (life got busy), Annie and I finally found time on the weekend to do a date that was ‘write up’ worthy. Having a free Sunday afternoon and a generally lazy attitude, we decided to go for “High Tea”.

High tea (or more technically ‘afternoon tea’) is one of those quaint English things that’s a lot of fun but doesn’t quite make sense - like royal tennis or giant hedge mazes. It’s not so much a meal as a large ‘between-meal’ snack. Along with your choice of a large tea selection, high tea is served with a tower of different sandwiches, scones and other sweet treats. What it may lack in volume, it makes up for in variety of the small bite-size snacks provided - think of it as the English equivalent of a Japanese sushi train or a Chinese yum cha cart.

Truth be told, we’ve been to a lot of high teas - in the Southern Highlands, in the Blue Mountains and even in London - but never one in Sydney. After perusing this Australian Traveller article covering the best high teas in Sydney, we chose to go to the Victoria Room in Darlinghurst.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to experience their traditional high tea as it was a Father’s day special ‘Ploughman’s High Tea’ - think of a traditional high tea but with bites from a ploughman’s lunch. The tea was hot and plentiful, the savoury snacks were all very tasty and the
sweet treats were exceptional! Judging by our experience, I’d say the regular weekend high tea is probably pretty damn good too.

High team makes a good date activity because it’s often hard to find good ‘rainy afternoon’ dating activities during which you can still chat (ie not a movie!). The date is a little bit longer than a normal lunch date, but not as long as a dinner date. Assuming you choose a quality establishment that provides you with unlimited hot water for your tea, there’s nothing that can get cold - so you chat as much as you like! And for those a little worried about ending the date, don’t worry - most places will usually stop serving tea at 5pm, so there’s a
fixed ending.

Lastly, if you’re worried that the conversation won’t start flowing nicely unless there’s a little social lubricant involved, don’t fear - unlike most afternoon activities, there’s an alcohol option! High teas usually have a premium option that includes a glass (or a bottle!) of bubbly. I suggest you take that option if it’s an early date, or you’ve just had a tough week!

Posted by Mike() on 09/07