Penny Black Victorian Tea Room
Shop 37, The Tannery, 3 Garlands Road, Woolston, Christchurch
Image credit: Penny Black Victorian Tea Room | Facebook
Wanna take tea—high tea, no less—like a queen? Then summon your coach and make haste for Penny Black Victorian Tea Room, a spot that looks like it's straight outta 1897 (the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee) but was actually built in 2018. Choose from three different high teas including a dairy-free option and even a miniature version for the youngest members of your royal family, all for the very noble price of $30-$55. Expect bite-sized sweets and savouries that Queen Victoria herself would tip her crown to (is that Battenburg cake I see?), served on only the finest bone china; plus a cup of something hot (their famous Belgian hot chocolate, perhaps). The more spendy versions will also afford you a cold drink, which you can make boozy if you wish.
Midnight Shanghai
Riverside Market-Upstairs, 96 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch Central
Image credit: Midnight Shanghai | InstagramOr enjoy high tea in an entirely different continent, at Midnight Shanghai. From Friday through Sunday, they're serving up a spiffy new riff on the classic high tea, putting lush, Asian-style flavours at the fore. Lemon and coconut tarts, salmon filo cups, strawberry panna cotta and fried chicken sliders are just some of the wee treats on offer here, but don't expect tradition to be entirely dismissed—dainty housemade pastries and date scones with cream and jam also make an appearance. Factor in bottomless Noble & Sunday teas (or a cocktail or mocktail for a little extra), plus a sun-soaked, riverside terrace as your setting, and you have yourself one damn fine high tea situation.
Mona Vale Homestead And Restaurant
40 Mona Vale Avenue, Fendalton, Christchurch
Image credit: Mona Vale Homestead And Restaurant | Supplied
Mona Vale Homestead And Restaurant sounds exactly like the sorta place that serves an epic high tea (and it does). So pretty that it's one of the city's most well-used wedding venues, this charming spot is where $60 will get you one of the finest selections of sweet and savoury high tea selections around. Think macarons, madeleines, and a trending matcha choux bun, plus saussie rolls, club sammies, and even scampi toast. Buttermilk scones with cream and Mona's very own preserve are also part of the equation, as is a hot or cold non-alcoholic beverage of your choice (or a glass of prosecco for ten bucks extra, if you're feelin' fancy).
50 Bistro
The George Hotel, 50 Park Terrace, Christchurch
Image credit: The George | Instagram
Hotels sure know make to make one helluva high tea. And the boutique, five-star beauty that is The George is no exception. Their inhouse restaurant, 50 Bistro, is offering a high tea available seven days a week (such events are usually relegated to the weekend), can be made to accommodate assorted dietaries for no extra cost (with that cost starting from just $57.50/$36 for kiddos), AND it overlooks Hagley Park (always beautiful). But the icing on the petit four cake is the food itself, which comes in the form of friands, seasonal macarons and caramel and chocolate brownie, along with arancini, smoked chicken sammies and mushroom and double cheese sliders (don't forget the lemonade scones). Premium tea and coffee are also included in the price, or opt for a glass of Nautilus sparkling wine or Bollinger champagne ($70 and $80 respectively).
Crowne Plaza Christchurch
764 Colombo Street, Christchurch Central
Image credit: Crowne Plaza | Website
Crowne Plaza's high tea is highly favoured thanks to its fanciful selection of treats, served in a chic dining room. The pastry-lover in me is uber impressed by their line-up of sweets (lemon meringue tarts, dulce de leche eclairs and a classic French opera cake amongst them), to which the sammies with a twist (hellooo beef sliders) come a close second. No true high tea is complete without scones, which they're serving here raisin-style with clotted cream, raspberry jam, and butter medallions. Wash it all down with tea, barista-made coffee or again, some fizz if you feel like living dangerously.
Majestic At Mayfair Café
Mayfair Hotel, 155 Victoria Street, Christchurch
Image credit: Pebbles | Instagram
And finally, there's something especially fancy about Majestic at Mayfair Café's high tea—whether it's the promise of free-flowing French bubbles, the exquisite setting, or the promise of opera cake, raspberry and pistachio dacquoise AND chocolate burnt butter financiers (this girl just died and went to heaven). That's not to overlook the savouries of course, with fried chicken milk buns sitting alongside ricotta and salami tartlets. Naturally, housemade scones are also part of the line-up, and I want it all. I also love that the menu—a collaboration between chef Nick Tatom and local pastry shop, Pebbles—changes monthly. This one will cost you $95 at most (that's for the bottomless bubbs sitch), $65 at its least (that's high tea sans the booze). Either way, it's worth it in my book.
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