Teatime

Today we had a Pink Mafia tea at Teapot, a local tearoom. I have been looking for a new tearoom since the closure of Lady Anne's and I think I found one. Tearooms, in my opinion, are rated on the following:

Quality and variety of tea
Quality of food
Atmosphere
Staff

Basically, the same things you would consider in a restaurant, right? How did Teapot do?

The tea was delicious. They had a large variety of teas and tisanes. I really enjoyed the Moroccan Mint (a green tea), the Chocolate Mint (a roobios) and the Vanilla Bean (a black tea). The Chocolate Souffle (roobios) was touted as "drinking dessert" and got rave reviews as well. No one seemed the least bit disappointed in the selection, including our member who couldn't have caffeine. I give it a 5 out of 5.

The food was delicious. In standard afternoon tea style, we had two 3-tiered stands of sandwiches, scones and pastries. When I made the reservation, they noted that they would add more sandwiches because there were a lot of men in the group, which seemed considerate. The food was ample and the scones were clearly fresh - soft and tasty. My only issue is that they provided butter, but not clotted cream, which I love. I used preserves instead (raspberry and apricot), but missed the cream. 4 out of 5.

The tearoom is small, which I like. We could probably have had about 30 people there total, maybe. We had the place to ourselves, which was nice. The china was stunning. Our table was set with green and gold banded teacups, saucers and small plates. Tablecloths were gold and the general feel was warm and inviting. Even the bathroom kept to that. A few complaints - we didn't have place settings, so we all had to use the same serving knives to spread our butter and jam, which is a little irritating to me. Also, the napkins were paper, which I hate. 3 out of 5.

Finally, the staff. One of the owners was there, as was another, younger girl (perhaps her daughter). The younger girl was clearly not thrilled to be there on a Sunday afternoon, but she was still polite and attentive. They refilled the teapots (5 at a time for a group of 8!) with different teas so we got to try 10 total. Friendly, accommodating and attentive - my kind of place! 5 out of 5.

So, pretty good! I think the napkins thing might be a product of a new business. I really enjoyed it and will be going back again. And as soon as I get the picture from the person who took it, I'll post it.