September 2024

The good the bad the ugly the yummy of afternoon tea, Tea Terrace, Las Vegas edition

This is my second time having afternoon tea here but sadly this time I am lowering my star rating since my first visit two years ago in March 2023. On my last visit this was a 4 out of 5 - I’ll reveal the new rating at the end. I also have a price analysis of las vegas tea rooms at the very very end of this video.

Starting with the good - the good aspect here is the attention to detail. Examples include, an hour glass timer to ensure the perfect steep of your tea, additional cutlery to help assist you with the butter and jam, proper linens and teaware, all the little dishes for the desserts; i think those are sweet. And also things like unique tea pots and the book for the check at the end, so cute. The attention to detail here is noticeable.

The tea menu is vast - with several pages of options. It is loose leaf quality tea. I chose the Black Almond tea and it tasted good. Hey hey haters, note that I did not choose earl grey on this day!

This was a solo tea date so all the items here are afternoon tea for one guest. If you were two ppl, this would be doubled. Starting with the savoury tier. There were two cucumber cream cheese finger sandwiches and I liked the fresh dill on these. A toast with turkey, parmesan, and pear which tasted good.  A cracker with chicken salad but the cracker had already started to get mushy as it was falling apart. And a tarragon egg salad sandwich which tasted fine to me. I liked the savoury bites more on my last visit.

I’ll save the scone tier for another section so moving onto the sweets. Don’t you agree that it’s cute how everything has it’s own little plate or bowl?  I received a macaron, probably from costco, no idea what it was supposed to taste like.  A fruit tart which tasted fine. Then there was a chocolate mousse type dessert. Kind of a cross between pudding and mouse; it was fine but not a stunner. For me it’s needs to be dedicant chocolate flavour or a more enjoyable texture; one or the other.    The spiced cupcake tasted like a cup of strong chai tea in the form of a cupcake, which I thought was also fine but not a wow.  And finally, a large bowl of fruits which included grapes, figs, and dragon fruit. The exoticness of this fruit was kinda neat. I remember liking the sweets here last time more than this time.

Overall, the savoury and sweet tiers here were FINE on this visit; Sorry for using that word so much. Nothing was a standout bite FOR ME, from either tier but no major misses either.  All good and you would likely enjoy it more than me if you go.

Moving onto the Bad - I am distraught at classifying the scone here as bad b/c last time the scone and accompaniments were my favourite part. From hero to zero makes me sad. Last time I received a lovely buttery scone with lemon curd, jam, and a delicious cream concoction. This time, the scone experience was completely different. This scone was chalked full of raisins but the issue was that it was dry and overbaked. Somehow, even though you can see all the layers in the scone, it was just too dry and I am going to guess that’s from over baking… by maybe 5 minutes. It was served with a sweetened butter and a strawberry jam so that was disappointing.

I also prefer when two scones are served at afternoon tea. Albeit I didn't need two of these scones, I do prefer seeing two since the scone tier is what makes afternoon tea “afternoon tea”. I am very sad the scone showing here wasn’t as good as my last experience as it’s such an important part of the tea experience for me.

The Ugly - Nothing is here is particularly ugly. The tea terrace is in a strip plaza very common around these parts so there’s nothing nice about the exterior. Inside, the decor is even more froo froo over the top than my last visit. It doesn’t appeal to me but if you love silk flowers, this could be your new tea haven.

The yummy - I honestly don’t have a stand out yummy bite. Most things could be classified as “fine”. I guess the fruit tart from the sweet tier and the cucumber dill sammy from the savoury tier if you forced me to choose the best bites.  I wish this food had been yummier.

The service here was good. The owner was present and was serving tables herself, and I enjoyed speaking with her about different tea experiences in Vegas and Canada. By the time I left all the tables at the front were full of tea guests. They also have a room at the back for large parties.

While there are several different tea experiences here for you to enjoy, the one I chose cost $38 USD which is $51 CAD per person. This is only $3 USD more than the last time I visited here but it wasn’t as good. It was on par with the coffee religion price wise but THEIR scone was much better. And it is still a better value than cobblestone cottage. So I guess you decide which vegas tea experience fits your own criteria!

Overall, my tea experience on this day, is receiving a queen of afternoon tea rating of 2.5 (3?) out of 5 stars this time.