July 2024
"A taste of Britain" is 30min outside Philadelphia in Wayne Pennsylvania. This afternoon tea venue was recommended to me by many people over on the clock app so we made it our 3rd stop during this PA tea tour.
The Good
every single thing about this afternoon tea experience was good.
For tea there were over 50 tea options available. That was an impressive count.
my husband chose the hummingbird almond cake tea as an iced tea which he adored and I chose the cream of earl grey tea. The tea was loose leaf and strainers were provided to ensure the tea leaves didn’t end up in our cups. No faults on the tea service here so the score is 5 out of 5.
For the savoury tier at a Taste of Britain, each guest chooses up to 4 sandwiches from a list of 6 options and yes you can double up. then you get 2 of each of your chosen sandwiches for a total of 8 sandwiches per person. that was a lot of sandwiches! It was awesome to choose your sandwich fillings in case you don't like things - so my husband who is really picky about finger sandwiches rarely eats any of them - at this tea room he ate all his chosen sandwiches! i was surprised there was no cucumber option but that's fine. the breads were fresh and the fillings were good. my favourite was the chicken salad and least favourite was the ham
Although there were no other savory offerings besides sandwiches (no pastry mini no sausage rolls, no quiches for example to add some diversity), the savory is getting a score of 5 out of 5 b/c you get to choose your tea sandwiches which is not something you’ll commonly see at afternoon tea in north america.
For scones, we also got to choose our scone flavour. i chose chocolate chip (I do love chocolate) and my husband chose cherry almond. they were served with INDIVIDUAL servings of strawberry jam, REAL clotted cream, and lemon curd. You know I like that b/c sharing accompaniments is for the birds. I would prefer if two smaller scones were served so each guest could try two different flavours and it did detract from the awesomeness seeing the accompaniments in plastic containers vs small or ceramic vessels. The scones both tasted good with a nice buttery crumb, and were very both fresh. The overall scone score is 8.5 out of 10.
I asked what brand of clotted cream was served and I was told it's the devon cream company green label jars - this is the brand i am most familiar with in Canada but this consistency was a little softer than what I am used to but I am guessing this might be the shelf stable clotted cream which isn't available in Canada. Nevertheless, real clotted cream was served and I was thrilled!
Moving up to the sweets tier, we each received a blue berry panna cotta, a shortbread cookie, and a chocolate dipped madeleine. None of these items would ever be listed as my favourite things but they all tasted good. Even the blueberry panna cotta had a good amount of blueberry on the bottom so the gelatin didn't even bother me. The shortbread cookie was soft and buttery and the chocolate madeline was acceptable. Again, these didn't wow me but they hit the main marks in their quality and taste so I was still happy enough with this sweet showing and gave it a 3.5 out of 5.
Not only was the food good here, The venue is very comfortable and nicely decorated. The ceilings are nice and high, the natural window light is lovely. There is an accessible entrance on the flat ground. the wall decor is tasteful and tea themed. The gift shop is
top notch; full of beautiful gifts, loose leaf tea, british food, and fresh baked scones. there is ample parking and other nice shops in the plaza you can also visit. and the service here was great too! It’s a nice & comfortable venue but not overly unique so the ambiance and service score is 4 out of 5.
Pretty much everything tasted good here but no ONE item stood out as jaw droppingly yummy. I certainly appreciated the amount of choice (the tea, the sandwiches, and scone flavour) that this venue allows. You don’t see that every day. This afternoon tea costs $36 USD per person (which is $50 CAD) . This price point is good for the quantity & quality of this afternoon tea. I would bring my grandma here in a heart beat! As such, my overall impression score is 10 out of 10.
All in all, this tea room has the highest score of the 55+ tea rooms I have visited in the past year. My overall queen of afternoon tea score is 90% or 30 out of 40. Well done taste of britain!
