High Tea

Ages and ages (a whole month) ago, my friend Izzy and I had our hearts set on going to high tea, and were thankfully able to sneak it in before Izzy left for Malaysia and I wasted away from boredom in Oxford. Seriously y'all, it was grim for a while. But we managed a cheeky little tea, just the two of us, one afternoon and it. was. lovely.

We went to the Grand Cafe on High St, which boasts itself as the first coffee house in England (these things can't always be proven, but add some nice novelty). It also boasts a fully stocked high tea for £13, which is honestly a steal compared to high tea at other places. To be honest, it probably could have cost a lot more but Izzy and I were so damn set nothing could deter us.

I'd been to tea a couple times with my mom on vacations and such, but never to a proper High Tea before. The Grand Cafe did not disappoint.

Izzy and I each ordered the High Tea (ignorant of the massive mistake that would turn out to be). I had a bog standard Earl Grey because it's my favorite and in my mind goes with everything. Izzy plumped for a hot chocolate, as she doesn't like coffee but wasn't in the mood for tea. I know, not in the mood for tea? Impossible! And yet. It was a really decadent hot chocolate though...

The High Tea usually comes with egg mayonnaise and smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches, but I hate egg mayo and Izzy doesn't love it either. So we were a tiny bit difficult and asked if we could have only smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches. We had built it up a bit in our heads, thinking it would be an issue, but our waitress didn't even bat an eye before saying, "yeah, of course you can!"

When the food arrived, it was clear our eyes were just a bit bigger than our stomachs.

Sandwiches, scones (Izzy and I constantly fight over the pronunciation) with clotted cream and jam, and handmade truffles.  We promptly dug in. The food was delicious, and after a brief confusion (I thought the scones were chocolate...nope, raisin), we had to admit defeat and ask to take the rest home. We agreed that next time we'll just split one. 

The Grand Cafe's website can be found here, and anyone fancying a proper High Tea should go.

Jane xx