The Victoria Room

The Victoria Room is probably the leader in high tea service in Sydney. Indeed, you have to book several weeks in advance to secure a seat. After my fun at The Loft, I was keen to try this out.

Food

The platter is divided into 3 tiers.

Top Tier - Afternoon Tea Sandwiches

The sandwiches here were so soft, and were a lot better tasting than The Loft, but there were much more savoury varieties

• Chicken & Wild Herbs - had the softest bread, with soft chicken and herbs
• Cucumber, Crème Fraiche & Dill - I love this one a lot. The cucumber were in very fine shivers, paired with some very fresh crème fraiche, which was enhanced by the dill
• Smoked Salmon w/ fresh Rocket, Lemon, Capers - I didn’t try this one, but apparently it was good
• Watercress, Celery & Goats Curd - I love goats cheese and this one was tangy and crunchy

Bottom Tier - Scones & Conserve

yup, I started here before the sweets, as I wanted my scones still warm. Unfortunately it wasn’t very warm, but they were still delicious!

• Date & Plain Scones served with Triple Berry Conserve & Chantilly Cream - I tried a date one. The date made it super sweet, but the texture was so light, and the cream so scrumptious, I ate the whole thing anyway.

Middle Tier - Assorted Sweeties

By the time I got to here, I was pretty full, but I had to keep going…, it was times like these where I actually wish for the fruit they serve at The Loft

• Mini Florentine - I am not really a big fan of these, but they use pretty good quality chocolate.
• Sticky Date Pudding - I had to get rid of some of the caramel icing, but the little date cake was again, very soft and moist.
• Vanilla Bean Cup Cake topped with Pink Icing & Confetti - this looked so fabulous, and was extremely buttery but still light. I wasn’t a fan of the icing though
• Passionfruit Yo-Yo - I love yo-yos, and I wasn’t disappointed with these…if only they weren’t so dainty!

And for tea, I thought this time I would go for a classic style, so chose the Queen Mary - a blend of Darjeeling & Ceylon teas, having a light amber colour and brisk aromatic flavour.. This tasted very much like your teabag tea in flavour, but was a bit more delicate.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

True to form, the room was very opulent…well, what you can see of it anyway. You walk through these industrial doors, up a flight of stairs, to arrive in a room lit by candlelight and lampshades only. We were seated in the corner, so we got some privacy. There are comfy leather and suede couches, beautifully upholstered chairs, mirrors…etc. The wallpaper were luxe green and red, with gold threaded throughout.

There were lots of girl groups, dressed up to their finest, and some token guys as well. It was quite loud, the chatter filling up the space.

Rating - 3

Service

Well, the waiters look like they were 15, and didn’t look like they had much experience either. They wouldn’t let us order until everyone got there, and actually asked everyone before they gave us water. When they delivered the drinks, they got everyone’s name wrong and were totally confused. They weren’t very quick in clearing our trays away to make more room for other stuff. They didn’t fill up our teapots enough and didn’t provide enough milk. They had a LOT of problem trying to fit all our tea and trays and plates, all on the little table. I put it all down to lack of experience, they will probably get better with age.

Rating - 2

C-factor

It was $30 for the tea, $40 for the royal (with champagne), and 10% surcharge on public holidays. Also, if you come in a big group, it’s an extra $3 p.p. The prices are about the same as all around, a little bit steep for what you get, especially the lousy service, but the surrounding really is surreal.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 13

Info

Level 1, 235 Victoria St
Darlinghurst
NSW 2010
Phone (02) 9357 4488
Website