Wentworth High Tea at Sofitel Sydney

A couple of Saturdays ago I had the pleasure of heading to Sydney city for a lovely high tea with some girls... High tea is pretty expensive wherever you go, so it's a rare treat for me. Needless to say, when an occasion such as this rolls around, I get pretty excited about it!

Upon arrival at the hotel, I was blown away by the decadent interior of the foyer... Very glamorous and inviting. Then, once seated in the Sofitel Lounge we ordered our tea. There was a good range of black, herbal and white teas on offer.

I also remarked that on the bowl of sugar cubes on the table - brown and white sugar cubes! (forgive my excitement, but it was the first time I've seen brown sugar cubes in Australia...)

Once we had settled in and started on our tea the afternoon tea stands arrived... 3 levels of cakes, tarts and savouries... Macarons, scones, finger sanwiches, mini baguettes, eclairs, cheesecake and more!

I was very tempted to start with the top plate of sweets - they looked too good to resist...

However, being the good girl that I am, I did the right thing and had savoury first. My absolute favourite savoury item was the profiterole filled with goat's cheese and mushroom - it was so delicious :)

Now we all know that the litmus test in measuring the quality of an afternoon tea is the scones. I can confirm that they were very good - warm, soft and fluffy.. And they weren't covered in flour either, which was a relief for me. My pet hate is when you're wearing lip gloss and you bite into a floury scone.. all the flour gets stuck on your lips and it looks (and feels) awful!  Anyway, I do digress... I must mention the jam! We couldn't get enough of the strawberry jam... it was so good. Quite possibly the best strawberry jam I've ever had (a big call, I know!)

At this point we were all in need of a glass of water, and hence my only real criticism of the high tea at Sofitel was the service.. The staff were pleasant when we dealt with them, but I felt the lounge was quite understaffed on the day as it was very difficult to get their attention. My table asked multiple times for water before we actually received it.. I consider myself quite a patient patron but at one point I was so parched I contemplated going and getting my own from the bar!

For me there were two fantastic sweet items. First, the Peach Meringue Tart - tarlets filled with white peach curd and topped with scroched meringue.

However, for me the clear winner was the Raspberry Opera Slice- a layered sponge with raspberries and dark chocolate... We all swooned a little when we tried this little cake.. Doesn't it look beautiful?

Oh what a sweet ending to a lovely afternoon tea with the ladies... I can taste the opera slice now... Oh how dreamy!

I recommend giving the Wentworth Afternoon Tea a try if you're visiting Sydney some time. It's vegetarian friendly and there is also a gluten-free menu available. Check out their website for more details on the full afternoon tea menu.

Wentworth Afternoon Tea

Sofitel Sydney
61-101 Phillip St
Sydney NSW 2000
2 to 5 pm daily, including weekends
$49 per person, $59 per person with a glass of champagne
http://www.sofitelsydney.com.au/afternoon-tea.html