One morning I was talking to Jill Jones-Evans, owner of the Victoria Room about scones-as you do when you’re a little bit obsessed with food. Mid conversation she casually mentioned how they had a 10 scone long scone menu at their new tea salon in the Westfields. Conversation screeched to a halt, I think I even heard the tyres screeching in the background and people may have looked around in alarm. I spluttered ”A menu with ten scones to choose from??? And you have a new tea room? Why have I not heard of this?” thinking that perhaps my sources at the afternoon tea association would have told me (ok there is no association but I thought I might have heard about it somewhere!) .
The tea salon sits nestled like a porcelain cup amongst tissue paper on the fourth floor “designer’s gallery” in the new Westfields complex. Unlike the dark, exotic and sensuous vibe of the Victoria Room in Darlinghurst, this one is bright and pink like the much younger sister. There are curved white picket fences around the outside, pink velvet covered seats, grass green velvet banquettes and exquisitely pretty china. It’s a candy pop girly dream which is a good thing because my friend Christie has brought along her appropriately attired baby girl Poppy and she loves pink.
Service is very helpful and friendly and when Christie needs a high chair for Poppy the resourceful waitress gets one from another store. The menu features a range of afternoon tea goodies with the three tier stands in standard, sparkling or couture, the latter features a glass of Moet. The noise level is higher than that of a closed off establishment but it isn’t as loud as the food court above it (which truthfully drives me a bit crazy with the noise level).
Poppy thinks everything is an iPad 
There are snacks as well as more substantial meals like terrine, ribbon sandwiches, salads, larger cakes by the slice, ice cream sundaes and the all important list of ten scones baked fresh daily. The scone list is as follows: classic (also comes gluten free); date & orange; spiced cinnamon & raisin; lemon; pistachio & currant; white chocolate & cranberry; dark chocolate chip; lavender; rose; cheddar & thyme and pumpkin & ginger. Scones can also be bought individually and served with butter and conserves or chive butter for the savoury ones. You can also choose the scone that you want to go with your high tea.
Our champagne (part of the couture high tea) comes out first and it’s a generously poured glass of Moet and Chandon. Just the thing to take the edge off a frantic day’s shopping. Or in my case, rushing to and from work meetings! And because I was doing so much running around using taxis and public transport, I brought my new camera-the Pentax Q to test out. It’s a tiny camera that I carry in my bag at all times in case of dining emergency or when I can’t be bothered taking my massive DSLR with me like today and it was a Christmas gift from my amazing Sigma distributor sponsor-thank you! It is the smallest, lightest camera with interchangeable lenses, image sensor, high ISO (6400max), flash, video and is small weighing in at a tiny 334grams with the case. And I absolutely love it! I cannot wait to take it travelling with me.
Couture high tea for one $58
Back to the food which has just arrived. The couture high tea has three layers, all with cleverly mismatched plates on their tiers (and from taking quick look at the other tables, the tiers are all different). We start on the sandwiches at the bottom which are downy and fresh. We sigh and say to each other that there truly is a place in the world for white sandwich bread and that is with ribbon sandwiches. There are four fillings: chicken, lemon and wild herbs; smoked salmon, rocket, lemon and caper; cucumber, creme fraiche and dill and roast beef, horseradish cream and baby cress which had a nice pepperiness to it. It’s hard to choose a favourite but I think it might be the chicken one.
We head up to the top tier where we try our rose scone-served warm (but it has gone a bit cold with us entertaining Poppy or the other way around really 
). The rose flavour is represented with several edible red rose petals and Turkish delight, baked and melted on top of the scone. And pairing it with the thickened clotted cream and thick strawberry jam is a great match as rose and strawberry go so well together. Chef Joe Gambacorta tells us that they’re intending to match jams with the scones soon too!
Our final tier has four sweeties: I start with what looks to be the lightest: a finely diced fruit salad tart with a crispy shortcrust pastry shell and a thick, smooth vanilla and lemon custard which is my favourite (oh I do love crispy tart shells and creamy custard!). Next is a pistachio cheesecake which is light and moist and there is also a vanilla cupcake with a zingy, fragrant passionfruit icing. Lastly, there is a dark chocolate cup with a chocolate shell, mousse filling and a fresh raspberry inside.
Earl Grey Premium
“Would you like some sugar?” Poppy asks.
Cheddar and thyme scone filled with smoked Atlantic salmon, crème fraîche and dill $14.50
Both Christie and I are fiends for smoked salmon so we thought that this would be a good item to indulge in some as well as try one of the scones as we were curious about the savoury scones. The portion of smoked salmon is generous and it is topped with rocket and dill crème fraîche. The scone underneath is is moist and dense and with that unmistakeable cheddar flavour to stand up to the smoked salmon.
Knickerbocker Glory $12.95
By now the garden area is very full as it is lunchtime and people come in with shopping bags or in groups looking for a respite for weary sale demented feet and minds. We’re not done just yet although truth be told our eyes are bigger than our stomachs and all of this designer fashion makes one rather careful not to enjoy ourselves too much But the Knickerbocker glory is a tall, impressive looking specimen and Poppy stares at it wide mouthed.
There are scoops of hand made ice cream-vanilla and real strawberry, almond praline, strawberries, meringue, berry coulis and a final drenching with hot chocolate sauce. The meringue is still crunchy and gives the soft ice cream and strawberries a nice contrast and turns it almost Eton Mess-ish. But defeated we just couldn’t finish it no matter how hard we tried as it is really huge. And we tried! Must bring emergency stomach….
Poppy goes shopping…
We stop by the little retail area a little further down the walkway and see the various Kate and William tea cups, saucers and plates. I also spy these gorgeous tea cosys-made by the mother of Jill’s husband Ashley. Aren’t they cute?
So tell me Dear Reader, which tea do you order when you have afternoon tea? And do you find that you are full after afternoon tea?
NQN and Christie dined as guests of the Victoria Room
The Victoria Room Tea Salon
Designers Gallery, Level 4
Westfield Shopping Centre
Cnr Pitt Street Mall and Market Street Sydney, 2000
Monday – Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 9.30am – 6.30pm
Thursday 9.30am – 9.00pm
Sunday 10.00am – 6.00pm
Tel: +61 (02) 9357 4488
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79 Comments | Add your own
I’m definitely going to visit here. I think I’ll take my Mum it looks lovely. I usually have a green tea, earl grey, or something with rose or lavender – I love tea!!!
I always love a good raisin scone for afternoon tea! That sundae – WOW! It looks gigantic (in a good way haha!) If I go out for afternoon tea then usually I end up full as I eat more than planned! I’m sure you can relate
What a wonderful girly day out! Having been to the original Victoria Room I can certainly vouch for their menu of desserts and I too had not heard of their new Westfields outlet…high tea is suddenly beckoning!
Wow very nice Lorraine and Christy- my hubby went to primary school with her
10 scones, I’m there!
I love Poppy!
You know I love girly cakes, so this high tea looks like so much fun! Poppy is adorable – and my how she’s grown.
I actually don’t drink tea but I do drink the Champagne they were serving. What an elegant looking place and that is such an indulgent and wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
what a wonderful afternoon! so very elegant!
I did recently see the listing of scones at the Victoria Room and swooned a little at the rose and lavender ones. The whole set up looks delightfully pretty. Oh and nice pics from your camera, I need a good portable one too.
Beautiful Poppy!
Lorraine
You read my mind! I’ve heard about the new Victoria Room and was wanting to find out what it was like.
Thanks for the review.
SSG xxx
Looks super girlie and yummy.
Love english breakfast tea,or orange pekoe.
Best high tea I have had was The Peninsula in Hong Kong,followed closely by The Hyatt in Canberra,they used to serve summer pudding and clotted cream.
Not sure if they still do,it was wonderful.Poppy is adorable in her pink!!
Omg Lorraine, I don’t know where to start on this gorgeous food journey!
Cute as a button Poppy, she’s very photogenic , such a sweetie
My all-time favourite indulgence…. Afternoon Tea! Sadly, none of my friends get anywhere near as excited as I do but the next time I’m in the city, I’ll definitely have to try the Couture Afternoon tea.I’ve walked past The Victoria Tea Salon but was with youngest daughter and all she wanted to do was shop! Everything looks so delicious and fresh. I’m not a tea aficionado but enjoy a cup of good quality Darjeeling.
Yes, I’m always full after an Afternoon tea because I usually polish off the lot! lol
I love an early grey in the afternoon – I think it’s fruitiness goes well with cakes.
I walked past this the other day and like you too I wondered how I had not heard of this yet! It looks like the perfect end to a long shopping day with the girls.
How lovely to pause for high tea. So much better than a cardboard cup of coffee!
Give me high tea over lunch any day
I thought it was odd for high tea to be in open space. I walked passed it and thought what a different concept. Food does look delicious though. And Poppy is simply gorgeous!
Smoked salmon scone sounds excellent! lol at the other bloggers/photographers you’ve captured in one of your pics
Great story! Was so lovely to catch up with you, Poppy loves her Aunty Lorraine
I want to live with you!
It all looks so decadent!
That’s a very generous serving for one person – I’m sure I’d manage though
How pretty. Don’t you just love afternoon tea!
First: ‘Hello, beautiful Poppy, you’re going to be quite a little gourmet in another few years!’
! I looked at the photos and thought I was in London at Fortnum & Masons, one of the very few places in the world I have had ‘High Tea’: so iconic 
! Leaving the price aside, loved the look of the food and the presentation! And I had not seen a dish of ‘Knickerbocker Glory’ for decades: somewhere in the dim distant past have actually indulged, methinks Stateside tho’? Fun, Lorraine!!
I work so close to this place yet I have not had the chance to go yet. I am going to grab a couple of girlfriends and try this place out ASAP
My dear mum-in-law left her daughter a wonderful collection of antique tea cups and saucers and she was generous enough to share them with me. I now have a gorgeous cabinet highlighting the cups in our kitchen. It has inspired by girlfriend to collect similar cups for her three daughters. This high tea looks wonderful, I adore the tiny little sandwiches.
I never usually have afternoon tea, except for a cup of tea if I’m visiting with my parents or friends. But an excuse for a high tea? I’m there! This looks like the bomb, and I certainly couldn’t eat it all, but what a treat!
$59 is quite expensive for afternoon tea but I am impressed by a ten scone menu. That’s a lot of scones!
i’ve been wanting to try this place! will def give it ago and take my mum i think!
10 scones menu! impressive!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going out for afternoon tea. It always seems so decadent, and the Victoria tea room looks like the perfect place for high tea. I love the rose scone, and a 10 scones on the menu is impressive.
That is an absolutely beautiful tea, but it is not half as beautiful as Poppy!
When I lived in very British communities abroad and in London (duh…), I always had tea. Now in Mexico, I tend to have more hot chocolate and with fewer tea goodies to nibble on!
Those teacups are beautiful (not the Wills and Kate one, the other ones!). The Tea Salon’s perfect for a girly afternoon tea (English Breakfast, thanks). And Poppy is too adorable
Little Poppy is adorable!
Last year I went to an event at the Victoria Room in Darlinghurst which was so much fun and we had so much food.
As yet, I have quickly walked by the Westfield Victoria Room admiring it on my way to work. It is so pretty and lady like and looks like the perfect place to unwind. So my next afternoon tea break will definitely be here and I’ll bring my mother.
This place is so bright compared to the Darlinghurst restaurant.
I’m interested in your camera – how does it perform at night/low light? Are you getting good pictures?
Hi Miss Piggy-I haven’t really tested it yet at low light. I’ll let you know!
Poppy is adorable!
Yes I find myself rather full after afternoon-tea but never too full for dinner.
I’m a herbal tea girl… usually some sort of green tea.
Ooo I saw this before. At first I thought it was a fake set up for display because it looked so white n pretty LOL n my gosh I so want that Sunday ice cream!! Looks so gooooodd
There is a fabulous tea place in Port Macquarie if you ever happen to return there (I know you have been a few times). It’s called “Tea and Treasures” and when I went there I fell. In. Love.
My mum ordered a coffee there and they still brought it out in a tea cup and saucer (bizarre but beautiful!). Also try the orange cake. To die for!
This place looks like a little girl’s tea party dream come true. Well, my nieces aren’t exactly little girls anymore. But if this were in my neighborhood, I bet they would go crazy for it.
High tea ismy absolute favorite, your post is absolutely stunning, I feel like I am there. Bravo. Good luck on your new book.
Nettie
The two establishments are like chalk and cheese! I am going to have to pay the tea salon a visit, looks gorgeous.
Gosh, the afternoon tea here looks better than the one i had the other day. T_____T
generally, i feel like i’m about to die of fullness after afternoon tea!
aw I love this concept – and the fact it’s so much brighter than the actual Victoria Room. champers with high tea is always a good end to a day of shopping!
I love tea. It depends on what mood I’m in for what tea I like. I do just prefer simple teas, green, EBT, Earl etc. I don’t really like the floured teas much.
Thanks for the idea Lorraine
This place looks like my kind of tea room, delicious
OMG! that’s what my heaven would look like! soooo purrrrrrty!
I’ve never heard of a Tea Salon, but would love to give one a try. I’ll have to save up my HereStay miles, but it’s definately on my list of things to try.
calculating the cost of airfare and accommodation to get there.
DIFFERENT FLAVOURS OF SCONES?!?!?
Heaven.
EEkk!! It’s all so goddarmn pretty! Here I am craving scones with jam and cream and here is your post making me drool…
Oh wow I started reading this post thinking yeah I’ve been to afternoon tea at the Victoria Room before.. but then saw the pics and realised it’s all BRIGHT and different! The Tea Salon looks really cool, very different to the dark Victoria Room and I tink I like it better! Will have to check it out
Yummie friends and I used to cook for high tea in a loveley little place in Ipswich Qld (now closed) and my favourite Tea has to be Lavender just so light refreshing and relaxing so you can fit a good afternoon tea in
Oh how cute! Might have to make it a date day with the girls, old and young – they will love it! Thanks for the heads up!
How spooky! I’ve just got home from the city where I took my daughter for her 13th birthday to shop. We spotted the tea room on the way in and made sure we found it again for afternoon tea. It was glorious and have vowed I will take her there every birthday. She absolutely loved the homemade lemonade, I had the Russian Carnival tea and Lavender Scone – was the most perfect scone I’ve ever had! Would love to go there with friends to indulge in the champagne high tea but will need to save up for that. Will tweet a pic with a link to your review (if you don’t mind). Cheers!
I love afternoon teas, scones, little cakes, finger sandwiches, the whole kit and caboodle. Looks awesome and I shall have to visit next time I’m in Sydney!
Poppy is so adorable and i definitely want to try this place =)
Oh my gosh, scones are something that I associated more with childhood trips to the country than anything I yearn for now, but lavendar scones! Rose scones with Turkish Delight! All that one needs is some pistachio and Persian fairy floss and I’d never want anything else!
I wouldn’t be hungry after that afternoon tea
I think i’d need to make several visits & try all the different flavours
I must say…everything looks delicious and so pretty. My favourite tea would be Orange Pekoe. I get full and bloated (sorry TMI)after eating anything these days!
Ten different types of scone? Wow. I don’t actually drink tea but I love everything else that comes with afternoon tea – scones, sandwiches, tiny little cakes…and I’d be more than happy with a glass of champagne in lieu of the tea
Such a pretty set for tea! And what an adorable baby!
10 different types of scones, TEN DIFFERENT TYPES! But isn’t Poppy adorable?
This place looks too strange for me. It is too perfect, like something from a movie….or the Jetsons…I don’t know why I thought of the Jetsons
I saw this place a whole ago , always full and so oddly placed in the middle of the Westfield shopping mall. MM mm
What an amazing looking place for afternoon tea! I would definitely favour the scones with cream and jam and cute little cakes!
Sounds like fun!
I adore teas…something rare in the U.S., although a few places still do a good one. Not like yours though, Lorraine.
You are so right about soft white bread…this is one time you HAVE to use it!
I love french earl grey tea when it’s available but then again good english breakfast brewed in a pot is also a wonderful thing.
I wish we had one of these in Melbourne….sigh. Guess I’m going to have to create an excuse to come to Sydney real quick
Ooh ~ This looks great. So glad you did the post. I never knew it existed.
Such a pretty place and post – gorgeous. Lovely photos too. I have never been to an afternoon tea unfortunately, but if I did, I would love to try such a pretty place as this.
wow super nice photos. I also want to try afternoon tea i want to relax for a meantime
Yum! I think I’ll go bake some scones now…
What a lovely place! I love tea salon and often do girls get together there. This place seems very nice. And not to mention…Poppy is SO ADORABLE~~~!
Tried going here a couple of weeks ago at about 2:30pm; they’d run out of sandwiches with meat and half the sweets, but still wanted the same price! Then they condescendingly said we should have come earlier – it’s afternoon tea, not morning or mid-day tea! Lol. I want to try this place again anyway.
Pencilled in for next week! This place looks so cute and seeing all that food has made me drool! I’m currently reading this through my IPhone at The Clock Hotel, at their free mobile phone charging booth. People must think I’m a looney. I can’t wait to go there. I’m a huge fan of smoked salmon so if that salmon scone wins me over it will be a double whammy haha.
Lorraine, my last meal would be every type of smoked salmon dish there is and anything spicy.
Poppy is so adorable!
I’ve walked past once but found it a little noisy but it would be a great place to relax after a long day of shopping
I’ve read some good things about The Victoria Room Tea Salon but I’ve never had the chance to try. I’m always only in Sydney for a day or two and there’s just way too many places I wanna go ~
I always feel so full after afternoon tea and hahhaa i’m such a bore I just get English Breakfast
Mr Bao says he’s never full and always wants dinner after having afternoon tea with me…
omg, i have to visit this place!! just wondering, i can see 5 sandwiches, do they give you a double of one of the fillings? thanks!!
Hi Joyce-Yes we got two of the chicken sandwiches
Hi. I love your blog! My friends and I are going there soon. Would ordering just the classic high tea (exactly the same as what you ordered just without the wine) be enough? I don’t know why but it looks like it isn’t a lot.
Hi Christine-Thanks very much!
I think it would be enough for one person-what we had was a serve for one person and if you ordered the high tea for two or three people you would get two or three times that amount 
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