30 March 2010

'High Tea at The Victoria Room' Book Launch, Darlinghurst (30 Mar 2010)

Level 1, 235 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
http://www.thevictoriaroom.com


Sugar High Time

Thanks to Margarita from The Victoria Room for inviting me along to the launch of the new book 'High Tea at The Victoria Room' which is advertised as Australia's first high tea recipe book. After a bit of goggle research it seems it's just beat the release of the Women's Weekly 'High Tea' book which has a published date of 1 April 2010 at Random House, Angus & Robertson and Borders. Tonight's launch was held in the lovely Victoria Room which is fantastic for ambient decor photos and a nightmare for my compact camera food photos but I think you'll get an idea of what was served. For some reason I was really hoping they'd be some classic cucumber sandwiches but instead some tasty mini sandwiches of Chicken with wild herbs, and Smoked Salmon with crème fraiche, lemon, capers and rocket provided some satisfying morsels.

I loved the idea of serving the Cocktail Punch in tea cups — very cool. The Lavender Shortbread had sprinklings of lavender leaves which complemented the taste without being too overpowering. Having sweet and savoury items come out together sure made the stomach confused but through it all the Pork and apple rolls with spicy tomato chutney were my favourite. Tasty filling, flakey pastry and a spicy chutney that delivered just the right amount of kick. The tiny Vanilla bean cupcake (picture above) was also nice. I was looking forward to trying the Salmon cakes with crème fraiche and dill although tonight there seemed to be quite an overpowering taste of salt and pepper in the mix which made it difficult to appreciate the subtle taste of the salmon — I was tempted to double check the recipe for this one.

Other visits to The Victoria Room:
30 Mar 2010 - 'High Tea at The Victoria Room' book launch
11 Sept 2009 - Prawn & Chickpea Fritters, VR Sparkling

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Beautiful decor and setting to have a High Tea with the girls (or boys)
CONS: High Tea at the Victoria Room is apparently booked out 2 weeks in advance and attracts about 300 guests per day on the weekends so book ahead
MUST TRY: Pork and apple rolls with spicy tomato chutney

Arrival cocktail punch in tea cups — very cute idea


Cupcake display


Drinks bar

Mini Sandwiches: Chicken with wild herbs, Smoked Salmon with crème fraiche, lemon, capers and rocket

Lavender Shortbread

Vanilla bean cupcake

Pork and apple rolls with spicy tomato chutney
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Salmon cakes with crème fraiche and dill

Speeches: Jill Jones-Evans (I think)

The book


The decor


The launch crowd
90% women or thereabouts


View Larger Map
The Victoria Room on Urbanspoon

12 comments:

Madam Wu said...

Those salmon cakes and the mini pork and apple rolls have my votes for sexiest food served there!

Phuoc'n Delicious said...

Those mini pork and apple rolls are to die for. I love high tea but have only been to two so far.. I know, shame on me!

foodwink said...

Noice! Love the colonial-style decor at The Victoria Room.

YaYa said...

Yippeee, I have a booking to have high tea there in 2 weeks time, thanks for the preview!

Myriam @Detours said...

Great post, thanks for sharing, Simon! I really like the Victoria Room for evening drinks but I haven't tried their high tea yet, need to do that... Also, I'd be really interested in your thoughts about the book itself, once you had time to leaf through it. Are the recipes good? It is mostly about cupcakes or does it also have a section on savoury sandwiches, etc?

Betty @ The Hungry Girl said...

I love the decor, although I've read so many mixed review about the high tea. The food looks good though, so I might have to give it a go!

Portuguese Kitchen said...

I love High Tea, the food looks great.I like places that dont just serve cucumber sandwiches but something with a twist.
I must get the new book.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Such a shame I couldn't make it last night. Well done for getting your post up so quickly! I made a recipe from the book and it turned out really nicely.

Simon Leong said...

hi madam wu, i always start with savoury before moving onto the sweet stuff.

hi phuoc, actually this would have been my first high tea. i don't usually think of going to high tea but i want to find the best in Sydney now.

hi foodwink, it's so homely and appealing isn't it. i wish my home looked like this.

hi yaya, looking forward to seeing your post about it. enjoy!

hi myriam, it's a great place for an afternoon work drink or pre dinner drink. so relaxing. i actually didn't get a chance to look at the book but they did have a slide show of the pages and looks like it covers everything from savoury to sweet which The Victoria Room prepares for High Tea.

hi betty, let's see what YaYa thinks when she goes in a couple of weeks time.

hi portuguese kitchen, have you discovered any really good High Tea places in Sydney you'd recommend? Is the QVB any good?

hi lorraine, would have been good to catchup with you if you'd gone. i was thinking the High Tea would have been very much your thing :-)

Fiona said...

The decor is interesting, would rather have cocktails than high tea there.

Simon Leong said...

hi fiona, i haven't tried their cocktails but they seem to have a very nice fancy bar which looks well stocked to make anything. i love my Kuleto's for happy hour cocktails personally ;-)

Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook)! said...

Lovely photos for a P&S Simon. I am yet to experience a high tea myself.

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