High Tea. Just the words bring lovely images to mind. Those cute little sandwiches, those fluffy scones, and sweet little cakes up the top.

What to do when a good friend is returning back to her home country. How do you say goodbye?…. Well saying goodbye in style is a good start, and high tea at The Observatory Hotel, Sydney just might be the place to do it.

Its Mothers Day and a few other people have thought it might be a nice idea to have high tea at the hotel as well. So they have upped the price and moved people around their two rooms used for dining. Now they were a little cheeky in that it is advertised as $49 for high tea, a booking was made at this price. Then my friend who had made the booking was contacted and told that seeing as though it was a special occasion there would be a price increase to $79 would we still like to keep the booking? Yes, yes, we will still be there. Then on arrival, right down the bottom of the menu is $89 for high Tea. A little cheeky yes, were we going to do anything about it?..No. A girly afternoon with out kids, this doesn’t happen often…. no indeedy not often at all.

The room we are in is lovely with murals on the walls, and tables not squashed together. A glass of sparkling wine starts us off, and a selection of 6 different teas is offered. The 3 tiered high tea comes out and it does look really inviting.

The sandwiches are small and daintily cut, the mini quiche lorraine buttery and melt in your mouth. The scones I thought a little on the small side but they were light and tasted good. The strawberry jam chunky, and the cream… well the cream has a couple of long fibres in it. I say fibres in the hope they weren’t hairs. Because I sure as hell don’t want hair in my $89 high tea cream!

The cakes were daintily presented, with the creme brulee being a stand out. The pannacotta was a lost cause- insipid tasting, with a watery strawberry sauce on top. Overall the presentation was elegant and restrained as I would expect a five star hotel high tea. I didn’t expect a big chip in my teapot, and I have to say it did detract… just a little.