Had afternoon tea at the Aria Lounge of Melbourne Langham yesterday afternoon. It's quite a nice venue, fairly cosy which is good for winter afternoons. We had the "traditional" afternoon tea (as opposed to the "chocolate" afternoon tea, which sounded rather too much, or the special children's tea, which was a school holiday special and which, according to the staff, had proven extremely popular). The traditional afternoon tea is served on a pleasing three tier platter. The food itself was not exactly exciting: the sandwiches were totally what one would expect (cucumber, egg, salmon) and there was nothing innovative or surprising about them, which was a little disappointing, and they were all served on bland, soft white bread, whereas I think some bread variety is a good thing to have on the plate. The scones were adequate; the clotted cream was very good. The pastries were pleasant without being overly exciting. There was a good choice of teas (including my preferred orange pekoe). It was very reasonably priced at $29 per person, and the staff were quite friendly although it was very difficult to attract their attention in order to procure a second pot of tea when one wanted it.
I must admit that in winter I would like to see a bit more variety offered - cucumber sandwiches are fine and well in summer, but it would be nice to see some little hot treats on a cold winter's day. If I ever do open that tea salon/champagne bar that I often dream of doing, I would have a seasonal menu and I think I'd also have an option for a purely savoury tea - sandwiches, scones, maybe some little baby quiche or something, and a little fruit is really all I need most of the time; often I leave the lovely pastries on the plate as they seem too rich and sweet.
But again I digress. Overall, this is a good, traditional, reasonably-priced afternoon tea experience in a pleasant lounge. It's nothing overly exciting. I'd say it's a very good introduction to the afternoon tea experience for a novice. On the Scott Scale, I give it a 5 out of 10.
