Now that Summer is here,you may have time to take a morning, or afternoon off, and create some special memories with your daughter.
If you live the in the NOLA area, then there is a restaurant/store on the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain, that is the PERFECT place for relaxing and enjoying your time together, in proper British comfort, with a lovely cup of tea:
Situated in a converted craftsman bungalow on E Rutland St, off Lee Ln in Covington, LA, The English Tea Room is unique both in its decor, and its menu!
When you walk in, you are of course greeted by her Majesty, the Queen, well, by her cutboard image! LOL
From there you will awed by the teacups, teapots, and decor! There is a whole wall of items for sale, so you can take a memento home! There are multiple rooms to dine in, and each has it's own unique name and decor, like the Queen's Room (main room), The Tudor Room or the Churchill or Sanctuary rooms, with their settese and chair, perfect for a party of 2. And don't miss the 'Loo' with its red telephone box door!
But as charming as that all is, what makes The English Tea Rom the TEA Room, is the TEA!
They have an entire menu of teas to choose from! No matter your favorite, black, Ceylon, green, Oolong, Roobios, white, flavored, even Chai! They have over 200 teas!
Overwhelmed? No problem! Tell your waitress (in traditional British tea room uniforms, no less), what type of tea you like and they can recommend one! Miss Grace found her new favorite, Irish Breakfast Cream! I was wowed by Trafalgar Anniversary and it's Oak base, that took cream so beautifully!
Miss Grace also fell in love with their brown sugar cubes! Hence the picture, LOL
And yes, you do get proper cream!
When you order tea, you get your own individually brewed tea pot, that holds about 3 cups worth of tea. Each table is set with china tea cups and small tea spoons, so you truly feel like you are across the pond, and having a lovely afternoon with a proper cuppa!
They also have a full menu, perfect for Breakfast and Lunch, as well as a Lil Brits (kids) menu, besides the full proper British tea service! For Miss Grace and I, we were having a mid-morning tea, so we each opted for tea and a light 'nosh'. She opted for Cinnamon Toast, which she was surprised came just like we prepare it at home with lots of butter and cinnamon/sugar! It took some explaining to get her to understand how we came to do it the English way, if my Grandma was Canadian French! LOL. The plate also has a strawberry, orange slice and some grapes.
I opted for traditional scones, as we just don't make them enough at home! Plus at The English tea Room, you get them properly served with clotted cream and lemon curd. I know, so YUM, right? Seriously, they are SOOOO perfect! It doesn't matter which flavor you get. and each day thery offer different flavors of the day. This day it was vanilla and chocolate chip. I really couldn't pick which one, so teh waitresses suggested to try both, and that was the perfect option! The vanilla really went above and beyond with the lemon curd, whereas the chocolate chip was so much more with the clotted cream! I flashed back to the afternoon teas between my grandmother and her sister, where I would flutter in and out from the 'puzzle room' (my great aunt always had at least a 5,000 piece puzzle going at any given time). Those days taught me patience, the love of a proper tea, and how it can bind us together! So being able to share a similar experience with Miss Grace is priceless indeed.
You'll recognize The English Tea Room by it's English flags and outside decor. And you will definitely be taking home some mementos, like a teaspoon with an adorable cup on it and some tea! They do offer all their teas in varying size amounts, and will help you decide which one you want to try!
Be sure to check out their Event Calendar- as they have special 'theme night' teas like Mary Poppins, Murder Mystery, Downtown Abbey, Dr Who and James Bond. And of course they recently had a Dinner tea in honor of Her Majesty's 90th Birthday!
You can pop in Monday thru Saturday, 9 am to 6 pm. Reservations aren't required, but recommended for busy times, especially if you have more than 2 people in your party. private party events are held on Sundays, and they have an adorable back courtyard, perfect for a young lady's birthday party. They have hosted some lovely baby and bridal showers as well! We're debating having Miss Grace's next birthday party there!
So, if you are looking at a lovely Summer way to connect with your daughter, do what we did, and spend some time at The English Tea Room!
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