Originalitea

I am just full of puns lately, aren't I?

I just had to write about a new found obsession.  

Alice's Tea Cup...or to be specific Alice's Tea Cup III.  A friend of mine wanted to meet for a cup of tea the other night. -Remember me telling you about John? He's spent a lot of time in England and therefore tea is a big deal to him.- Anyway, he wanted to get some tea so I did a quick yelp search on tea and in doing so found said new obsession.  This place had great reviews and boasted a 2 hour wait on weekends,  The pictures showed a small shop that was rather whimsical in decor since it is based on Alice in Wonderland. I had a few hesitations.  I was concerned, for example, that the whim would be overwhelming, and the atmosphere might be a little too 1. girly, 2. snobby, or 3. just not my style.  However, I was wrong.  

The level of whim was appropriate.  The decor was interesting but subdued, and I loved the menu.  This place offers 140 different types of tea, brought out in super cute tea pots with bird figurines on top in different colors.  The dinnerware included mismatched tea cups and saucers (which added to its appeal), and doilies were optional.  There were also little tutus and fairy wings that little girls can wear when dining, which weirded me out at first but I decided was pretty cute by the end. John and I got a combo deal that included a large pot of tea as well as two scones.  He opted for plain buttermilk, and I went for the lemon raspberry.  Wond-er-ful.  The scones were awesome and served with little sides of cream and jam.  The tea was good, and the atmosphere was laid back and perfect.  I felt more relaxed in that place than I have in weeks.  

In fact, I loved this place so much that I met Julie there last night.  This time, I was hungrier and ready to try more of their food.  We opted for the Mad Hatter.  This includes two pots of tea, 3 scones, 2 sandwiches, and a dessert.  It was  a TON of food.  We chose for our scones buttermilk, pumpkin, and espresso chocolate chip.  For our sandwiches, we chose egg salad for Julie and a smoked chicken breast with apples and herbed goat cheese spread for me.  Our dessert was a chocolate mousse with assorted cookies.  The waitress brought it out on a tiered serving dish with scones at the top, sandwiches in the middle, and the dessert at the bottom.  Everything was sooo good.  The pumpkin scone was the star though.  Starbucks' pumpkin scone has NOTHING on this one.  It had a carmel sauce drizzled over the top and was served warm.  Julie and I did not expect to walk into a tea shop and come out so full we might as well have rolled down the street, but we did.  We had to take a few big deep sighs just to get through the meal.  There may have even been a few burps in there, which of course a tea shop is the most appropriate place to let one's burps out.   I might have to start doing some studying there.  I just love it too much. 

The Mad Hatter

  

Speaking of studying, I have got to be super disciplined over the next few weeks.  I've got my dermatology mock board exams coming.  Super nervous.  In fact, I better get back to it right now! Hello, books.