If you’re partial to a vertiginous tower of goodness – or a high tea as they are commonly known, we suggest fancying it up a notch and enjoying your tea alongside the world’s best view in a contemporary, light and delicate setting.
Q Dining at the Pullman Quay Grand in Sydney Harbour, has refined the high tea to create a delectable selection of tea-time treats curated perfectly for you and your dearest friends.
Typically a high tea conjures images of doilies and floral plates. We need to be clear, Q Dining is not that. With the recent addition of executive Chef, Steven Hartert, a new menu has been developed with a focus on sustainable, local, ethical and seasonable ingredients. It’s no surprise that the three tiers of the high tea cake stand are overflowing with goodies.
The savoury part of the menu includes grilled anitpasti vegetable, fetta cheese on focaccia with dry olive along with the roast beef; horseradish cream watercress and cornichon, smoked salmon mousse and cucumber on rye toast; artichoke prosciutto salad with rocket pesto; and egg salad on white toast with avruga caviar.
Our favourites are the smoked salmon mousse and cucumber. Tiny cucumber balls were placed delicately on top of the salmon sandwich. Eaten alongside the salmon it was all the things – being: fresh, salty and creamy – a fine sandwich balance.
Our second favourite is the sometimes polarising egg salad sandwich. Talk about zhooshing up a high tea classic. It’s out of this world good with the addition of caviar. A burst of salty goodness alongside the sweet egg and soft bread. It all feels very sophisticated and properly attuned to the surroundings, allowing you to wonder why you haven’t thought adding avruga caviar to egg salad sandwiches, nay everything, before.
The sweet menu contains scones with strawberry jam and mascarpone vanilla cream (which goes first cream or jam…?); mini eclairs, raspberry dark chocolate slice; creme brulee with orange and pistachio; mini pavlova whipped cream and seasonal fruit; plus a selection of macaroons.
Our favourite sweets are the creme brulee and the pavlova. The chocolate treats are fantastic, but a dessert that’s exceptional beyond chocolate, is always exciting. The pavlova was sweet, chewy in the right places and the fruit did its job of cutting through the sugar. The creme brulee is delivered in the cutest little jar, is rich and creamy and packed full of flavour.
The scones are magic, and it’s tough in this town to get a good scone, but we’d suggest going back for the scone alone. Maybe it’s the marscapone, maybe it’s the jam, maybe it’s the view – we don’t know – but they’re delicious and we devoured them all.
Everything on the menu is per person, so unlike other venues, you are not drawing straws over who should have the egg and caviar sandwich or getting into fisticuffs for the creme brulee – there is one of everything for each guest.
With all you can drink tea and coffee, the Q Dining High Tea is a delightful afternoon enjoying a world-class view in a superior setting with brilliant service.
Finally, we do need to acknowledge there appears to be some disagreement about where the term high tea comes from and what time of day you to partake. We’re not here to tell you when to eat it (probably just when you’re hungry), or to tell you what to call it, in fact – if you don’t like the term high tea, maybe try a degustation of sandwiches and sweet treats. Whatever you do, though, gather your friends and make a bee-line for this High Tea on high.
Q Dining
Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour, 61 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Available daily from $55/pp (including a selection of premium teas) and $65/pp (including a glass of sparkling wine).
