Secret Garden

Until walking into The Secret Garden, I hadn't thought much about the British domination of and influence on Hong Kong. This chintz laden tea room is as British as they get, serving a range of classic British teas and scones, sandwiches, etcetera, but Chinese operated. Instead of the mismatched linens, chairs and china we have become accustomed to in small tea room operations here in America, as opposed to formal teas served in high end hotels, this business is more intentional than haphazard. All the linens matched, appealing to my sense of order, and they used Royal Albert Old Country Roses patterned fine china teapots, contrasting them only with the cups in a matching pattern with a blue background. Serving plates were white which alleviated the need to keep refocusing your eyes on all the patterns. In most small tea rooms I feel as though I have AADD, but this room was relaxing by comparison, as it should be.

For an adventurous eater, I constantly fall back to the tried and true in a tea room. I'm a Cream Tea sort of gal, happy with just a scone or two and clotted cream with jam. This always brings me back to my first cream tea in Burton-on-the-Water in England, a bucholic little town in the Cotswolds. Reliving that experience makes for a wonderful afternoon break. My second was in a small tea room in Woodstock England, where to my delight, a Miss Marple episode had been filmed afterward. In both places I was served two large scones made with currants, a very large dollop of clotted cream and strawberry preserves. This was close, but the size was half of what I'd previously experienced with very little clotted cream. No matter, I could do with less calories. However, it has inspired me to learn how to make clotted cream.

My dining companion ordered a scone and tea cake plate that came with fruit. It was a bit disappointing compared to the cream tea and more expensive. We expected small, individually made tea cakes, but ended up with small slices of larger cakes. Even so, we would both like to try the tea sandwiches one of these days to compare them to other tea sandwiches we have had. Even though I think cutting off crusts is wasteful and rather dilettante, I'm willing to forego them for this comparison.

The range of teas seems broader than most, so trying several more is going to be a treat. This outing we ordered Earl Gray and toasted coconut. At least I could be more adventurous in the tea department and the toasted coconut was a perfect match for the cream and scones.

http://www.secretgardenteahouse.net/

721 Lincoln Way

San Francisco CA 94122-2414

(415) 566-8834