As I stated in my last post, daughter and I have just spent
a few days staying at Chateau Tongariro in central North Island.
They, like many other tourist operations at present, were
very short of staff and unfortunately it showed a little in the food we were
offered. There was nothing wrong with
it, but it didn’t really live up to our expectations of what we thought we should receive
for the price we were paying.
We were still able to book in to have High Tea (fancy
afternoon tea) one afternoon. We had one
table and another couple had another table, and together we enjoyed the views
through this large picture window.
The event was slightly disappointing (once again, our
expectations!). There was nothing major
wrong, just little things like being given a dinner fork instead of a cake fork
and the waitress not being able to inform us what we had to eat (some of which
was listed on the menu, but there were obvious substitutions as well).
However, it was to be the highlight of our visit and we had
great fun pretending to be Ladies of Leisure.
I ordered Dilmah Earl Grey tea and daughter had Dilmah
English Breakfast tea. Both were leaf
tea (thank goodness, no tea bags!) and we were given a teapot each.
We began our ‘meal’ with the sandwiches and tiny savouries,
followed by the buttermilk scones with strawberry jam and cream.
The sweets course made a fitting end to our pleasant little
treat. (The sticks are yuzu lollipops)
Overall, our High Tea was an experience that I am glad to
have had. It was fun and something I
would rather like to do again. I can see
I will have to do some research and see if anyone local offers such a treat.
I hope all your Christmas and holiday preparations are going
well,
Margaret 😊
That looks to be a marvellous high tea Margaret - a pity you felt a bit 'let down' through lack of staff and an accurate menu., but I am sure your enjoyed it none-the-less.
ReplyDeleteChristmas blessings to you and yours
Maxine
How fun is that!?!? I doubt I would have enjoyed it but I can picture you and your daughter enjoying it. Moments like that are very special.
ReplyDeleteStaffing in food establishments seems to be a huge problem of late. Sad that it marred your once-in-a-lifetime experience with your daughter. As for the wrong fork, I am quite sure many would not know the difference. I remember when restaurants had a special knife for fish and I haven't seen one of those in years. Recently Miriam were out and decided to stop for lunch at a restaurant we had been told was quite good. They could only offer take-out food since they were unable to get wait staff. We declined their offer!
ReplyDeleteHigh tea is such a fun experience and you had the perfect company!
ReplyDeleteHigh Tea at the Chateau. Marvellous!! And that view too. Hope you can do it again
ReplyDeleteOh that sounds so nice...what a treat to enjoy! And you're right, I think short-staffing in most businesses has caused a slip in the quality, everyone can be stressed and overworked. Even so, so glad you had the chance to enjoy such an elegant time...ahhh, yes, a lady of leisure. How must that be?! Merry Christmas, Mary
ReplyDeleteThe high tea with your daughter looks so lovely and delicious. It's too bad it wasn't all you had expected. You'll just have to try again one day in a different location. Trouble is there are probably not that many available.
ReplyDeleteI had to look up Yuzu. I hadn't heard of it before and it sounds interesting. Merry Christmas!!
Margaret, last time I had high tea was in your neck of the woods at Zealong Tea Plantation (I think that's how it is spelt). I'm glad you enjoyed yours despite feeling a little let down. The view was certainly first rate. Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteJust heard the Chateau is going to be closed down. I bet you are glad that you got to stay there when you did.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am so glad to have been able to do that. So sad to hear it is closing permanently.
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