Going to high tea always makes me feel somewhat glamorous. It's not every day you get to go to a hotel or decorated tea room to eat delicate cakes off tiered stands and sip tea from fine china. As a child I'd always marvel at the finesse of the beautiful petit fours and rejoice at the thought of eating sandwiches that were both and crustless and filled with something that wasn't vegemite or ham and cheese.

By far my favourite part is always the scones. The fat, fluffy, pillow-soft scones - always smeared first with jam, followed by a mountain of whipped cream. They are always the most filling part of any afternoon tea, but I will always find room after all of those finger sandwiches, pastries, cupcakes and slices to stuff in a scone. High tea just wouldn't be the same without warm scones with jam and cream.

The Tea Room, situated on the top floor of the grand Queen Victoria Building, reinvigorates that sense of tradition and grandeur that one may associate with taking tea the old-fashioned English way.

The high, gold-lined ceilings are home to glistening chandeliers, and white brocade wallpaper shares the space with powder blue trims. Each table is lined with a crisp white tablecloth, and if you're lucky enough, you'll score a plush, velvet lined armchair to sit in.

The Tea Room, as the name suggests, is known for its afternoon tea, although it also functions as a restaurant and events venue. Morning tea is served before 12pm, and after that the menu morphs into an high tea haven, with a choice of traditional, sparkling, cocktail, champagne and even a gluten free afternoon tea.

Scones with preserve and clotted cream

The Tea Room's iconic scones have a glazed crust on the outside which protects a deliciously soft, fluffy inner. These are gargantuous, well-risen specimens with an rich, golden crumb. There is one plain and one sultana scone to share between two. Each has that important faint indent around the middle, which makes them very easy to break in half and smother with lashings of homemade raspberry jam and thick clotted cream.

Scones and spinach pastries

Spinach and cheese pastries tick all the right boxes, with a buttery pastry and moist, flavoursome green filling. They're served warm and are easily handled without the need for any cutlery.

Middle tier: Tuna + sundried tomato; Ham + Rocket; Chicken Waldorf and Egg Salad finger sandwiches, savoury capsicum + cheese biscuit

Dainty, crustless finger sandwiches come in both white and multigrain bread. All are lined with a thin layer of butter on the inside, and our favourite is the chicken waldorf sandwich with creamy mayo and crunchy slivers of walnut. The savoury cheese biscuit is very good too - it's short and buttery, with a smoky, creamy sweet capsicum paste.

Top tier: Hazelnut Macaron, Nectarine cheesecake, Fruit Tart,

The sweet tier of this afternoon tea has a cleverly picked selection of five scrumptious morsels per person: a fruit tart, cupcake, cheesecake, chocolate mousse and macaron. I love the textures in the nectarine cheesecake, which is dotted with small chunks of soft nectarine and crunchy macadamias atop a biscuit base. The fruit tart has a beautifully, thin, short pastry case and is filled with a light chantilly cream.

Top tier:  Lemon cupcake, Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Cake

The lemon cupcake is a classic afternoon tea cake that is baked perfectly. The chocolate hazelnut mousse cake is enough to satisfy any sweet tooth, with a nougat-like bottom layer of roasted hazelnut, praline and sponge and a bittersweet dark chocolate mousse. Without fail, there are always cakes that we end up taking home because there's just so much on the stand to eat at once! 

Hot chocolate

Would you like bubbles with that?

Darjeeling's delight tea

Choose from a detailed list of fine teas to accompany your sweet treats and scones. The Darjeeling's delight is a sweet, light blend with floral notes, while the aptly-named Nilgiri Mountains tea is noticeably stronger with a hint of citrus.

Website:

http://thetearoom.com.au/