Travel the globe with ABODE’s Chocolate High Tea.
If you fancy yourself a jetsetter with a taste for the finer things in life, ABODE Bistro & Bar’s seasonal Chocolate High Tea should be next on your bucket list. Chocolate lovers rejoice, because this high tea is here to both satisfy your dessert cravings and your cravings for a bit of culture. Award-winning Head Chef Anthony Naylor has put together a decadent chocolate high tea journey inspired by flavours from around the equator. $45 a head is a whole lot less than a round the world plane ticket!
The interior of ABODE Bistro & Bar is the perfect setting for a charming high tea. You’ll forget you’re smack bang in the middle of the Sydney CBD and instead be picturing yourself nestled away in an old school country club. Wooden floorboards and white detailing make for a truly relaxing atmosphere and a glass or two of bubbly (which you can add onto your high tea experience at an extra charge) would not go unappreciated.
To start off we try ABODE’s Rose with French Vanilla Tea. We were told it is the most popular tea on the menu and we can see why. Fragrant and sweet, the tea tastes exactly as it smells. Think turkish delight in a tea cup.
Half way through our chocolate high tea we opted for the Pure Peppermint Leaves tea. After so much food it’s a good idea to relax with some soothing mint and the perfumed pure peppermint leaves really did the trick. At ABODE’s chocolate high tea you can order as much tea as you’d like, choosing from an extensive list. If you’d like you can also swap it out for coffee.
On the tea platter, you are served two kinds of finger sandwiches – chicken and apple Slaw and a crab, cucumber and watercress butter finger sandwich. Both fillings are as delicious and it’s hard to choose a favourite. The chicken sandwich is likeable to your classic chicken finger sandwich with the welcoming addition of the sweet, crunchy apple. The crab filling absolutely melts in your mouth but I would have asked for a little more crab filling next time.
Next up we get to savour a broccoli and blue cheese tart plus a sweet corn tart. Think quiche but better. The pastry around the tart melts in your mouth and both fillings are creamy, rich and delicious. The chicken liver paté on chocolate brioche toast with whiskey soaked raisins was certainly the most indulgent of the savoury treats. The chicken liver paté had an unusual taste, but was very creamy and interesting. Along with the slight sweetness of the raisins and the savoury chocolate taste of the toast, it proved to be an odd but surprisingly appetizing bite.
You can never go wrong with smoked fish and the Asian cured trout crepes with caramel yogurt, spinach and ocean trout poppers were delicious. The winner of the savoury bites however was the prawn ceviche. Tangy and refreshing, this citrus based dish was a summer holiday in a dish.
Now what is a chocolate high tea without the chocolate? Never fear, the chocolate is here and it will take you on a trip around the globe as you munch. We start off our mini global delights with the Dominican Republic white chocolate tiramisu. It was drenched in coffee and stood up well next to the sugary white chocolate taste. The Cuban black chocolate jaffa cake was the epitome of an orange and chocolate lovers dream and the different taste of the cuban chocolate really came out. Despite being a small bite, the Venezuelan chocolate and hazelnut slice was incredibly rich. I strangely struggled to identify the mint in the Indonesian chocolate mint crunch but really enjoyed the different textures. The Peruvian chocolate roulade may have been the only let down. While still tasty it reminded me of a supermarket bought chocolate cream sponge. And while I’ve certainly had my fair share of Woolies chocolate cream sponge, it didn’t seem to fit in against the other decadent treats.
To end the chocolate aspect of our chocolate high tea journey was the chilled madagascan chocolate fondue with raspberry meringue, coconut marshmallow and macerated fruit. Unlike your regular chocolate fondue, the chilled factor of the chocolate itself was a welcoming difference, thick, creamy and sweet. It suited the raspberry meringue perfectly – an amazing balance between super sweet and slightly tart. The coconut marshmallows were a little underwhelming but the slight fizziness from the macerated fruit took the cake.
Last but certainly not least (yes, there is more) we got a taste of Grandma’s homemade scones with cream and jam. I’m not a fan of sultanas in my scones but these ones may have converted me. Warm and crumbly, they were the perfect comfort food, especially alongside the thick, decadent cream and raspberry jam. Definitely save some room for these.
This is one meal where you will need to unbuckle that belt towards the end. For $45 a head, you are getting an extravagant but inexpensive gourmet high tea, one where there has been some real thought put behind it. Perfectly crafted and exceptionally delicious, this is the real chocolate lover’s heaven.
ABODE Bistro & Bar’s Chocolate High Tea
Park Royal Darling Harbour
150 Day Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000
9260 2945
Fri 2pm – 4pm, Sat & Sun 11.30am – 1.30pm & 2pm – 4pm
Starts at $45 per person.
http://abodebistro.com/chocolate-high-tea