High Tea Spots in LA

Ava Adams '17 and Clara Lacey '17

High tea is a tradition that originated in popularity in the mid-1700s as an afternoon meal between 3 and 4 o’clock. It was intended to bridge the time between lunch and dinner, but the meal gained prominence as an important social activity for the British upper classes. Today, the practice of high tea is readily accessible at many tea shops for anyone seeking an afternoon snack, a period of leisure time, or a time to connect with friends. We ventured to four places offering high tea in Los Angeles and rated our experiences.

  1. Peninsula High Tea in Beverly Hills

Though this was the most costly, it was incredibly worth it in terms of quality of tea and snacks. After entering the luxury hotel, we sat down in “the living room” overlooking the green hotel exterior. Clara and I ordered one traditional tea which came with a choice of tea, the menu of finger sandwiches, scones and petit pastries and a glass of champagne. We originally planned to order two traditional teas; however, we noticed the great deal of food given for one platter and we decided to split one. First, we were given fresh strawberries with homemade whipped cream, which were absolutely delicious. Both of our favorite finger sandwiches was the camembert, tomato, and pesto. The scones given with the homemade cream and jam were the best aspect of the foods for us both. The Peninsula’s signature tea is “The Belvedere,” with hints of dried fruit. Ava chose the Tahitian Vanilla, which was a delicious black tea, while Clara chose the Darjeeling tea, which has an amber and delicate flavor. Overall, this was a very special experience that we would definitely recommend.

  1.  Cafe Demitasse Santa Monica

Demitasse had a nice cafe, homey feel and was a fun place to go after school and drink tea and eat bread or small pastries. We would recommend going here after school to have a nice break from school and doing homework. Though this cafe focuses more on coffee, it had a good assortment of green, herbal, and black teas. We both enjoyed their spicy chai tea and ate locally made challah bread.

  1. Pacific Dining Car in Santa Monica

Pacific Dining Car was a very old American-feeling establishment right on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. Afternoon tea is served from 3:00 to  5:30 everyday. They offered assorted sandwiches, scones, and petit fours along with your selection of tea. Ava ordered the Earl Grey, while Clara ordered the Organic English Breakfast.  Because of its old feel, we would not recommend this being a place to drink tea with friends, but rather with family and relatives.

Courtesy of Discover LA
  1. Ye Old King’s Head in Santa Monica

We did not visit this restaurant, but it offers authentic English tea served Monday to Saturday from 11:30 am to 4:00 pm. They offer afternoon tea for two, traditional tea, and royal tea which comes with champagne. Along with tea, one gets finger sandwiches, sausage rolls, quiche, scones, pastries and eclairs.

Courtesy of Twitter