Deco Lounge
Decadent High Tea
On a lazy Sunday afternoon we decided to head to The Deco Lounge at The Hotel Tasman to use John's birthday voucher. The weather was dreary so an afternoon of food and tea sounded like just the ticket! We were given a warm welcome and ushered to a window table. The lounge has a plush atmosphere with cosy furnishings and intimate tables. It is essential to book and high tea is only offered on weekends. We were both very hungry as we had been warned of the generosity of the high tea! There are outdoor seating options but it was too chilly for us to consider this. Other brave people sat outside to enjoy coffee :-)
We started with a glass of delicious Clover Hill sparkling, which was included with our voucher, and we savoured this as we perused the substantial tea menu. Patrons can select from a wide range of teas or have coffee if preferred. It was difficult to choose as they all sounded delicious.
Once we ordered our pots of tea, the high tea was presented and each dish explained in detail. The chef certainly has created some amazing food combinations and utilised local produce as much as possible.
It was recommended that we start with the savoury layer and then move on to the scones and finish up with the sweets. It was all immaculately presented! A Japanese influence was evident throughout the menu.
The savoury dishes were absolutely delicious. We enjoyed every tasty morsel which included a crayfish roll, a pork ciabatta, a mushroom arancini ball and a chicken sando. Each of these was delicious but the highlight was the sando. It was listed on the menu as katsudo shokupan. The crumbed chicken was between slices of charcoal Japanese-style soft bread(shokupan) made by Pigeonhole Bakery. It was a wonderful combination of ingredients and tasted divine.
The scones were huge and served with cream and a choice of jams. One scone was flavoured with lavender and the other was plain. The scones were kept in a lovely dish to keep them warm so they were ready whenever we chose to indulge. We tried valiantly but had to take some of our scones home in a doggy bag!
The sweets were gorgeous! They included a pear tart, genmaicha panna cotta and a religieuse pastry, filled with hazelnut cream. The panna cotta was a favourite for me as I love this nutty, roasted Japanese tea. John enjoyed the pear tart with the melt-in-your-mouth pastry and the ample filling.
The religieuse pastry instantly brought back memories of our canal cruise in France where we enjoyed this treat in a little bistro we visited for a dinner. Each of the sweets were beautiful to look at and had a story about where local ingredients were sourced.
To finish our meal we enjoyed chocolates handmade by local artisan, Nutpatch Chocolates. They were delicious.
The theme for the high tea was seasonal and highlighted autumnal produce. It was stunning and we left very full and happy. Highly recommend a decadent high tea here!
The whole place is accessible with level access and accessible toilets close by as part of the hotel complex. The service was very friendly and attentive. We could have purchased more bubbles but really enjoyed the constant refills of the teapots.
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