Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Taking Christmas Tea At the English Rose

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to get to celebrate the upcoming Christmas season with some old friends


We decided to go to the English Rose in nearby Pleasanton since this is one that I've told one of my friends so much about! It was kind of a late time for tea but our appointment (the last available table open for that day) was for 4pm. We arrived to gorgeous festivities not only at the tea room but also all along the downtown Pleaseanton area.

Upon arrival, our cozy table was set up and waiting for us decked out with a tangerine ambrosia salad and a sugar cookie for each of us. While we perused the tea selection deciding on which tea we would like the tea server came around with a pot of their seasonal candy cane tea for samples. She soon then came around again with warm moist towels for us to use before our tea service began.

The tea spread was a lovely prix fixe menu for the holiday season. It started with the sugar cookie and tangerine ambrosia salad and was soon followed by a three tiered plate of five assorted tea sandwiches which included a cucumber sandwich, egg salad sandwich on wheat, chicken salad on butter croissant, a sweet and savory wrap, and a basil and tomato filo, then there were two savories, a fresh scone accompanied by lemon curd, clotted cream, and strawberry preserves, a mini raspberry tart cake, mini mocha cheesecake, chocolate coconut petit four, grapes and slices of oranges, all finished with a small tiramisu. I'm sorry to say I forgot to take pictures of the small tiramisu but I am not sorry I ate it.

While it was a fine tea, there were some things that I had a bit of gripe about. For instance, the menu itself, while seeming a bit fuller than their usual tea fair, did not really seem to come with any special Christmas theme in mind which was a little disappointing. Another aspect of this tea which caused me a bit of heartache is that for the Christmas season the English Rose added an extra seating to their usual three seatings for Saturdays but because they had more seatings than usual it seemed they also rushed us out a bit faster than usual. I am one that really likes to eat slowly and enjoy my meal for any meal time but especially more so while out to tea. I feel like tea should be a leisurly affair and should not be rushed. It was sad to see that during a holiday tea when you have even more reason than usual to relax and enjoy celebrating with good company, that it would be a somewhat rushed affair. Another change that the English Rose did during their holiday tea which I did not care for was that they only allowed two tea pots per table at a time, meaning each of the guests had to agree and pick teas to share. While they let us change out the tea as often as we liked, I found it made things a bit difficult. I'm usually really careful about getting decaffeinated or herbal teas when I go out for tea but since we were all sharing teapots it made it especially tricky to control this while still be gracious to the friends I was out with.

Overall though, despite my misgivings about the seasonal changes the English Rose made, we had a lovely time out to tea out celebrating the Christmas season and enjoying good company. I will definitely come back to the English Rose again but will probably skip their Christmas tea in the future.












Outfit of the Day: 
For this day's festivities I chose to wear something that would be in a bit of a Christmas theme. I picked my Bernie Dexter Sugar Doll dress in Red Toile which I bought a couple months ago from a friend. I paired it with a red cardigan I got several years ago from Nordstrom Rack, red Ecco flats I found on ebay, a red toggle button overcoat I got a couple years ago from Target, and white ankle socks. To keep extra warm, I also wore nude tights under my socks.  For finishing touches I wore a lollipop necklace I bought recently on sale at Macy's available here and red ruby and diamond stud earrings my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas a few years ago.


Bernie Dexter Sugar Doll dress in Red Toile- Front View

Bernie Dexter Sugar Doll dress in Red Toile- Side View

Bernie Dexter Sugar Doll dress in Red Toile- Front View

Bernie Dexter Sugar Doll dress in Red Toile- Front View

Bernie Dexter Sugar Doll dress in Red Toile- Side View

Lollipop Necklace by SIS By Simone, Bernie Dexter Sugar Doll dress in Red Toile- Close Up

14 comments:

  1. Firstly, your festive outfit was adorable - loving the Dorothy-esque shoes and socks! The red toile is actually quite Christmassy isn't it?

    The venue looks wonderful for tea but what a shame about being rushed and restricted. The table does look a little cramped for 4 too. Menu sounds grear though.

    Another lovely outing through my computer! Thanks for sharing xx

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    1. Thanks Porcelina! As soon as I made the appointment for Christmas tea I knew this dress would be the perfect one to wear! I didn't even think of this dress as a Christmasy tea until I was trying to pick something out but it totally works! And LOL about the Dorothy-esque shoes and socks. My friend said the same thing that day!

      And yes, it was a shame about this tea place. It's usually one of my favorites but they just weren't up to par during this Christmas season. Hopefully they will go back to their old fabulous selves when the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season is over. And yes, the table is pretty cramped isn't it? I'm afraid that's the way it usually is with them though :(

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  2. it looks lovely too bad it did have good service the outfit is precious

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    1. Thanks Katherine. Hopefully they will step up their game for the next time!

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  3. I've never been to a tea service, but I also don't like tea, ha! It looks like a really cute place. Sorry to hear you didn't have the greatest service, though.
    You looked great! Ah, another lovely Bernie dress.

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  4. That's a shame about the service. Your outfit is absolutely beautiful though! I have a Blue Toile Bernie Dexter dress that I love so much! x

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    1. Thank you Kayla! I'm sure I've seen you in your blue toile dress! I love toile on dresses! It's such a beautiful print!

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  5. Lovely photos from your outing. Cute outfit, too! Sorry to hear about the troubles with the service.

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    1. Thanks Christine! A few set backs at tea but overall it was a lovely time! At least the food was delicious! ;)

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  6. Aw, I've always wanted to go to a tea place like that! And I have that dress and love it! I recently wore it with my "style twin" for a Twinsie Tuesday on Instagram. I like the way you styled it! XO
    Lauren-Blair
    www.prefertobedemure.com

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    1. That's such a great idea to do a Twinsie Tuesday! This is such a great dress! I hope you make it out to tea sometime! It's one of my favorite things to do!

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  7. Wow this looks absolutely gorgeous. The colour scheme is so pretty and perfect. Love your beautiful look too.

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