The Tea Terrace, Guildford

We had been planning long ago to go for an afternoon high tea session. The last time we went shopping at House of Fraser, Guildford, Ika and me discovered this cute English tea house situated on the building's rooftop.

 

 

What intrigued us most was obviously, its beautiful, cosy interior tinged with a little rather posh ambiance. They have got a lot of colourful well-cushioned chairs, pastel colours painted wall with framed paintings and quotes on it. There are even some comfy sofas provided, which is perfect after a long day of shopping. (House of Fraser just downstairs)

There's also a rooftop garden outside with a small man-made pond; you can walk outside to get the gorgeous view of Guildford town and also the green hills beyond. It's absolutely a lovely place to sit down and have a great natter over lunch or simply splurge on luxurious cream tea and cakes.

     

One of our weekly entertainments is to find out more and more eateries in Guildford. The last time we found a Malaysian style fusion restaurant, we went all crazy over it. But after a while we went there so many times until we are sick of it already. I think even the waiters there could recognise us. lol. And then we found out some nice Chinese restaurants as well, and our latest addiction is an authentic Thai restaurant located at upper High Street. Haha! I will blog about it someday.

So back to our story. We told the others about our 'great discovery' and they were all very interested as well, including Nicholas lol. It's his birthday during reading week actually. Since he is always okay mingling with the girls to chat over anything and everything *coughs coughs* we decided to bring him to the tea terrace.

Melody at the rooftop garden. Though the snow has already melted and temperature has already edged up (a little), it was actually still quite cold outside that time because the wind was blowing vigorously (as you can see she's holding her hair). It'll probably be a better time to sit outside when it gets a little warmer during Spring.

Yes, you're right, it's an elephant teapot! omg. Cuteness overload!!!!

It comes when you order a tea for two I guess.

Or you'll get the slightly normal ones (still very pretty!) when you order just tea for one. Nicholas and Ika picked Jasmine while Melody chose Mint. I got myself Earl Grey, which costs 3 pounds. Free refill of hot water.

Before going, I did read up about some reviews on The Tea Terrace and there were several negative feedback regarding their slow service and also poor food quality. Apparently, many said that they serve really good coffee and tea and also scones and cakes but other than that don't put much expectations on their savoury menu.

From our experience, their service was ok that day. Quite good in fact since one of the waiters was very friendly and he passionately helped us to light up the cake and bring it to Nicholas as a surprise. In addition, I remember that we did not wait very long for our meals to be served. I guess you just have to avoid peak hours like lunch time or weekends to get a greater experience. (We went on a Wednesday afternoon around 2pm)

Melody's pick. I forgot the name of the dish..something like cheese on toasted bread.  

 

Ika and her Smoked Salmon Sandwich with chips.
She was rather shocked and disappointed when they serve her the crispy chips instead of the, you know, fish & chips' chips.

Regardless of that, the sandwich was delicious! (she gave me one small bite)

  

Nicholas's burger and chips. Here you see, they gave him the chips Ika wanted. LOL.

But really, how do you differentiate these on the menu??

Beef cottage pie for me! :)

It wasn't that bad actually, I was kind of happy that I've chosen this dish. The only down side is that for the same amount of price I am paying for, I could have gotten something more in other places, if you get what I mean

I don't get why people complain online about how bad is the food served there and that they will never go again yada yada. To a certain extent, I do agree with those reviews but you shouldn't forget that the main concept of the this Tea Terrace is literally, serving good afternoon tea. And yes, they do have an array of really tasty, soothing tea selection and I personally enjoy my Earl grey tea very much.

So I guess when you pay there a visit you should adjust your mindset that you are not going there for a really good hearty lunch. Instead, indulge yourself in the unhurried afternoon with some heavenly good cakes. And for our case, to have fun using the beautiful looking china tea set and taking lots of pictures. *asian*

And then it's dessert time! (Or should I say our 'main course' haha)

Cappuccino, Lemon, Vanila + Caramel.
Chocolate cake was out of stock by the time we went to choose at the display counter :(

Happy birthday Nickkyy our little brother :D

Brilliant tastes we've got there. Cakes were really good.

  

Utilised the tea house until maximum- sat there until sunset. Haha. We all agreed that it was a really relaxed day, just chilling there and chat, jolting ourselves out of the busy uni life (which will resume next week) Life's good.