February 22, 2012

Sweet Pea

The ingredients of a good high tea:
·         Lovely surroundings
·         Cute china
·         A variety of teas
·         Tasty food
·         Lots of it

Sweet Pea in Petone mixes all of these ingredients together, with the icing on the top being a cute cupcake to take home!

As soon as you walk in and see the delicate china you know that this is not just another cafe in Petone. The pastel ‘lady like’ colours of the decor and the gorgeous aprons of the staff set the tone for a different experience from your usual latté and brownie with the girls. (Which I do enjoy as well...)

Not only do the staff look the part, they are very welcoming and friendly. We had a gluten intolerant person and a vegetarian with us. Both of them were looked after with discretion. The ladies left us alone to enjoy ourselves, but they did pop by every now and again to check that we were OK.

Now, I have to admit that I am not a high tea virgin, I feel I know what I am talking about when it comes to ladies nibbling delights from tiered plates. Sweet Pea definitely delivers delights; flavoursome food from the savoury sandwiches through to the sumptuous sweets. I would recommend booking for the early afternoon and not eating lunch. I’m glad I did because I had enough room for all of the tiers, including the obligatory scones with jam and cream.

The range of teas on offer means that everyone should find something to their taste. For the non adventurous type there’s the tried but true English Breakfast, but if you want to try something new there are white teas, infusions and the list goes on. I’m not into drinking something that is supposed to taste like flowers so I tried Paris (only two down on the list from English Breakfast). It had a lovely vanilla flavour to it, but is still felt like I was drinking tea. I was a little disappointed that I could only try one, but the apron-ed ladies did come back to refill our hot water. If you are adventurous and you really like your tea, you can purchase a very cute tin of it to relive your experience at home.

In my non virgin status I feel I can safely say that Sweet Pea delivers an amazing high tea experience. I think that it helps that they are set up for ladies enjoying themselves. It is not just the food, it is the staff and the decor that scream ‘high tea anyone?’. Even the toilets look like something you’d expect to find when you go for high tea. Lovely pastels, cute mirrors and not a urinal in sight!

Like this place on Facebook and take your friends to the cutest little cafe Petone has ever seen. They’ll thank you for it, especially when they get to choose their own cupcake to take home! If you are not in the mood for high tea, you can just pop in for a quiet cuppa or a coffee, their cabinet food looks delicious too.

What are you up to next Sunday afternoon?

Venue: Sweet Pea, 259 Jackson Street, Petone
Price: $23 (high tea)
Times: 10-5 Wednesday-Sunday

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