There are certain English traditions that we enjoy keeping and will never go out of style, such as enjoying a roast dinner on Sundays, grabbing a meat pie for lunch, and catching up with friends over an afternoon session of high tea. Originally started in the 1840s in England and reserved for the wealthy, high tea is now a popular experience that can be enjoyed by anyone who has a sweet tooth for jam, cream, scones, cakes and tea!
To discover where the best high tea rooms are in Melbourne, we’ve created the ultimate high tea guide so you will know exactly where to find them! Read on for the finest tea house Melbourne can offer!
If you are searching for the most authentic high tea experience in Melbourne, then look no further than The Hotel Windsor, which has been serving traditional Melbourne high tea since 1883. Upon arrival, you will be greeted with your choice of either champagne or French sparkling wine.
Their high tea menu can be broken down into three categories; sweets, savoury and sandwiches. The savoury menu features delicious treats such as heirloom tomato, fried capers and ricotta tart, and gougère with roasted pumpkin and comté cheese. The sandwich menu offers a mouthwatering selection, including sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and pastrami on toasted rye bread, and cucumber, spiced fennel and crème fraîche on fresh white bread.
Finally, the sweets menu is a playground of delicious options such as hibiscus madeleines, creamy mille-feuille with gianduja (a chocolate paste made with ground hazelnuts), Chou à la Crème (French cream puffs) with mascarpone, saké and blueberry, and chocolate sponge with orange mousse and marmalade!
Website: The Hotel Windsor
Address: 111 Spring St, Melbourne VIC 3000
The NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) is home to some of the most fascinating collections of artwork and sculptures – and is also home to one of the best high tea spots in Melbourne. The Tea Room inside the NGV, located on level 1, offers diners a modern interpretation of the traditional high tea experience. Served with a hot teapot of Devonshire tea, their high tea menu features a wide selection of savoury and sweet options inspired by their major summer and Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibitions.
You can choose from their selection of sandwiches, including blue cheese, celery and poached chicken breast, cream cheese, apple and fennel, and mustard, cucumber, mayonnaise and ham. If you’re in the mood for something a little more hearty, then they also offer heavier options such as bœuf bourguignon with kipfler potatoes and clam chowder with bacon lardon.
Their talented team of pastry chefs offer an irresistible sweet menu, including Japanese Black Forest cake with Hojicha sponge, raspberry marshmallow lychee cake with rose-scented cream, and their popular almond dacquoise, strawberry and watermelon cake!
Website: The NGV Tea Room
Address: 180 St Kilda Rd, Southbank VIC 3006
Who said the best afternoon tea in Melbourne had to be expensive? For a more affordable high tea experience without sacrificing any of the quality, the Royal St. Collins Cafe & Tea Salon is the perfect option when meeting friends or enjoying a spot of afternoon tea with your partner.
Their high tea includes a set selection of sandwiches such as smoked salmon with herbed cream cheese, chicken with spring onion and aioli mayonnaise, and grilled vegetables with basil pesto. Their mini dessert platter offers a choice of their signature sweets, including delicious macaroons, walnut banoffee mousse, orange blossom, homemade rose water and date scones, and raspberry and lemon meringue tart.
Royal St. Collins also offers a wide selection of Harney & Sons tea, with flavours such as peppermint, raspberry, earl grey, chamomile, prana chai, rose, dragon pearl jasmine and many more!
Website: Royal St Collins Cafe & Tea Salon
Address: RG03/260 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
As another affordable yet exceptional high tea experience, The Austen Tea Room is quietly nestled along Nicholson Street in Essendon. And if the name didn’t already give it away, the tea room is heavily inspired by the love for author Jane Austen.
Walking into The Austen Tea Room is like stepping back in time and visiting what it was like to have high tea in a quaint little tea room during the Victorian era of England. You can expect authentic high tea sandwiches such as red onion, beetroot, cucumber and cheese, along with salmon, chicken, ham and turkey sandwiches as well.
Their dessert menu offers warm, homemade muffins, cakes, macaroons, biscuits, citrusy tarts, and freshly baked scones served with cream, jam and your choice of fruit. You can also choose from a selection of refreshing loose-leaf tea such as lemongrass, ginger, English breakfast, chai, organic vanilla and many more.
Website: The Austen Tea Room
Address: 40 Nicholson St, Essendon VIC 3040
The iconic Hopetoun Tea Rooms are named after the wife of the first Governor of Victoria. First opened in 1892, the Victorian era is alive and well inside this historic venue. Enjoy some live grand piano as you enjoy a full authentic English tea room experience.
Be ready for luxury as the key elements of English tradition start with the concierge welcoming you in a white Hopetoun uniform. You will then inspect the selection of tea sets dating from 1896 to 1999 as you walk into the High Tea section to try the world’s finest speciality teas served as they were in 1892 and accompanied by various savouries and pastries. This experience is as traditional as the high tea experience gets!
Website: Hopetoun Tea Rooms
Address: 421 Bourke St, Melbourne
The Tan offers much more than a full display of the latest Lulu Lemon catalogue; in fact, right next to the running track, you’ll find Jardin Tan, a high tea experience with sustainability as its focus. Most of the produce is grown in the organic garden before it is turned into a chef-selected sweet and savoury nibbles plate that you will receive with a glass of bubbly when you arrive.
From there, it’s all homemade scones, free-flowing tea and coffee, and a beautiful garden setting that can’t be beaten!
Website: Jardin Tan
Address: Royal Botanic Gardens, Birdwood Ave, South Yarra
The Westin Melbourne, in collaboration with Jing Tea, offers an Asian-inspired high tea experience using some of the rarest herbal infusions available directly from farmers in China, India, Japan and Taiwan. This is paired with traditional favourites like scones, finger sandwiches, and a range of seasonal delicacies.
You can even bring the kids along, thanks to the Le Petit High Tea for children aged 4-12. Your kids can enjoy their own high tea experience and leave with a Westin teddy bear while you relax for the adult version.
Mary Antoinette has inspired Brunswick’s Mary Eats Cake who offer a range of high tea packages, which have exquisite options for vegans and the gluten-intolerant – everyone gets to eat cake.
This brunch and high tea mixed experience also has the option to blend into a winery tour, giving you the perfect excuse for some day drinking. There are bottomless scones, mimosas and a winery trek through the Yarra Valley, should you so choose. We recommend making it a big one and going for the gin high tea, the perfect pairing for a stack of cake.
Website: Mary Eats Cake
Address: 558 Sydney Rd, Brunswick
‘Officially’ called “tea” by the Queen of England, high tea (also called “afternoon tea”) is traditionally served between the hours of 3 pm and 5 pm and features a selection of elegant finger foods such as homemade scones with jam and cream, crustless sandwiches and a variety of tea. High tea is basically the fancy equivalent of an early dinner, with a lavish assortment of nibblies rather than having one full meal.
As high tea was originally for the upper-class members of society, don’t expect to find any snags, burgers or sausage rolls on the menu.
High tea typically begins with a three-course selection of savoury sandwiches with the crusts removed and cut into neat little fingers. These sandwiches can include ham and brie, egg salad, smoked salmon, cucumber and butter, and more. Depending on where you go, savoury items can also include steak and kidney pies or casserole dishes.
You will then move on to the sweet delicacies, such as freshly baked scones with homemade jam and clotted cream, lemon curds, marmalade, teacakes, shortbread, carrot cake and tarts. Everything on a high tea menu is ‘petit four’ (meaning “small oven” in French) and is small, bite-size portions to be eaten with your fingers.
High tea is not the same as going to a restaurant and ordering a meal – it’s about the entire dining experience, which is reflected in the price. There are many factors at play, such as using fresh, quality ingredients that are sourced locally, the variety of food prepared and served, and the fact that customers stay much longer during high tea. However, there are affordable high tea options that can be found in Melbourne.
The dress code for high tea is usually smart casual, but no one will judge you for dressing up in your best attire. If you’re a stickler for the traditional rules of high tea or wanting an excuse to show off your proper etiquette skills, then here are some of the main rules to follow during high tea:
High tea is an indulgent experience that everyone should try at least once in their lives, whether they’re wanting to stick to the old-school etiquette or looking to enjoy a more casual and relaxed atmosphere.
The next time you are organising a catch-up with some friends, make sure you visit some of the destinations on this list to enjoy some of the best high tea that Melbourne has to offer.
