NOT TO BE MISSED!

Hopetoun Tea Room’s window is a breathtaking array of wonderful cakes & baked goods. You might have to wait a while to check it out while others ogle the delights, particularly if you want to take a photo. If your lucky, you may arrive just in time to be seated or otherwise have to join the eager diners waiting in the queue. Rest assured, once you have a seat the staff will give you their full attention & assist you with your choices of cakes, meals or drinks and answer any questions. Lovely, not to be rushed when their obviously so busy. As we were lunching at the Tram Restaurant we chose lighter options today such as scones & citrus tart. Sadly, the dazzling array only made the scones look very plain in comparison.

*** 3 stars for scones.

These were quite small, the jam was ok but the cream was nice & thick.

****4 stars for tart.

We’d recommend their wonderful range of teas. We had Fijian Green which had a touch of Pineapple & Papaya; Vanilla & Vietnamese Mint Black Tea;  Chocolate & Vanilla Rooibos Tea. These were outstanding & made our cakes so much more enjoyable. Looks like I’ll have to learn about types of tea now too! You can buy the tea here or online from Serendipi Tea.

The tearooms are in ‘ The Block’ in Collins street a fine old arcade full of temptations including Haig’s Chocolates but its small & quite crowded so it’s a challenge to fit everything on the table, as you can see. The staff are very nimble. Exercise is very important for Sconquesters too, so we high tailed it up to the Tram Restaurant which starts near the Casino. As usual, we got a little lost, but that just meant more exercise & we still arrived on time!

Time to catch our breath before we continue our day and venture onto The Tram Restaurant & St Kilda.

P.S. Look out for our further adventures at Hopetoun. **** 4 stars!