Elise's Tea Room

On Jan 7th 2011, Shaunna and I took an adventure to Long Beach, CA where she had found a cute tea room for us to try out. All things considered, neither one of us are overwhelmingly picky - we're both food-loving, tea-loving people, so as long as everything tastes good and is served fresh, it's very difficult to go wrong. Elise's Tea Room definitely didn't let us down!

Their menu was a good size. It wasn't overwhelmingly large, which gave me a good feeling that anything we ordered ought to be good. The variety came in the different combinations of lunches or teas we could order. Being that we were visiting for lunch, we both opted for the Luncheon Delight Tea at a reasonable $10.50, which included a pot of tea, three tea sandwiches, and a scone with assorted jams.

I got a small pot of the black currant tea. I was slightly concerned the tea would be too light, but the size of the pot and strength of the leaves was just perfect for the flavor. One lump of sugar and a splash of cream made it just right! (Not to mention that the china in which it was served was adorable.)

The scone was fresh, warm, and absolutely delicious. I could have easily had a lunch of a platter of scones. It was served with a small plate of three toppings - a berry jam (my favorite!), Devonshire cream (also delicious), and a lemon curd (tasty, but too strong for the scone. It tasted much like the filling of a lemon bar.)

After the scone was sadly gone, out came our sandwiches! There were choices of the types of tea sandwiches. I opted for cucumber, black olive, and egg salad. The cucumber was just as I had hoped - light and crisp! The black olive was my least favorite of the three. The flavor was great, but it seemed the sandwich was less "filled" than the olives seemed only to be on the outside of the bread. Last but not least, the egg salad sandwich was simple and good - which can really describe the entire tea room.

Some tea rooms I've visited have been a bit intimidating or overwhelming, either in that the employees seem condescending, the menu is presumptuous, or the environment is bare. Elise's is warm and inviting; I felt at ease for the entire tea service.

In addition to the wonderful food and tea, I also found the tea set I have been searching for at an unbeatable price! But that I will save for another post.

Fondly, Aimée

P.S. As I was just so kindly reminded by my partner in crime, our tea excursion would not have been nearly as entertaining or awesome if it weren't for the old women sitting adjacent to us. They themselves were not particularly notable, but their conversation involving a big (not fat! - this is important) orange cat nicknamed "Lady Marmalade" definitely left us dying of silent laughter for a good portion of our tea service.