Wentworth High Tea @ Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney CBD

Do you have a friend who, even though you may not have seen each other for ages, when you do eventually catch up it’s as though no time has passed and you just pick right up where you left off? One of my best uni friends and I usually only meet up once a year over high tea (it was literally a year to the day when we last met up) and spend a couple of hours catching up and it is like we’re back at uni again 🙂 The scene of our reunion this year was the Sofitel Wentworth on Phillip St in the city.

Wentworth High Tea

I always get a bit excited seeing a triple-tiered platter of cute mini eatables – the Wentworth High Tea has a decent selection of savouries and sweets and it took me a while to try and find a camera angle that would enable me to fit all of the food in the one shot!

(L-R) Cucumber dill on white bread, Roast beef on whole wheat bread with horseradish butter, Smoked salmon on ciabatta bread, cream cheese, cherry tomato, capers

From the bottom layer, which featured a fairly common range of sandwiches, I really liked the cucumber sandwiches that were cloud-like, with bites that just melted in your mouth. Smoked salmon is a favourite of mine and you can’t really go wrong when you combine it with cream cheese and capers, with the crunchy ciabatta adding texture to the smooth creaminess of the sandwich filling. The roast beef was pleasant, however I wasn’t able to taste the horseradish butter.

(L-R) Scones with cream and jam, quiche lorraine

The scones were unfortunately rather dry and crumbly, however I did enjoy the quiche lorraine which was delicious and didn’t have an overly strong eggy flavour that some quiches have.

(L-R) Spinach and pumpkin muffins, sultana cake

The spinach and pumpkin muffins were scrumptious and surprisingly light in texture, however the sultana cake was the opposite – heavy and dull.

(L-R) Opera square, éclairs, tartlets

I liked the Opera cake, with its lovely, slim layers of sponge, ganache and buttercream. The eclairs and tartlets, on the other hand, were both dry and hard, and I did not finish either.

(L-R) Macarons, The Wentworth Cheesecake, lemon meringue

Lemon and raspberry macarons were both tart and tasty, however I would have loved more filling. I was very keen to try the Wentworth Cheesecake, which according to the Sofitel Wentworth website was “resurrected from an original recipe created around the time the Wentworth opened as Sydney’s very first five star hotel in 1966”. It was unlike any cheesecake I have tried before, with layers of alternating cream cheese filling and sponge cake, topped with a tile of cream cheese icing. I really liked how it tasted and it was far lighter in texture than I expected. While I didn’t like the pastry shell of the lemon meringue, the lemon curd filling and the meringue were perfect, with the meringue in particular being incredibly glossy and silky.

TL;DR:

• The food was hit and miss, but the service was very friendly and helpful.
• When I called the Sofitel Wentworth to make a reservation on the morning of the day that we had planned to have high tea, I was told that 24-hours notice was usually required, however the receptionist checked with the kitchen and they were able to accommodate us that afternoon. Which was very nice of them, although I’m not entirely sure why they require that much notice, especially as the lounge in which high tea is held was practically empty when I arrived.

Sofitel Sydney Wentworth
61-101 Phillip Street
Sydney NSW 2000
T: (02) 9228 9188
W: Wentworth Afternoon Tea

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