Tracy
User's reviews
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Miss Minerva's Tea Room & Gift Shop
Tea, Lace & Roses is a fun teahouse. Beautifully decorated with lots of character, the teahouse is one of the prettiest ones i've been to. The drive from DC was horrible, as we were stuck in traffic for 3 hours on the 66, but despite our 1 hour lateness we were greeted graciously. The teahouse is quite small and narrow, one side of the teahouse is the tearoom and the other is a small gift shop. We were seated at the back near the 'dress-up' room, a room filled with boas, hats, jewelry, gloves for the guests to wear while drinking their tea. The server brought us a large tray with their selections of teas in spices jars. This is their tea sample/list. We thought this was a clever way to help people decide on which tea to choose as you can unscrew the tops to sniff the teas. They must have had at least 50 different kinds. My husband and I ended up ordering the Tea for Two for $30. The food is served on a three tiered tray and we got bottomless pots of tea as well. We got one large chicken salad croissant sandwich (split in half), two scones, two halves of a baked cherry tomato, two cucumber sandwiches and two tuna fish sandwiches. To be honest, other than the chicken croissant, the rest of the food was quite unmemorable, crusts not cut up properly, the selection of desserts unexciting, the scones were as flat as a cookie(albeit warm) and the lemon curd was quite gooey. We enjoyed our surroundings and the staff was very nice and attentive but I think we will not be revisiting the teahouse for the average selection and quality of food.
Tearoom response:
Please accept our apologies for your dissatisfaction with Tea, Lace & Roses. Excuse my confusion, but I am not sure why we only received four stars for service and three for artistry. You commented on how gracious we were, even with your late arrival and no phone call to let us know you were on your way. Your review also states how you found the teahouse to be 'beautifully decorated with lots of character.' We pride ourselves on not only our decor, but our selection of teas, our food and its presentation and our customer service. We make a point of going to each table several times to see if there is anything we can get for our guests or if everything is okay. Unfortunately, you did not let us know that you were displeased with the food. We would have been happy to get you something else to eat. The Tea for Two you selected comes with one dessert per person, hence the lack of a selection of desserts. The Full Tea and the Afternoon Tea both come with three desserts per person. I am sorry if that was misunderstood. The scones we serve are not the biscuit type that we find to be dry. We bake our own that are a cross between a cookie and a cake. I can't help but think that your horrendous three hour trip to get here may have tainted your view of Tea, Lace & Roses, which I can fully understand. If you will contact me through our website I would like to invite you to come back and give us another chance.
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Serenity Tearoom & Fine Dining
Situated in the heart of historic Frederick surrounded by an array of antique stores, Serenity Tearoom is the perfect respite from a long morning or afternoon of antiquing :) Serenity tearoom has two sittings. One is between 11-1pm and the other is 3-5pm. I misunderstood what that meant and arrived at 12:45pm. The tearoom has two sittings starting at 11 and ends and 1pm (oops!) Thankfully Blanche was kind enough to seat us for a quick afternoon tea. About the food: Our afternoon tea was delightful! You receive a three tier tray of traditional tea sandwiches (ours were cucumber rounds, flavored cream cheese with cherry tomato and tiny but delicious cashew chicken in ity bity tart shells), warm raisin scones, date bread and assorted desserts (a layered bar with a graham crust and chocolate chip/coconut topping and tiny custard tarts - so yummy!) ending off with enormous chocolate covered strawberries (one dipped in milk chocolate and the other in white) You have your choice of lemon curd or homemade strawberry jam with clotted cream for the scones. About the tea: Serenity Tearoom has over 50 assorted types of tea to choose from. We were very hungry so I didn't have time to go through the extensive list but ended up choosing Monkey tea (which was delicious and cut the sweetness of the desserts) and a peach iced tea (Carolina style). Despite the sweetness of the iced tea, it didn't taste overly sweet but refreshing. The hot and iced teas are refillable with the afternoon tea order. Overall, we had a wonderful time. The service was gracious and prompt, without feeling rushed. I would highly recommend anyone who would want a nice relaxing tea experience to make a reservation at the Serenity Tearoom.
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The Dunbar House Tea Shop
We went to the tearoom after reading the boston globe article, the food is absolutely wonderful! We had their split pea soup with warm bread (nice chunks of ham in a thick soup) the ploughman's sandwich (roast beef with warm break again and two wedges of white cheddar) and the afternoon tea. The warm cranberry scone was fabulous as were the sweets. The whipped cream they served on the side was a little strange but doable. Don't be deceived by the picture, the dining area is very small, if you can make reservations do so, it was very crowded when we were there in January.