The girls get together every Friday for dinner, drinks, whatever to blow off steam after a long work week, and on this particular day, Bosie Tea was chosen as the location.
Though the place was empty when we arrived and never filled up, the pastry case was lit up and welcoming. Service was attentive and friendly, and we were never ignored.
The menus were scattered with tea-related quotes. I thought this one was particularly cute. “Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn’t try it on.” Of course, in today’s day and age, how many people do you know who have a tea cozy? Shoot, how many people even know what one is? /shakes head (Full disclosure: I don’t own a tea cozy, though I grew up having them… and yes, I am sure I’ve tried one on in the past!)
Along one wall were shelves upon shelves of various loose-leaf teas.
Since all of us ordered standard tea service, and there were 6 of us, the towers were brought out with two tea services on each. We waited a little bit for our food, but I’d known going in that it would take a little while as the sandwiches are made to order after you order it.
On the top plate were two mini scones per person. Though this was on top, I ate these last, and as a result, didn’t really eat much since I was super full with everything else already.
The middle tier held our tea cakes and macarons. Everything is made in-house.
And on the bottom were our sandwiches.
Your choice of three; though AB and I (we happened to sit across from each other) chose independent of each other, we traded the one sandwich chosen differently from the other. Cucumber, salmon, chicken, and pickle & cheese. We both really enjoyed the salmon; the cucumber was very refreshing; the chicken was also very good… but both of us thought the pickle & cheese was odd. I’d expected a slice of cheese, but instead, it was shredded cheese. Granted, my experience with pickle&cheese sandwiches is very limited, but that wasn’t really what made it odd. I just felt the type of cheese and the type of pickle didn’t quite go well together for my tastes.
Jam and clotted cream for the scones, which I only used briefly… very tasty.
Last but not least, the cakes & macarons! I tried the salted caramel and the peanut butter & jelly, but unfortunately, the macarons were not up to snuff. The exterior didn’t have that crack I look for, and the filling was a bit greasy. The peanut butter & jelly one had a lovely taste to it though – it really tasted like pb&j – but the salted caramel slid around like it’d been warmed too much before serving/eating. Maybe it was – afterall, it sat on the tower while I ate the rest of the food. Either way, the flavor wasn’t bad, it was just the texture that really sent me packing. On the other hand, though, the cakes were lovely – chocolate orange was rich, moist, and had a light chocolatey flavor. The lemon cake was also moist, and the citrus brightened the cake entirely. A great end to delightful tea service!
(Edited to add: Upon rereading this before posting, I decided to Google around to see what others have thought of the macarons. I was incredibly surprised to discover first that other people whose opinions I trust found them to be fantastic, and second that the pastry chef responsible came to Bosie by way of Laduree. Either my tastes and expectations are way, way off, or I had a bad batch. I’m going to have to believe it’s the latter, because the exact things I look for in a macaron – specifically, the crack of the shell – were missing in my macarons [and my friends’ macarons as well], but described aptly in the other reviews. I suppose this just means I need to return to sample more macarons!)
Yvo says: Bosie Tea House is a lovely place to sit, relax, and enjoy tea service if you like that sort of thing. I love afternoon tea, tea sandwiches, so this place is excellent for me – and reasonably priced. The size of the place makes me think it would be a nice place to have a bridal or baby shower, too… which might just have to happen soon 🙂
recommended for afternoon tea service; those tea cakes are really awesome too!
Hungry says
I only know what a tea cozy is because a friend knitting one for me. Hahahaha!
Anyway, I’ve never had proper afternoon tea service. It seems so prim and proper.
Feisty Foodie says
It’s not prim & proper if you don’t want it to be! It’s a lot of fun actually. You can make it primp if you want. This evening, I actually embarrassed my friends (based on their reactions). One girl laughed when someone asked me how David Wright is doing (he’d just made it onto the DL when we went to Bosie) and I reacted poorly to her laughing at him being on the DL. I got shushed by my friends, even though the place was empty save one other table. Anyway, my point is just that it doesn’t have to be all prissy 😉
TT says
I know tea cozy because of Benicio del Toro in Snatch.
was watching that last night actually, ha.
Jenn says
Ohhh, tea service. Wonder if I have time to put that on the list… This looks lovely.
Feisty Foodie says
Yes, you do. Bosie is definitely a good place for that, though there are other places that may strike your fancy more, or be closer to other things you want to do.
Just a note: I can fit an amazing amount of things to do/see/EAT in one day. Bring very comfortable shoes, we’re going to do a lot of walking 🙂
T.C. says
So how do I try on the tea cozy? **wear it outside without shame
Have not done tea time before either. Hhhmmm.