High tea at Rochelle Adonis

When it comes to celebrating my birthday I prefer to keep things relatively quiet these days - dinner with the boy, plus my girls and I usually forgo presents and take one another out for dinner instead. This year with so much happening in my life it was a nice deviation from my standard approach to have a girl's high tea at Rochelle Adonis. 

Recently my best friend Carly and I attended a contemporary designs flower class with Twigged by Tali which was held at Rochelle Adonis's new premises on Beaufort St. It was such a fun night (I love flowers - though if you follow my instagram you'll know this) and the icing on the cake was the delicious snacks provided. It was enough to pique my interest in Rochelle Adonis for sure. 

Veuve

Having a birthday in July can often feel a little limiting. It almost always rains on my birthday, and it's just so damn cold that most of the time I just want to curl up in bed and laze the day away. But one perk this year is that Rochelle Adonis were waiving the corkage for champagne during the month - which meant we could enjoy a lovely bottle of Veuve that Carly brought with her.

Sitting down at a high table with my three closest girlfriends Carly, Vee and Linda I already felt like it was the cherry on an amazing weekend. It's not often I get to hang out with all of them at once so it was a real treat and we all dove into the experience, chatting happily as we place our orders for tea.

Queen of Hearts

With adorable china our tea comes to the table. We've all chosen different options including Earl Grey, English Breakfast and Apple and Cinnamon. I opt of the Queen of Hearts tisane which is berry and vanilla, and spells just like heaven. It's light and sweet, just what I felt like!

Savoury course

Before long the savoury course for the afternoon is presented. Starting from the left and moving clockwise there's:

• a smoked cheddar croquette with pickled relish (I can't remember the substitute for this)
• a cucumber and dill aioli finger sandwich (Carly's substitute has same fillings but GF bread)
• a goats cheese and beetroot tart (Carly's substitute goats cheese and beetroot tart)
• an orange glazed ham cube, and 
• a pepper roulade (Carly's substitute caramelised onion tart).

Carly's gluten intolerant and suffers from fructose malabsorption so her plate is a little different - I've put them in brackets above. It was great to see that Rochelle Adonis cater for dietary requirements, though I did notice that they didn't seem to have a grasp of what fructose malabsorption is since Carly was given a caramelised onion tart - onion is one of the worst things you can eat when you suffer from this intolerance. She didn't mind though, instead swapping some bites with me so she could try the croquette and I could have some of the tart. 

Croquette and finger sandwich

The croquette is crunchy but a little colder than it should be. I like the smokiness of the cheddar and the tang of the pickle underneath. Starting off with the only hot item I then move onto my favourite of the day - the cucumber and dill aioli sandwich.

How on earth can something so presumably simple taste just so delicious? I actually can't comprehend it - and the girls are quick to sing out their agreement. Delicious, thin slices of cool cucumber go hand in hand with the soft fluffy bread (sans crusts) and the herby creamy aioli. Yummy!

Goats cheese and beetroot tart

Goats cheese and beetroot are such a classic flavour pairing so this is was a guaranteed good bite. I was expecting the pastry to be crisp when I bite down but it was more of a soft pillow like dough. Definitely took me by surprise!

Honey cured ham

The honey cured ham is deliciously sweet and well infused with flavour. The meat is tender and juicy, and I love the little segment of fruit that accompanies it. Just the right element to lift the bite in my mouth.

Pepper roulade

Sadly due to my capsicum intolerance couldn't try the roulade but I was happy to offload this onto Vika who gobbled it up. Shame because it looked really tasty!

Strawberry popsicles

After the savoury course plates are cleared we get a top up of tea and then are presented with a frosted bowl of strawberry popsicles. They're so pretty and they taste amazing - chocked full of strawberry freshness with a sorbet like consistency.

I've seen so many photos of popsicles from Rochelle Adonis online and these ones looked just as good - and taste better!

Sweet course

The sweet course comes out as a big share plate stacked full of goodies including:

• Rochelle Adonis signature sundae with brownie and chocolate fudge sauce
• Chocolate jaffa cake
• Hazelnut nougat (I think) tart
• Vanilla meringue with strawberry

Gluten and fructose free dessert plate

Carly's dietary requirement friendly dessert plate has:

• Rochelle Adonis signature sundae with brownie and chocolate fudge sauce
• Chocolate marshmallow
• Chocolate covered caramel balls
• Chocolate and vanilla cupcake

I'm pleased to see that she doesn't miss out on the sundae that we're all completely falling in love with bite after bite. It's like a McDonalds hot fudge sundae on speed. So utterly moorish and decadent - I never wanted it to end. The best of all the desserts by far.

The rest of Carly's plate looks good but I can see that it's all chocolate and nothing fresh like our meringue with strawberry. Fructose malabsorption does limit natural sugars like honey and most fruits, but berries are fine so I give her half my strawberry to provide some much needed freshness to her palate. 

Signature sundae

As for our desserts on the standard plate, I liked the sundae and the meringue the best. I'm not the biggest fan of jaffa as a flavour but the cake itself is soft and ethereal, just the right amount of sweetness included in the creamy icing. The hazelnut tart is a bit too tough for my tastes and teeth so I end up abandoning that bite halfway. 

At the end of the meal the girls and I are still a little peckish so Carly jumps up to ask the waitress if we can purchase some extra cucumber sandwiches. She's given the simple answer of 'no' to which she then asked if we could buy some take away treats - again with a 'no'. While I understand the core business is high tea and they might have only enough portions to last the seating, it would have been great for them to be a little more accommodating. 

The same waitress actually told us off earlier in the afternoon for talking when she put the plates down - granted she was about to explain the dishes in the savoury course, but it felt a bit like we were in school and the naughty kids!

Outside of that though, I did enjoy our afternoon at Rochelle Adonis. The setting of the restaurant is just lovely and for the most part the food was delicious. I definitely will be trying to replicate those finger sandwiches at home - they're so addictive! Part of me does wonder if the price tag of $55 each is worth the amount of food we were served though... I haven't decided. But for a birthday day out, it was a beautiful place to visit and added a specialness to the weekend.