Girls' Day Out: Scarlet Tea Room

Did the girly thing. English style afternoon tea. Exchanging christmas presents.

We went to the Scarlet Tea Room in Pasadena - you can see the red glass door on Green St when you're driving or walking by. Once inside though, you're greeted with a gorgeous english style dining room with shiny chandeliers.
Since our other friend didn't want to be eating sandwiches that day, she opted for a steak salad while Kat and I went with the afternoon tea menu ($32).

The tea selection is quite extensive and interesting. Kat and I decided to share our teas and we got the "Once Upon A Tea" (infusion of chocolate bits, vanilla, mint & a secret) and the "Fiji" (Flavored green tea w/ papaya and wild pineapple).

The tea is served still steeping with the leaves inside the pot, but you're given a strainer.
They will refill your hot water indefinitely, but I still don't like this style of serving tea - this way will cause you to 1)oversteep your tea and 2) diluting the tea when you continuously resteep it.
True that it's 'cheaper' if you want to drink a lot - but it won't be as good as a properly steeped pot of tea like they do at Jin Patisserie.

I did like the "Once Upon A Tea" quite a bit! Has a nice rich, slightly sweet taste :)

They present your scone/sandwich/sweets on this gorgeous tower of plates:
I like the tower presentation, as compared to just plates laid out on the tables like at the London and Jin.

Among the two of us they gave us two scones to share: blueberry and cinnamon.
The scones are not bad but nothing special. This just reminded me of the oh-so-buttery-delicious scones at The London.

For the sandwiches I got Olive tapenade and roasted red peppers, chicken tahini, salmon & chive spread, and prosciutto.
I did like the olive tapenade (I think I liked this the most) and the chicken tahini, but the smoked salmon and the prosciutto were unfortunately a bit dry - not enough salmon/meat slices and spread.

Next was the petit fours plate (split between two people). Chocolate, cream puff, etc. Pretty standard stuff.
The sweets were okay. Not bad, but nothing special either. The sweets at both The London and Jin Patisserie are better.

The afternoon tea is finished off with some Strawberries Romanoff
This is actually a pretty small dish, not as big of a deal as we were expecting.

Scarlet Tea Room has a much more extensive tea selection than The London, and the space is also beautiful. Food-wise though The London still wins out, and sweets-wise Jin Patisserie is winning hands-down. Still, tea at the Scarlet Tea Room is a nice experience with a nice atmosphere and presentation.
Next ... Four Seasons Tea Room? :)

Scarlet Tea Room
18 W Green St
Pasadena, CA‎
(626) 577-0051‎
www.scarlettearoom.com