high tea in San Francisco? recommendations appreciated.
 

Hi all,

My husband and I are looking for a fairly affordable place with good ambiance for high tea. I have heard of Lovejoys - the menu looks great, but it's a little too "frilly" for our taste. We would appreciate recommendations. Thanks in advance!

-Erin

"frilly"??????? what does that mean exactly in this case?

Afternoon high tea at the Sheraton Palace Hotel is very nice, refined. But check/call to confirm which days they have it (I think its only on Saturdays).http://www.gardencourt-restaurant.com/teamenu.htm

Friends and I had high tea at the Fairmont once--it was lovely, not frilly at all.

I, too, have had Tea at the Fairmont; however, it is not inexpensive. I believe it was $48 or so per person. It was very nice.

Do you want high tea or afternoon tea? High tea usually includes hot dishes and is more of an (early) supper. The "high" does not refer to "high" class, contrary to popular use. Actually, "high" tea in much of Britain is more a working class meal than anything one would find in frilly surroundings.

The Palace is fab.

I forgot I also had tea at the Palace and recall it being nice. The room is lovely.

If Lovejoy's is "too frilly", what would you you call the Fairmont & Palace??

I can't imagine anything in the Noe Valley as being "frilly".

Stu Dudley

You can get 3 kinds of afternoon tea in San Francisco.

The first type is Hotel Tea. The Fairmont, the Palace, the King George and the Ritz all offer it. It's fairly expensive. Think approx $20/ per person. Of these I prefer the Palace over the others. I've never ponied for the Ritz, but to me the beautiful atrium at the Palace is just right. I find the Kind George to be serviceable but the decor is kind of sterile and reminds of the early 90's.

The second type is Frilly Antique Tea. Frilly in this sense means lots of late 18th C furniture and antiques and, well it IS frilly! There is another place I think called the Secret Garden out on Lincoln at around 6th that purports to offer the same thing. I've only driven past that place.

The third type of Tea you can get in SF is Asian inspired. I am sure there are a number of places offering such a tea experience, I can only think of two. One is a very casual tea you can order in the Japanese Tea Garden in GGP. It's minimal but in a beautiful setting. A different version is Samovar at 18th & Sanchez in between the Mission and the Castro. They have a website which is www.samovartea.com.

Koff -- 19th C furniture at the frilly places.