Memoirs of Aleisha

Afternoon tea number 2 of 5 during my week in Sydney last year.
The venue: The Westin Hotel located in the GPO building of Martin Place. It’s an architectural historical icon in Sydney, or at least I think it is. It also oozes suits. The interior is fancy!
The lucky dining companion was my older brother. No one in my family escapes being dragged around to high teas with me.

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

I really liked the concept of the traditional (heritage-style) contrasted with the new and modern. This is reflected in their menu. There are two high tea menu offerings – the Heritage Afternoon Tea and the Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea. Why choose one, when you can have both. We opted for one of each so we could each then share and sample both. Yes, all in the name of comparative research.

From Westin afternoon tea

The Heritage Tea option:

From Westin afternoon tea

The Mad Hatter’s option:

From Westin afternoon tea

Champagne:

From Westin afternoon tea

Here they are side by side:

From Westin afternoon tea

Portions are somewhat on the smaller side.

From Westin afternoon tea

This was the modern traditional one:

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

It looked pretty and fancy, but it was lacking in flavour.

The desserts were different and not your typical fare:

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

On the Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea tier:

From Westin afternoon tea

Bonus points for colour and creativity. But the flavour profiles weren’t so great. They were not the most palatable dishes. But they did make for great photos. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of icing, so all this coloured icing was a bit of a turn off for me. But how cool does it look!

From Westin afternoon tea

Alice in Wonderland represented: The watch, the hat and the Queen of Hearts.

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

There was only one of each so we had to cut each item in half so we could sample everything. This got very messy.

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

Now you can see why I am an advocate of new/fresh plates for each tier at afternoon tea. It should be standard.

From Westin afternoon tea

Splitting the salad was a lot more difficult:

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

I thought the scones here were good:

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

What I also enjoyed about this venue, is that you can have as many different teas as you like. I am pretty sure this is the only venue in Sydney I’ve been to so far that allows this. Most venues restrict you to one blend of tea. You can have as many as you can muster here. I think I only through 2 or 3 different teas here.

From Westin afternoon tea

And the tea selection from memory was quite extensive. I got a black tea of sorts, probably some breakfast blend and also got a jasmine tea:

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

The GPO Building interior is also worth checking out. It’s home to some fancy stores and dining establishments.

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

From Westin afternoon tea

I have mixed thoughts about this one. I think on the whole, it would be a positive high tea review. Unlimited tea is a definite bonus. Nice building location. And the food was pretty good. Menu definitely looks good on paper. I liked the modern touch to this place and the creativity of the menu.