Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Taking Tea at Lovejoy's Tea Room (Lots of Snaps)

Gentle Friends... after running around Saturday morning, Rico and I were off to have a cuppa at our local tea Shop,  Lovejoy's Tea Room.

A couple of years ago I got a Gift Certificate from some friends of ours and had never used it.  The main reason for taking so long to use it is that this is a "reservations only" type place - and not because they are snooty in any way, it's just that they are very popular and the place is on the small side so there are only so many seating's a day they can handle.

With the new year I was determined that now was the time to go...... so a couple of months ago I set up our reservation, you have to call it in and have a couple of options for when you want to come.  I got my first choice - woo hoo!!!

Now, this place is in our neighborhood, only a few blocks away, but down two pretty big hills so we decided to drive and gave ourselves plenty of time to find parking.  Mid afternoon Saturday Parking in Noe Valley is almost non-existent - however luck was with us and instantly we found parking, which never happens - and that gave us an extra 30 or so  minutes to kill before our 1:15 reservation with a pot of tea!!!
_____________________________

Across the street from the tea Room is their little Lovejoy's Attic so we went in there and here are some snaps............

.... the front of the store sort of sets the mood for the inside

.... there is a ton of tea related paraphernalia and stuff just everywhere.....

....... more cute stuff...

... even some mini tea sets.....

... and tons and tons of cups and saucers covering just about every flat surface.....

... in a back room are these tea cake/sandwich stands and.....

....bags of their loose tea .......
_______________

At about 1:10 we walked across the street and let them know we were there and were instantly whisked away to our table for two......

.... I think one of the more charming aspects of this pace is their lack of pretense, especially in using all mismatched stuff - in fact from the furniture and decorations to the cutlery on the tables nothing matches ........

....  our table set for two - there is a little table between us and a table for four that is there to set the tea pots on.....

.....  to our right was this table ready for six tea enthusiasts..... eventually a group of six young ladies came in celebrating a birthday, in fact the table to our left was also a birthday celebration - it is that kind of place a sort of special outing place for a special occasion.....

.....  here's the menu, we both had a "Queens Tea" - 
my two sandwiches were the ham and English mustard, and pear and Stilton, 
Rico had the chicken salad and the ham and cheddar cheese special of the day......

... the tea we chose was the Black Vanilla with lavender, I really enjoy and prefer black flavoured teas and Rico was game - and it turned out to be quite a tasty pot o'tea!!!


....  from my seat this was my view of more things to see and peruse...

.... our pot of tea came quickly and then this tower of goodies came just minutes behind the tea.... they are known for the scones they make and let me tell you, they were certainly delicious!!!!.

....  I added two sausage rolls and they came with a brown BBQ sauce that was quite nice.....

...... toward the end of finishing off the sandwiches, salad , and cole slaw out came these delicious warm from the griddle crumpets..... I almost couldn't eat mine, I said almost.....  but I did and it was delicious!!  There were a couple of sandwiches and some of the slaw left over and when it was time for use to choose our petit fours I asked if we could just wrap up what was left and take it and the cakes home - the waitress wrapped everything up and it was a great treat a couple of hours later!!  (forgot to take a snap of the cakes - but I got a lemon one and Rico got a Key Lime one)
_______________

All in all it was a super special afternoon, everything was top notch and just perfect - no rushing - no hassle - and simply delicious.  I think if I had any kind of a criticism it would have to be my own thing, that if you are going to serve a tea cup then the finger hole should be big enough to put your finger through.  My cup although a great size had the decorative finger hole that was more for show than for go (go look at the picture, that hole was the size of a very small dime if it was that big) - but now I'm quibbling - it is a great place and we'll certainly be back. 

 I would highly recommend this place, but be forewarned that you should absolutely make reservations to be assured of getting a table.  Especially on the weekend as they are always packed, we did see a couple try to get a table when we were being sat, they eventually came back and were sat as we were leaving so they had a good two hour wait to get in.
____________________

That's about it for today sports fans, thanks again for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,
edgar

18 comments:

  1. Beautiful experience--makes me wish I were a tea drinker. Love the mismatched china, furniture etc

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing your tea experience! Looks and sounds like a very fun time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a delightful post! The tea room and shop look so inviting. Thanks for sharing the photos. Did you see any teacups with feet? I try to buy them when I can but they are getting rarer all the time and the price keeps climbing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The food and tea look delicious! I love a good tea room.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such a beautiful shop! I would be afraid to walk in the door! You know that saying "bull in a china shop"? totally me! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dearest Edgar: I have had the pleasure of tasting some of their teas, a friend of mine has a daughter and her partner living in S.F. she does bring me a treat every so often.
    Of course I make her lattes to drink.

    Happy Easter to you and Rico

    Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would love to go here! The food looks wonderful. I so enjoy your food posts. My sister and I were in San Fran a few years ago. I wonder now where we went.....none of the places you post about. I wish I had *known* you before our trip.

    Paula

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm a "coffee kinda girl" but would love to visit that tea room!
    Thanks for all of the great pics…I was able to do a bit of window shopping. :-)

    Question: I was just on the HOE blog and saw Jayne's post ~ lovely exchange piece you sent her….BUT where did you get that awesome Wizard of Oz note card???

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the vicarious visit! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I see what you mean about the tiny finger hole on the teacup. lol! I might have been able to use it -- I have very small hands and fingers. Looks so so wonderful! I know I would have walked away with at least one teacup and saucer. lol!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love your posts about the fun things you do in SF. This was great! First a fun shop and then a delightful tea room. All the food looked very good and what a nice way to spend a Sat. afternoon!

    ReplyDelete
  11. To use your words...you had a super special afternoon ~ well this was a super special post. I will be back to savor each and every photo you took. Thank you Edgar...you are a special person.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow, what a darling place. Must tell Jeremy. Will be in SF on the 9th maybe we all can get together

    ReplyDelete
  13. I hope to someday experience Lovejoy's Tea Room when visiting my son, but I will certainly be sending him to Lovejoy's attic to buy me some tea and maybe a new teapot. I do love my tea. Black teas are my favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a great place and a wonderful experience for both of you. Reminds me of the tea room we went to at Edinburgh castle. wish we had something like that close to us.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I really enjoyed your story of your day out. The shop and the tearoom both look lovely. A little part of England in America!
    Nicola and I visited a tearoom like that after our trip to the V&A last year.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This all looks absolutely wonderful. I don't drink tea but would happily eat here. x

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a lovely post - thank you so much for sharing. When I take my world trip in 2017, there are so many places that you have described that I will be wanting to visit. This is certainly one of them.

    ReplyDelete

“In every end, there is also a beginning.”

 Gentle Friends, I finished the sampler last night and here's a snaperooo... Village Square Sampler from Samplers Remembered   1/8 - 3/2...