Afternoon tea has become insanely popular around Orlando lately. In fact, I had never been to a proper tea before I moved here. There are plenty of options, but the classic Grand Floridian tea had not been back since the pandemic. After years of waiting, it returned in March, and I finally had the chance to try it.
Getting reservations is not an easy task. Mom and I tried hundreds of times at all hours of the day and night. Honestly, I think it comes down to luck. You have to be searching at the moment one pops up that works for you. I wish there was a more scientific way to go about attempting to land one, but there’s not. Early afternoon was when I have seen the most reservations, but it still took so many attempts.
Before I read anything about tea, I had pretty high expectations. After all this is the Grand Floridian, Disney World’s most expensive hotel with Michelin starred restaurant Victoria and Albert’s. As I saw some Instagram reviews, I lowered my expectations. It seemed the food wasn’t a hit for a lot of people.
So when I finally checked it out for myself, what were my thoughts?
I was pretty disappointed. It started at check-in. Our table was not ready for thirty minutes. I should note this is an entirely pre-paid event aside from the upgrades available like champagne, cheese, and caviar, running about $100 per person including tax and tip. We skipped the extras, since it felt like tea and I were getting off on the wrong foot.
The good news here is that the Enchanted Rose was open and we were able to go up there for a cocktail. I’ve been to the Enchanted Rose a few times, and generally, it’s a pretty nice spot. On this visit in particular, it wasn’t packed, service and ambiance were great, and the cocktails were exceptional. I would encourage you to check it out if you have not been.
Back to tea. Once our table was ready there seemed to be some confusion about allergies that persisted throughout the entire meal. I had gluten free bread but my friend did not, however, I believe we had the same gluten free, chocolate free desserts. I don’t understand this because I explained it over and over and over again. I do always encourage people to be their own advocates, but despite that, it still wasn’t accurate.
The tea itself was pretty bland regardless of which flavor we tried It wasn’t that hot either, which may be part of the problem. The scones were crumbly but honestly pretty good. As far as the savory food, the chicken salad is the absolute star of the show. With golden raisins and just the right amount of warm curry spice, I am still thinking about it.
I wish they had added curry to the egg salad as well as it was bland. Curry and eggs pair so well. The smoked salmon was pretty good, and the cucumber is fine, but it is what it is, cucumber and cream cheese, despite the butterfly pea tea used to make it blue.
And then there are the desserts. I don’t know about the regular ones since even my friend didn’t get them. In general, they are overly sweet and loaded with buttercream. We had to dig for the actual cake in the mini birthday cake and rose. They were nearly inedible. The marzipan cake square was pretty good and the linzer playing card was not bad. This is because these were more balanced bites, more nutty than sweet.
I wanted to love this tea, and I am glad I tried it, but I doubt I will be returning. If you can’t get a reservation or want an alternative, the Ette Hotel runs tea every Sunday, and the Four Seasons and Ritz run them seasonally. They are all better experiences with better tea and food.
I love tea as a fun and elegant afternoon out, and hope Orlando continues to up its tea game with new and innovative options.
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