Victorian afternoon tea

Waitresses clearing the table - cake trolley on the left

What a fabulous and funny weekend we have had - more of that on a later blogpost. I am currently printing like mad, a pile of work stuff, before heading out to the office at the shed. So while I am doing that here is a quick glimpse at the most amazing find in Oamaru.

Aaron had just done the wrong thing with his plate (must teach  some manners)

We went to Oamaru for the historic centre which we have gone to before and was great fun. On the corner of the Victorian prescient we found a new tearooms which has only been open just over a year. Annies Victorian Tea Rooms. Opening Day newspaper article . It is 1 Tees St, Oamaru. I cannot give you a website as she does not have one but there are also articles about her in the Historic Places Trust website.

Tea for me

This is a true Victorian Tea Rooms. We just happened upon it by fantastic design. Everything about it is authentic. They all wear the old uniforms, even the cooks in the kitchen whom you do not see. They cut the bread at the table if you order bread, butter and jam. If you order cake then the trolley is brought to your table and you select the cake, it is cut in front of you and served up with cream and berries if you wish. Even the boys icecream sundaes arrived in china cups, homemade (and gorgeous) icecream. We all had tea and took a while there. It was so fantastic that we went back the next day for lunch (Sunday) and on that day to cap it all off there was a man tinkling the ivories in the corner.

They also follow etiquette of the time. The boys and I went in first while Aaron was at a bookstore, he had said to order for him. The waitress would not take an order for a Gentleman " as without the gentleman being present as it does not pay to order as you may order something that the gentleman does not really like".
This is the place to take your mother, your grandmother, your sister..... Having said that the boys and Aaron really enjoyed it too. It slowed you down for a while and made you appreciate the little things. Fantastic.

Next time we go back we are going to go in period costume.

Cutting the bread for bread, butter and jam for Eli

A happy Jakob

Serving the cake up

Jakob having to select a cake