Tea Rose Garden is located in Old Town Pasadena, California. They're open from 10 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. every day aside from some major holidays. Reservations can be made via phone and their menu can be viewed on their website here. Aside from normal reservations, the Tea Rose Garden accepts large parties and private parties as well.
Atmosphere
The Tea Rose Garden is truly a dream for larger and private parties. The room is massive, upon entering there is a seating area full of couches and a large wire Eiffel tower towards the right, a host stand with a beautiful brown piano behind it on the left, and an indoor fountain directly in front. A bit further in there's a counter completely adorned with tea cups, tiers, teapots, and tea accessories for sale and a large decorated white fireplace on the other side of the room. Multiple French doors and windows line the wall behind the fireplace adding light and depth to the room.
20 or so two and four personed tables draped in white linen are evenly placed throughout the room with a cluster of large party tables and party accessories such as centerpieces, and arches towards the back. Greenery in the form of faux shrubs and plants adds a nice touch of color to the nearly all-white space. Classical music filled the space with covers of songs from "Diamonds are a girl's best friend" to "Tale as old as time". The water fountain complimented the calmness felt by the music and was a nice feature I wish that more tea rooms would incorporate.
Tea Experience
I arrived shortly after 10 A.M. as I at that time did not know that they accepted reservations (oddly enough there's no tab for reservations or mention of them in the majority of the website, just a small button a way down on their homepage that is linked to their phone number). I was quickly (though rather unenthusiastically) greeted at the front and was encouraged to choose my own seat, a nice two-seater facing the fountain next to the post of their white wooden pergola. After being given some time to review their menu I ordered the Signature Tea Rose Green tea and Garden Tea option that consists of 4 finger sandwich options, a choice of two salads, fresh fruit, mini eclair, cream puff, and cake of choice. I was disappointed to find that they use sugar packets instead of sugar cubes, use bag tea, and did not offer milk or honey (I typically don't take my tea this way but do believe that it should ALWAYS be offered, regardless of tea type). I opted for a regular flavored scone in place of the cake and the Mandarin petal salad. The salad was served first on organic greens which I very much appreciated, with crisp rice noodles, a few pieces of mandarin, scallions, and house sesame orange dressing. I have never had Mandarin in a salad before and was pleasantly surprised with how great it was, I really loved the crunch of the rice noodles with the sweetness of the mandarin and vinaigrette. Shortly after the first course, the tier was brought out, and it looked.. okay. The edible flowers were a nice touch but didn't take away from the mediocrity of the tier. Unfortunately, looks were not deceiving. The scone was dry and unappetizing, the "clotted cream" had the consistency of whipped butter and the cream puff and eclair tasted store-bought. Fruit that one would expect as a side at a breakfast chain was presented in a small dish at the top, I did not try it as I was not sure if it was organic and by the time the server stopped by and I could ask, I was turned off from the rest of the food. The only nice bit to mention was how soft the finger sandwich bread was, other than that everything was disappointing.
Overall Score
With such a lovely tea room that has been in business for over 25 years, I was expecting a lot more from their food. I absolutely recommend the Tea Rose Garden if you're looking for a cute spot for photos and tea. I'd also suggest trying the mandarin salad and a slice of cake as it's possible it's not as boring as the other food offerings but would absolutely not recommend any afternoon tea options. The theme of mediocrity earns the Tea Rose Garden a soft 2.5/5 stars.
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