Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

On Sunday I had the pleasure of being one of the first customers at the new Honey Cup Cafe and Tearoom in Manchester, NH. The Honey Cup is run by Mara, a B.A.B.E. student and burlesque performer a few years back. You know how much I love tea, so I’ve been eagerly following her updates about the project. It was so exciting to be invited to her soft opening!

Manchester is about an hour from Boston, but on a Sunday morning, the drive was easy and the autumn scenery was lovely, even on the highway. We entered through the cozy cafe and were seated in the much larger tearoom. The decor is very elegant: black walls, gold accents, and lots of floral motifs. We chose one of the low tables with a couch and armchairs, but there are standard height tables too.

The menu has a variety of breakfast, lunch, and small bite items without being overwhelming. It being brunch time, Scratch ordered the potato waffle with milk oolong tea and pigs in blankets to share and Marek had a frittata with white velvet tea. Despite being tempted by some of my favorite dishes like clam chowder, overnight oats, and macaroni and cheese, I ordered the afternoon tea service with peach black tea. I just had to.

All of the china was mismatched, but harmonious, floral patterns. The tea came in individual pots, with the tea already brewed, no leaves to deal with. Mine was delightful. I take my tea black, so I didn’t add any of the wee jar of honey (local, our server said), but Marek said it was delicious.

My order came on the traditional three-tiered server of savories, scones, and sweets, garnished with flowers, with dishes of butter, strawberry jam, and lemon curd. There was more than enough for me to share bits with my companions.

First tier: Cucumber sandwich (a classic!), smoked salmon sandwich, chicken salad on a croissant, and a deviled egg. The sandwiches were on thicker bread than usual for tea sandwiches, but it was so good and didn’t overwhelm the fillings. I even liked the deviled egg, and you all know how I feel about eggs. My favorite was the chicken salad; the croissant was ridiculously flaky. I didn’t share that one at all.

There was a choice of three flavors of scone, one of which gluten-free. I picked the white chocolate-raspberry and they were SO GOOD. I have very high standards when it comes to scones and these met them. I particularly liked that the white chocolate was in chips rather than melted into the dough, in made for a more pronounced white chocolate flavor, with complimented the raspberries.

Lastly the sweets. We all agreed the madeleine was quite good (but not as good as mine) with a perfect bump on the back. The lemon macaron and chocolate petit four were each a perfect bite (and I did not share).

Other positives, even though the tea room was full, it wasn’t particularly noisy; I had no trouble hearing my companions. The prices were perfectly reasonable. In fact, I think the afternoon tea was a pretty good deal. Although we didn’t indulge, there’s a small drinks menu with a couple of kinds of wine, cocktails, and bubbles.

The only thing I would knock points off for is the service, but I’m not going to, because this was their shakedown cruise. There was a little confusion about who was serving which table and a bit of unevenness as to when things arrived at the table. However, I’m confident that things will smooth out. That’s the whole point of a soft opening.

I appreciated the notes on the back of the tea menu defining the kinds of teas, like cream tea (with clotted cream) and royal tea (with sparkling wine), for those who might not be as well versed in such things. I was especially happy to see the explanation of the difference between afternoon tea and high tea — it makes me crazy when they are confused.

They’re open to the public now and I encourage you to go! I’m so happy for Mara for making this lovely oasis a reality and wish her all the best!

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