The Mount Nelson Hotel
Entrance, Mount Nelson
We went to high tea at the Mount Nelson hotel, the oldest hotel in Cape Town. The hotel sits below Table Mountain on a spectacular piece of land right in the city.
The hotel reminded Dana and me of The Biltmore in Santa Barbara where our son Darin and his wife Lara were married.
It was a national holiday, National Woman’s Day, and there were a number of tables filled by women friends celebrating the day.
High Tea delicacies
The presentation of the tea was formal with thirty varieties from which to choose. Our waiter who was one of those excellent service professionals helped us with our choices. Dana had an orange tea infused with spices and I had a green tea that was specially dried over a bamboo fire. Both were excellent.
The tiered server in the center of the table held cucumber, egg and salmon finger sandwiches, scones (with clotted cream). plain croissants, chocolate croissants, jelly stuffed powdered donuts, tiny quiches, herb muffins, sweet rolls, apple tort cake and dark chocolate cake with butter cream icing .
Flowers next to our table
The table was set on the back terrace of the hotel surrounded by gardens. Palm trees and roses abound.
Terrace, Mount Nelson
We spent almost three hours at tea trying a number of different varieties. I tried one called “Gunpowder” because the tea leaves are rolled into little balls like shot when they are roasted.
Thirty plus kinds of tea
The sun was shining, the palms were sparkling as we sat enjoying the decadent repast on the terrace in the middle of the South African winter.
Beautiful winter day
MedFlies 