Crown & Crumpet

It was an unbelievably gorgeous day in San Francisco last Saturday - high 60s, sunny and warm. This is why I live in this part of the country. We headed up to Ghirardelli Square to try out a new adorable tea room called Crown & Crumpet. Open about 4 months, it serves, breakfast, lunch, dinner (on weekends) and of course, my personal favorite, afternoon tea.

I seek out afternoon tea with a passion - I'm a big tea drinker anyway and I love the three tiered cake stands, finger sandwiches and scones with clotted cream. My two favorite places in SF are Lovejoy's (but too busy, always need a ressie) and the Neiman Marcus Rotunda at Union Square (afternoon tea is just so-so but they have good scones and the best view).

I may have a new favorite now - C&C did not disappoint. Not only is the decor lovely, they have customized dishes and the best teapot with a built-in strainer that you can raise out of the level of the tea with a small adjustment of the end. And a lovely bay view with Alcatraz in the distance.






We were a party of 3 adults, 2 kids and one baby - so we ordered the afternoon tea for two (one pot with Earl Grey and one pot with their house blend), plus two nursery teas for the kids (served with a rich hot chocolate). It all arrived on tiered cake plates, with finger sandwiches (the egg salad was delicious but the best was a lovely pear and blue cheese sandwich), nice crumpets, 3 small scones and some desserts including small cookies, brownies and an odd bright pink cupcake thing.

I preferred the savouries over the sweets, which is actually a common occurrence. I would have ordered their sausage rolls but they only serve those on Fri and Sat evenings - will have to make a special trip to try those sometime soon. The house blend tea was just ok but the Earl Grey was exceptional (sourced from the Tea Palace in London and available for sale at a rather exorbitant $5-6 an ounce). In fact, there was a delightful little shop just off the entrance that sold the aforementioned cool teapots ($48 but I didn't pull the trigger just because it was such a large pot), all the dishes and cups and lots of other cute little gifty items.

The service was welcoming and friendly and the owner seemed lovely in my short little chat with her. This would be a great place for a birthday celebration or a shower (one was taking place in the corner when we were there). There's patio seating available in addition to the indoor space. And finally, they brought two cute candy bracelets for the kids with the bill.

I can't wait to go back!