Miss Marple's Tea Room

Miss Marple's Tea Room

382 Mount Dandenong Tourist Road, Sassafras

(Ph) 9755 1610

It was the 24th and it was a Sunday so I told P to organise something since I always organise everything =P He told me we were going for a 4 hour hike at the Dandenongs... I was shocked =O He also told me not to eat too much breakfast 'cause we were gonna eat there... hmmm eating and hiking? I went along with it since he organised it all. It was a dreary raining day... I said we should cancel the hike but he said we should still go and maybe it'll be clear at the Dandenongs? Ugghh.

The GPS said we had to go through Toll Road. Since I was added to my dad's eTag account, we decided to not avoid toll as the trip was going to take 1 hour and we woke up late and left home 40mins after schedule. Turns out only the Burnley Tunnel was the toll bit and that bit cost $6.10 o_Oa now I know for future reference lol.

The trip ended up only taking about 45mins, P thought I'd take 2 hours 'cause he thinks my driving is crap =P and he kept telling me to slow down at the mountainy roads at Dandenong but I was fully in control of the car! Now he's jealous I'm pretty good at driving and he wants to drive now too haha =P

We got there and I recognised the strip of shops! I remember I had been to the Dandenongs with my parents a few years ago =) I had heard about Miss Marple's Tea Room from reading blogs and things, when I saw it I knew P was taking me there for brunch! =D I had never been before so I was very excited - had heard a lot of good things about this place =) P was trying so hard to hide the place from me but I knew already hehe ^____^

They don't take bookings so you have to physically go in and wait for a table. We got there at 11.45am and they said there'd be a table at 12 noon which was not too bad. And lucky we got there then, because a few minutes after us, 5 groups of people came and the wait time was 20-30mins o_Oa We were going to go for a walk in that 15mins but it was so cold an dreary we decided to just sit inside and wait.

It was Christmas in July so there was Christmas decorations everywhere - felt like we were transformed to a magical place ^____^

The waiters are all dressed in little maids uniforms here! And most of the waiters are old ladies - so very adorable!

We got our table at 12 noon, and we got a window table! =D

The menu is separated into sections -
- The First Chapter... to whet your appetite!
- Miss Marple's Famous Fingers... an open grill
- The Second Chapter... something to really get your teeth into!
- Devonshire Scones
- The Final Chapter... your just dessert!

There was so much to choose from! We decided to order one Famous Fingers and one item from the Second Chapter to start off with, then order desserts afterwards.

I got the Miss Marple's Famous Fingers - smoked salmon, egg, cheese & caper fingers $14

Smoked salmon fingers

It wasn't really what I expected. Looked so small and plain on normal sandwich bread - we were expecting foccacia or rye bread or something. But it was surprisingly very tasty! It's very easy to make but it's a very delicious combination! And I don't normally like capers but the saltiness went well with the egg and cheese. Shall try making this at home one day =)

P ordered the Beef cottage pie - this Country England specialty is a delicious potato topped pie accompanied by Miss Marple's own sauce $14

Cottage pie

He was choosing between the Cottage pie and the Quiche Lorraine but ended up with the Cottage pie 'cause it sounded more special. We thought there'd be a crust on the pie so that was a bit disappointing. There was 80% potato and 20% mince beef and vegetables - we thought there'd be chunks of beef not mince =( Miss Marple's own sauce was very delicious though - like a tomato relish sauce. P said he should have got the Quiche Lorraine instead - next time just to go for what he really wants =P

We finished our mains and still had lots of room for dessert =D We decided to get one serve of the Devonshire Scones and to get 2 more desserts and drinks. I said that was too much but P said the scones are small and like an "entree" to the dessert lol. The waiter thought we were crazy ordering so much food! She wanted to take the menus away but P was like "and also one of this... and this" HAHA

We decided to get Vicar's Folly - a delicious congregation of butterscotch ice-cream, honeycomb pieces, chocolate, whipped cream and caramel fudge. A sundae that is definitely "heaven sent!" $12.50

Vicar's Folly

Oh my gosh it was massive! And was DELICIOUS! We were going to have the scones first but since this was icecream and was melting, had to dig into it first =D Butterscotch icecream and honeycomb pieces... my favourite! <3 Definitely heavenly sent ^_____^ Too bad they put so much whipped cream on the top - hate cream =(

Since it was Christmas in July, we decided to try the Christmas Pudding - a time honoured recipe served with hot brandy sauce $14

Christmas Pudding

Wow the sauce was SOO alcoholicy! o_Oa The Christmas puddings I'm used to doesn't have this much alcohol in it so I was very shocked. And I didn't realise the actual pudding is so rich and dense! I thought it'd be like a sticky date pudding =( The sauce had so much alcohol in it that it sort of ruined the pudding =( well I guess that's 'cause I really don't like alcohol... oh well it was worth a try!

We ended the meal with Mixed Devonshire Scones served with 'Miss Marple's Own' delicious home-made raspberry jam and lashings of freshly whipped cream $8.50

Devonshire Scones

And it was delicious! Glad we saved the best till last! =D The scones don't look like traditional scones, they look more like teacakes. But boy they were delicious - not too dense but not too fluffy, just scone like =) Their home-made raspberry jam was delicious! We finished that bowl and asked for more jam =D And I don't normally like cream but this cream went very well with the scones =D

P ordered a Teapot of Taylors - house blend of "Yorkshire Gold", traditional brew with a rich satisfying flavour, not only Miss Marple's favourite, but voted "best cup of tea in England" by the British Tea $3.50

He was going to get English Breakfast tea but thought should try their specialty. He said it doesn't taste that much different to English Breakfast but I think it tastes like a mix of English Breakfast and Earl Grey =)

I got a Hot chocolate with marshmallow $3.50

Hot Chocolate

I was initially going to order a mug instead of a cup 'cause it was only 70c extra, and lucky I didn't... I was STUFFED after it all =D At first I thought the hot chocolate wasn't very tasty but then I realised a lot of the chocolate was at the bottom! Mmmm what a great way to end a fantastic meal <3

Thanks P for organising everything! =)

8.5/10

C.
xo