High tea at Betty's Boutique Hotel

 1 May 2024

 

High Tea at BETTY’S BOUTIQUE HOTEL 

3 Duke Street, Mossel Bay

 

The wife treated her parents (who live in Hartenbos), her brother, wife and kids (who live in Mossel Bay) and me to high tea to celebrate her mother’s upcoming birthday, her brother’s recent birthday and even mine (almost been lost in the mists of time) by then, in a boutique hotel, with 5 rooms, if memory serves, in one of the very old,  charming, characteristic stone houses that still abound in  central Mossel Bay which gives the heart of the town an olde worlde homogeneity, a rarity in this country.

 

Our table was set on the very broad, wide stoep with a magnificent view towards the sea and over the manicured formal garden below, on a rather splendid day for al fresco feasting.

 

The high tea was R195,00 per person and included a tour of the interior of the house. The hotel was unoccupied, so we could have an in-depth examination of each room.

 

The porcelain ware were fine China, befitting the general aura of reviving the early 20^th century splendour of the furniture, decoration and mementos on show throughout the house. It was a tad over decorated and elaborate for my taste but it sure was thematically consistent and if antique furniture floats your boat, you’re in for a treat.

 

The nosh was served on the standard three tiered stand, with a selection of crustless sandwiches on the bottom tier, three sweet pastries each on the middle tier and one plain and one cheese scone per person on the top tier. Whipped cream and strawberry jam were on the table. If memory serves, the hot drinks options were filter coffee, English breakfast tea, Earl Grey tea or orange juice. 

Our host was an Englishmen (the son-in-law of the owners who hail from Yorkshire) and he made a big deal of how authentic this high tea was compared to other versions thereof he’d encountered in South Africa, and I suppose, on reflection, it pretty much your basic high tea and not to be compared with the much more elaborate, and more expensive versions we’d encountered in Cape Town where, for example, there are far more sweet than savoury items, sometimes a glut of sweet pastries if you ask me.

 

I prefer more savoury things, as too much sweet stuff can become a challenge.

 

I enjoyed the tea. My large pot of excellent Earl Grey tea was far more than I could finish and the mix and quantity of items on the tier was satisfactory.

 

Although the general consensus was that everybody enjoyed what they had and didn’t go hungry, some thought the basic, shop bread sandwiches were a tad too basic, that the scones could’ve been more substantial, that there could’ve been a greater variety of savouries and that more sweet pastries would’ve been good.  But, then, this isn’t the Mount Nelson and you’re not paying Cape Town prices.

 

The tour of the house, though absolutely fascinating, is perhaps not a vital add-on to the high tea. 

 

If you’re ever on holiday within easy commuting distance from Mossel Bay and feel like a bit of high tea with a grand view, Betty’s Boutique Hotel offers a decent tea and a view you’ll be happy to experience.