Afternoon Tea at Garden View Tea Room Review

We had wanted to try out Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Tea Room for a while. We’ve had reservations in the past but we had always ended up canceling for one reason or another. Since we were going to be staying at Bay Lake Tower I wanted to give it another shot. I made reservations for Memorial Day because I knew the parks would be crowded and we wanted something a little more relaxing to do.

The Garden View Tea Room is at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. We’ve never stayed at the resort but I always enjoy visiting. Our reservation was at 2:35 that afternoon so after some shopping at Basin White we checked in and only had to wait a few minutes before we were seated.

Since this was our first visit the Cast Member that was our server went over the menu with us. We both enjoy tea but it’s not something that we are well versed in so I was happy to hear all of her recommendations. After going over everything she gave us some time to think about it and made sure we knew there was no rush. It was nice to be encouraged to relax! We both decided to have the Buckingham Tea but we each chose something different for our tea pot. Drew decided to have the Garden View Blend which is one of their signature selections that is described as a blend of Assam and Keemun black leaves wtih the floral overtones of flowery Early Grey. I had one of the seasonal selections called Peace Through Water which was a calming herbal tea with Chamomile, lavender, and lemon. Both were wonderful and I was extremely happy with my choice.

The first course of the Buckingham Tea is an assortment of sandwiches and an onion tart. We each had a cucumber and watercress, egg salad, salmon, curry chicken salad, and roasted pear and gorgonzola sandwich. If you just want the vegetarian options just let them know. The cucumber sandwich was my favorite. It had a thin layer of cream cheese and I loved the addition of the watercress. Drew’s favorite was the curry chicken salad.

The next course had a golden raisin scone with jam, devonshire cream, and lemon curd. I cannot even begin to tell you how delicious this was! The scone is warm and all three accompaniments were wonderful but the devonshire cream was my favorite. You also get a jam tart that is yummy.

The final course was dessert. We had three options strawberries and crème, two house-made pastries, or an English trifle. I decided to try to of the pastries. The bring a tray out with all of the options available so I chose the chocolate eclair and the cute swan with berry cream. I mean how can you pass up that swan! Both were delicious and thankfully small because I was getting pretty full. 🙂

Drew had the English trifle. It has to be one of the prettiest desserts on property. I love the logo on top! It was a creamy pudding with bananas, strawberries, sponge cake, and whipped cream. I didn’t get to try any because Drew pretty devoured it. Apparently it was good!

We had a wonderful time at the Garden View Tea Room. It was such a fun and relaxing experience. We were seated near the window so we were able to watch the hustle and bustle outside as well as an afternoon storm roll in. We could also hear the wonderful piano play in the lobby. It was just a lovely way to spend an afternoon.