Our 32nd Spot:

Son & Garden

535 Bryant Street Palo Alto, CA 94301

www.sonandgarden.com

[Again, my Spots are not misnumbered. Read our last Blog Post for full explanation.]

Since I had an unexpected hospitalization, I had to reschedule this Tea from last month. All over the confirmation emails, it says “nonrefundable” or “cannot be modified”…so I thought I was gonna have a hard time. Thankfully, the owner or manager I spoke with was so kind about the whole thing. It was easy to change my reservation, and she even understood me well all through my labored speaking voice.

You can see ALL THOSE FLOWERS from the sidewalk. I got there before my girls, and checked us in…taking all the hundreds of florals in. I could hear Miley in my head! Smaller venue than what I expected. I don’t know why or how these instagram posts or TikToks make these places look more massive and luxurious than they actually are…? Hashtag, click-bait…or wait, visit-bait! 😛

I’m so glad we made it in time for their Cherry Blossom Tea Service. Even tho I didn’t specifically know what it entailed, I just love that whole vibe. My daughter is big into cherry blossoms. Sometimes I call her “Sakura” and she answers to it! Hehe. We did that in Japantown once, and people kept looking at us as if in awe that we picked that for her name!! Her actual middle name IS in Japanese, chosen by my husband (who is infatuated with the culture).

Soon after our party was seated, they brought over their Welcome Drink: Spring Time (Japanese Sakura Flower, Fruity & Floral, Lemon, Bubbly Water). I only had a sip. It was pretty tho, came in a cute square glass cup, had 1 blossom floating around…very aesthetic. It was nice, sweet. And I love Welcome Stuff!! Have you ever watched that Vacation show on Netflix?! Every time they got to a new rental, they had Arrival Appetizers waiting on the counter for them! I was fascinated. I love Arrival Appetizers!! (can you tell?)

I had this place Pinned on a Board for a while. Looked really cute, had this funky appeal. Happy to’ve added it on the Tour, of course! Then I saw this ad or post somewhere of something called a “Bobamosa”. Looked so cool and the promo was so eye-catching! My Assistant (I don’t really have one, that’s just my gf’s nickname hehe) loves boba, so I showed her. Of course she’d be invited to this Tea. And of course she ordered it! We saw all these cool drinks coming out, with moss all over them and branches sticking out! Those weren’t her’s tho. Oh, here her’s came. Oh. She said it was just okay… Fully champagne (no juice involved) with strawberry popping boba. Here’s the promo, and here’s what she got… Not our first Instagram vs. Reality moment with this Spot.

You saw the table we were working with right? No tiers at this place. No, this Tea Spot presented their tea party food on CARTS!! Ugh, could you just die at all this floral cuteness!!?! I can’t. I couldn’t, then. We took all the videos + pictures + boomerangs we could! I joked with our table, “we can eat in about ten minutes!” Haha. Oh! I forgot to mention who I brought with me!? Okay, so- my Assistant (the boba-lover), and 2 dear dear friends (mother + daughter, but their relationship is so sweet they could be Besties!) that I’ve wanted to hang out with for a while now. Mom + sweet girl have never been to Tea, so Firsties!! (jazz hands emoji) So, they bring TWO of these carts out AND 2 medium size plates of scones + pastries. Where are we supposed to put all this stuff?? We manage to find room…but I could barely see my friend!? Haha. I have to like duck or reach over flowers, if I want to have any kind of communication with her!

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Matcha Scone – These were the most gorgeous looking scones I’ve ever seen at a tea service! A beautiful shade of green, if I do say so myself. And they came out warm! (I love having warm fresh scones!!) Took my first bite…oh. So dry + crumbly! And really lacked flavor. Someone from our table said they “tasted like burnt matcha”. Yikes. I went to wash it down with my t- hold on, I don’t have tea?? Isn’t this a TEA party?! Let me back up- first of all (ooh, you know it’s bad when someone starts with those 3 words huh), if you scroll up a bit you can see a little leaf thing sticking out our teacups. They had a TEABAG sitting in the cup. I wanna say I was introduced to this brand at the last SF Tea Fest I went to…or maybe it was a sample that was sent to me. But I don’t think I was very impressed, or I would have remembered. So it was just that one tea type. And it was just sitting there.

In the cup.

Looking at me,

choking on my dry burnt matcha scone. Haha!

Dood! We were well into passed a half an hour of our tea service with no tea man!? Come on! I had to request water for it. Now I’ve had Cherry Blossom teas before (oh yeah, that was the flavor of this tea…surprise!) The St. Regis serves a really good one, but my favorite and a staple at home is Harney & Sons. This one was just full on cherry flavor. Not much to it.

Okay (sigh), for the rest of this tea service I’m gonna go relatively fast. There’s a lot of items they served, but not really much to say about any of em…unfortunately. This is verbatim what I wrote in my phone about each of these… You’ll see what I mean at the end of this post. Just wait for it.

Ham & Cheese Danish – dry + crispy

Cucumber + Dill Sandwich – crunchy cucumbers, didn’t like the cream

Egg Salad + Chive Sandwich – nice, comforting, needs salt (tho one person at our table didn’t think so 😉 )

Salmon + Cream Cheese + Dill – LOTS of it (let me expand on this… the ratio was not good, salmon was overpowering); this was a favorite of one of my girls however, so it was nice to see her enjoying it! OH! And we had fun with that edible butterfly! “It’s EDIBLE you know!!”

There were ELEVEN sweet things to their FIVE savory things. Here we go…

Raspberry Sorbet – very sweet, someone said it reminded them of “Jamba Juice”; I thought this was more of a cutesy thing

Orange Blossom Honey Madeleine – dense but nice flavor, like the frosting thing on top

Lemon Tart – nice pastry, a little too much lemon for me, artificial lemon

Chocolate Raspberry Tart – artificial flavors

Macaron – this was the only thing I liked, I think it was vanilla

Assorted Petite Pastries – [round] dry, crumbly, bland; [square] had fun crispies

Opera Cake – good, coffee

Whew! We’re done, we made it. There was just so much to try. I forgot to mention on the onset just how overwhelmed we were in the beginning. They packed those carts so full. And you would think that was a good thing, but most of the items lacked quality in flavor. Everything was more “CUTE” than good. There were quite a few pieces my friends didn’t even get to. And no one really wanted to take anything home either. I reluctantly did, cuz I don’t like to waste. I literally just took ONE BITE out of each thing just so I could write about it. I mean, look!! Evidence!

Overall, this Spot is more of a ‘trendy’ ‘instagram’ ‘tiktok’ place to me. I mean, one of their corners even has a neon sign and a ring light!!? (monkey closing eyes emoji) Food was mediocre. Service was good. If you ask me (this is where my husband would start on his spiel about Tea Houses and Tea Rooms needing to hire me as a Tea Consultant!!), I would cut down on your offerings and just focus on maybe 7 or 8 really GOOD things. They fall into the category of having a tea service just to have a tea service, if you know what I mean. Oh that’s another thing- they only offer it on weekdays and last seating is at 1p/1:30p. (eh emoji) For the price we paid, I expected more… My takeaway: I’m glad I got to spend time with my girls! Can’t wait to take them to a better one next time.

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Our 33rd Spot:

Malaya Tea Room

920 Central Avenue Alameda, CA 94501

malayatearoom.com

No, it’s not a typo and no, I didn’t miscount our Spot order. For those not following us on Instagram, I post on there almost every day…with updates too, like I was in the hospital last month. (so follow us!!) Soo, we had to reschedule our Spot #32 aand it happened to fit in our calendar only after this month’s Tea. Now that that’s all squared away, let’s get to the reason you clicked on this blog post!

I was happy to have found this spot when I was researching new afternoon tea places to visit for this Leg. Looked very quaint and I was attracted to that. What struck me first was the name “Malaya”. I grew up with a Filipino cousin named Malaya… Was this place Islandy…? You all already know by now that I don’t like to look at pictures or websites or menus before I visit. I didn’t even follow them on social media yet, tho I was so curious!? Not only do I love the element of surprise, BUT I aaalways want to come to a place with a clear + open mind.

There were 5 of us. I asked 4 new friends to come (2 were mother + daughter). Explained that part of the parTEA with me Tour experience was the ride over! Oh that ride. We all had laughed so hard! Such a blast with these girls. Appreciating the neighborhoods filled with Alameda’s Victorian homes and listening to relaxing/vibey tunes… Just made the excitement + anticipation for this spot way more enjoyable.

When Malaya called me to confirm our reservation, I didn’t know there was an option to eat outside. And whooo loves to eat outsiiiide?! Meee! Yayyy! (see what this does to me)

Aside from the cars parked right behind us…look how CUTE!! Upon seating, one of the staff saw my friend helping Mom at the head of our table and he swiftly grabbed a more comfortable chair for her to sit. Already scoring points with me, Malaya! And the interior was just as darling. Even the bathroom was stunning. (don’t worry, I didn’t bring my camera in there)

They had a unique menu. ‘British Flavors’ and “Malaya Flavors’. They had classic English tea party foods, like the cucumber and smoked salmon. Then all these really cool Malaysian ones! Five from each. And, we were able to choose 2 sandwich flavors for each tea service. Mom got her own special two, and the 4 of us (because we’re smart!) got one of each kind!! (only minus 1 flavor from each category) We wanted to try everything, cuz they all sounded so good + intriguing. (I’m sure you’re tired of me using that word at least once in each blog post to describe some food item or tea, I’m tired of it myself! But oftentimes that’s really the only way to describe it!)

[photo credit to my girl sitting in front of me for this one!]

They took our tea orders first. LOTS to choose from. Let me count- okay, 33 of em. At our table, we got:

Malaya’s Signature Golden Monkey – “Creamy, strong, a little sweet, and nice,” says my funniest friend there.

Citrus Oolong – Mom says “it reminds me of my favorite Chinese restaurant!”

Jasmine Silver Tip – My feisty girlfriend says this one was “just okay”…but she just needed to steep it a bit longer.

No. 14, with grapefruit and cocoa nibs – I’m so glad she ordered this one cuz I wanted to try it too! Says this one had a “very familiar taste” and kinda reminded her of Thai tea!

Paris Morning, smooth black tea with a hint of cherry – My choice! It was a toss up between this one and a butter + caramel one for me, so I took our server’s suggestion. Glad I did cuz it was a nice creamy tea (yall should know by now) with a mild tartness in the back. Very good!

I think I was expecting 2 small triangle sandwich pieces for each flavor, that we were gonna have to cut ourselves in two in order for the 4 of us to try…? So it’s an absolute understatement when I tell you that I was astonished when those tiers came out. THE CLASSIC FINGER SANDWICH AAHHH!!! I can’t remember for the life of me if any of the 31 other Tea Spots we’ve visited ever served them this way!? A lot of em try to do cute shapes and cut things or make things that are pretty…but not practically eatable. What comes to mind is: Exhibit A = Linde Lane‘s open-faced cucumber sandwich flower that I had to eat like a taco! (face palm emoji) And (sigh) there were 4 of each of them (sigh).

Cucumber with dill cream cheese – Again, yall know my routine by now…I went for the cucumber. Guys- so surpriiiised!? (mouth open emoji) I kind of expect the cucumber ones to be ordinary. Over 30 Tea Spots tried, and maybe just a handful of them have caught my attention enough to further examine what I am eating! Haha. This one had me do just that! An above average CLASSIC cucumber sandwich. And I don’t know why I was so shocked to taste the dill (cuz it says on the menu), but that was just such a welcome discovery hahah! Not all tea rooms take the time to add something extra to their cucumber. And Malaya is tellin yall to step up your game pee-pole!!

Smoked salmon with chive cream cheese – Of course. Lured to what I know, I grabbed the salmon next. And again with that bread!! I noticed it the first time but didn’t mention anything… That is some of the CHEWIEST bread everrr! (big eyes emoji) And yall know that’s my favorite. But this one was extremely noteworthy. Like, I was ready to ask for the brand or their baker’s phone number. Very good flavor and perfect ratio.

Turkey, brie & fig jam – Okay, it’s brie’s turn. Another really good sandwich. That’s 3 for 3 guys! I could have used a bit more of the fig butter (that’s just my preference), but such a good combo of flavors. Thumbs up!

[I was gonna try the last of the British flavors here, but the table told me to hold off. Tell you why later!]

My Seat Mate Date (hehe, the cutie girl sitting in front of me) (who by the way is totally hired cuz she remembered all the deats about each of the food items AND had excellent suggestions about my food shots!!) created these awesome “poses” of all the sandwiches in order of how they appeared on the menu THEN took photos of them with it! So cute right. And since these looked so sad by their lonesome, I copied her and made my own stack! (hey, I’m giving credit where its due)

By now I would have had a pile of half-eaten sandwiches somewhere, so I could move along and save room to try more stuff. But everything was gone. I was finishing all my sandwiches guys!? It was just the perfect portion. And they were all so amazing, I wanted every morsel of em!!

Meat Floss with basil spread – I’ve heard of meat floss before. And have seen it associated with Asian bakeries. And, that’s just what this tea sandwich reminded me of: a nice pork bun! Strange to think of it paired with “Italian” basil, so I’m thinking it was the Thai kind.

Malaysian style pork jerky with light mayo – “Lap cheong!” I can hear Yan Can Cook! That’s what this made me think of. It was a thick piece of meat, I wasn’t expecting that. But easy to bite down on and break off. You won’t be like taking your first bite and the whole thing has to come out! Don’t you hate that?

Again, I made a note here in my phone: “I don’t ever eat full sandwiches.” Cuz I was still in disbelief that I was eating everything I picked up…in full!!?!

Southeast asian style Curry chicken – (I’ve been writing all these food titles/names how they have them on their menu btw) It was sweet, didn’t expect that. I usually really like the curry ones, but this one was my least favorite so far. I think it was green oniony, that’s why. I still ate the whole thing tho. Hahah.

Coconut jam with sliced cold butter – Looking at this photo and calling to mind the words that I’m going to type about this tea sandwich…I wish I had some of these right now! So yummy!! Made me think of the butter + sugar sandwiches Daddy made me for breakfast, when I was a little girl. (in love emoji) Something about those butter slices man. Ugh. Such a good one!

And here’s those 4 cuties together!

Bittersweet marmalade with salted butter – Now for this one… No one at the table liked it, and my funny girlfriend said it killed her tastebuds. So that’s why she suggested I save it for last. Didn’t want the rest of my meal ruined… (Thanks gurlll!) I tried it. It was an overpowering bitter.

A savory canape – This was their savory treat included in the tea service. All that is potato! It’s a lot of potato. But nice kick at the end with that gooseberry! And of course I loved that cracker situation at the bottom.

Isn’t this dessert plate stunning?? Thanks again to my photoshoot assistant who brought the plate down for me from the tier so it could have its own moment! 🙂 Let’s get into it…

Now I don’t have the official names for these, and I cheated and looked off their social media (and the internet, thanks Google!) to learn more about this one! It’s a Kuih Lapis, an Indonesian treat! ‘Lapis’ means ‘layers’. It’s a steam rice + tapioca cake that you eat by layer. We didn’t know that tho. HAHA! While we were there. So, we just took bites of it! Still really fun to eat. Chewy texture. Reminded me a lot of a Filipino dessert called ‘kutsinta’!

This was a Pandan Cake. Nice light sponge, mild coconut flavor. I was getting so full after eating all those sandwiches, so I just took a bite or two of this one.

Black Sesame marshmallow and Rose marshmallow, I think. As small as these were, they still packed good flavor! (and yeas, I cut them in half so my Seat Mate could try too!) No solo pic of the rocks… But if you scroll a bit up, you can see them. They are chocolates! A nice little chocolatey bite when needed during your tea service!

MY SCONE!!!

I totally forgot about my scone.

I was so in love with the finger sandwiches, I completely skipped the scone dood!? I was hearing the table talk about how sweet the scone was, when I realized I hadn’t even had mine yet. I quickly put some fixings on my plate and took a few bites. A bit crumbly for my liking, and yes it was sweet. But not a bad scone.

Overall, I was THOROUGHLY impressed with this place. I always get nervous taking people to new tea houses, cuz I don’t want them to be disappointed if it’s bad. But I can’t say enough how much I loved this new tea Spot!! The customer service was terrific as well. Our server came out and talked with us, and paying was really convenient too. It was clean! Everything!! Nothing bad to say. I’ve been entering each new one in my updated raTEAngs list, and just so you know- Malaya Tea Room is up there. 😉 Already making plans to go back!

Malaya, if you’re reading this- I would pay more than what you are charging for this tea service. You are that good. #KnowYourWorth

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