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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