Our 45th Spot:

The Third Floor at The Jay Hotel

433 Clay Street San Francisco, CA 94111

www.thethirdfloorsf.com

Best decision I’ve made: to squeeze this one in on the Tour.

The Jay Hotel has only been around 4 months (formerly Le Méridien) and their afternoon tea only started yesterday. So proud of myself for making reservations here! Hehe.

They offer 5 different bases of tea. I thought I was sold on getting the Black, but I’m so glad they came over with samples to study. Interestingly, the Black wasn’t as appealing as I read. However the WHITE!? Smelled delicious.

WHITE | Dragon Pearl (jasmine, sweet, smooth) – Very floral, such a flavorful white! Was taking gulps!!

GREEN | Genmai Matcha (bright, nutty, smooth) – Could smell it all the way from the other side of the table! A gorgeous chartreuse. Earthy and smooth, like they said!

The tier was minimal. But don’t let it fool you!

Scone – Today’s was Apricot & Walnut. I was casually spreading my devonshire cream and adding some preserves on top and… [GASP] I was totally caught off guard. I don’t even like walnuts!! And this was packed with it! The mouthfuls of walnuts and chewy apricots were just so good together!!

Beef Tartare, Pickled Beech Mushroom, Rice Cracker – The cracker alone was already great, think of a shrimp chip. Fun texture, had a sweetness but also a little spicy, and adored the freshness of the herb.

Truffled Egg Salad on White Bread – This packed such a big punch! I could taste the truffle, but also maybe some curry. Even the bread was so scrumptious + chewy!

Cherry and Walnut Chicken Salad on Honey Wheat and Oat Bread – There were so many levels of flavor and texture in this one. They used the best parts of the chicken, like it’s certainly thigh!! Could even distinguish the oats in the bread!

Apple and Pecan Tartlet with Gouda Cheese – Just looking at this again makes me wanna cry! (whiny face emoji) Thick pastry. Definitely got a cheese-mustache but it was so fun! There was just no cute way to eat it… The saltiness from the cheese with the sweet of the filling was everything Salty/Sweet Lovers want + need in their lives. Which is who me + my girlfriend are!

Lemon Glazed Madeleine – This tasted like a donut! Light lemon + fluffy cake.

Raspberry Macaron – Macaron fillings aren’t usually this runny, but it was so welcomed here. The shell was ultra delicate. Perfect combo.

Caramelized White Chocolate and Pine Nut Cream Puff – It had a conchas topping!! Not your average cream puff. Party in my mouth!

Matcha Cheesecake with Mango – Buttery. Depth. Superior.

Chocolate Cremeux with Tangerine – This was my least favorite of the Sweets… Buut, I still ate it all! 🙂

So- I took my longtime girlfriend here. We’ve known each other since our firstborns were babies (both are 17 now). She’s an incredible single mother of 2 teens, with a corporate job AND a growing Coaching Business (follow her @stephanie.mechelle.coaching). I’ve had the opportunity to see her in action and I am in AWE of her work. We see each other at least every other week for our business accountability meetings on zoom, but we need to get away for some Girl Time too. We can talk for hours and hours! And today was no different! We spent almost 3 hours at tea today, with the occasional stop in from our amazing server (Hi Nate!). So much good for our souls!! But, let me tell you- I had a really hard time paying attention sometimes cuz my eyes were rolling back in my head from how GOOD this tea service was!!!

Please please PLEASE do yourselves a favor and make time to visit The Jay Hotel and have Afternoon Tea at The Third Floor. Periodt. That’s all. Okay?? I cannot stress how much I loved everything about this place. The decor, the service (clapping hands)…I was even Shazam’ing the music! EVEN the valet guy was super nice. And then I couldn’t stop talking about it on my way home. SO GLAD we made the effort to come before I was off Tour. Otherwise I would’ve had FOMO. Don’t have FOMO you guys. Go. Go now! Go ahead, make your reservations. (okay, I’m done being bossy) But I mean it, it’s a good place. Just sayin… Did you hear me?

Follow us @parTEAwithmeBlog on Instagram | Threads | TikTok

Spot #3 Revisit:

Palace Hotel Garden Court

2 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94105

www.gardencourtsf.com

[taken by Cutie Jr.]

Our last hoorah! I chose the Palace Hotel for our Best Venue pick cuz, well I mean, look at it!! So happy the Huz + I got to go with one of our favorite families: Cutie, Cutie Jr. and Cutie’s Mr.! Just being in the hotel is an entire experience in itself, so I took the path of least resistance and just enjoyed myself. Didn’t bring the DSLR, took a few shots and a few notes on my phone. I was thoroughly present and reveled in the company of our awesome party!

Definitely looks different in there. I assumed it would have changed since the last time we’ve been, which was September 2014 haha. I liked the bench seating they had and there were no more round tables with white tablecloths. Lots of children too! That was neat. It was the day before Mother’s Day, so probably lots of early celebrators. But I was totally enamored at all these toddlers and young ones trying to sit still while munching on a tea sandwich!? Too too cute. We were just so thrilled to be there. Something about the beauty of the Garden Court just brings all the JOY!

As we were seated, they immediately set down these shallow square bowls of Berries. Raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. I thought for a sec that they might be a topping for scones or crumpets or something…but then soon realized, it was like the bread you get served at a restaurant upon seating. I tried a bluebe- OHMYGOSHHH. I was not expecting thaaat!!?! (you see me whining) Just as I was about to comment on how good those blueberries were, I see my girl loving them too! I was MAKING OUT with mine mmkay. We decided that they were the freshest, most organic berries we had ever had. Probably from Whole Foods, or Driscoll Farms, or the ROOF upstairs!! And this was just the free appetizer yall! Just wait.

I was a Basic Girl and chose my usual, Vanilla Rooibos. Happy Girl! Nice selection of teas. There were some great ones that our friends chose and they loved theirs. Good tea, check!

Precious presentation of our Savories. Since I start with the cucumber first, I went in order from right to left…

Shaved Cucumber & Watercress (shaved persian cucumbers, soft cream cheese, watercress, whole grain bread) – Didn’t even write any notes cuz I ate it already. It was gone before I could even think of anything to say about it, haha. Obviously, it was good!

Dry Spanish Chorizo (whipped goat cheese, lemon zest, sourdough) – After 47 afternoon tea’s, this is the first I’ve had chorizo on the menu and I was not mad at it! What a brilliant addition, couldn’t get enough. The cheese was citrusy, the bread had such a good bite to it, and that chorizo- mm mm!

Truffled Egg Salad (chives and lemon zest, chervil, brioche) – You see, forgetting to even take pics! Exquisite (no pun intended). The paprika on top was everything.

Mini Lobster Roll (mayonnaise, celery, brioche) – Okay so, I had a lobster roll last night for dinner. And I had just had so much of it, I swore I wouldn’t have another for a long long time. Funny to see this one in front of me. But let me tell you, it was so juicy and the meat was so tender…I had forgotten all about last night!

Roasted Chicken & Avocado (lemon juice, tarragon, maldon sea salt) – This one was just okay for me. Cutie Jr. agreed and said she thought it needed something… I usually really like tarragon, so I’m not sure what this was missing. I enjoyed the fattie piece of chicken I got in one bite, but the rest of the bites were breast. Meh. And I’m not a huge fan of focaccia.

Yay! The tier!

Scones – I do remember loving their scones from before. And today was no different. Cutie loved them too! They’re so fluffy and their preserves are amazing (I even took mine to-go ha!).

All the desserts were incredible as well. Chocolate-Covered Strawberry (yall already know), Mini Red Velvet Cupcake (ugh love cream cheese frosting), decadent Chocolate French Macaron, really well done Strawberry Shortcake, and Cream Puff Swan (a.k.a. Juan Swanson).

Exceptional Venue, Exceptional Company, Exceptional Tea, Exceptional Food, Exceptional Time! We couldn’t have gone with a better group, we loved our time with them. parTEA with me’s planned Tour is officially DONE eyyy! (except I squeezed in one more spot tomorrow! Haha) See you again in a bit.

All Palace Hotel related posts:

Spot #3 :: Palace Hotel

Follow us @parTEAwithmeBlog on Instagram | Threads | TikTok

Our 42nd Spot:

K On The Go

31877 Alvarado Boulevard Union City, CA 94587

www.konthegouc.com

[inhale] I’m taking a deep breath first, to calm myself! There’s so much I wanna say about this spot. And I’m trying to figure out a good place to start… If I’m going WAY back, there was a cute cafe I had pinned years ago that I wanted to try: K-Café Patisserie & Tea. They didn’t serve afternoon tea, so this would’ve been a non-Tour visit for fun. Then the same company started putting up these smaller versions, and THEY served afternoon tea!! Yay for us. The one in Milpitas has already been offering…but I really wanted to try the Union City location cuz it was so close to me! (And I wanted to say the Tour had visited that small city!)

They were due to open January 2024 and were going to be the last of the new Spots we go to on this Leg of the Tour. We forreal pass by this spot every day on our way home! And every day we passed, we still saw the brown paper on the windows. January came + went, but I didn’t want to abandon our visit there. I was lowkey stalking their socials to see if anything came up about UC. Nothing for a while. Okay, I’ll be patient. THEN, I got a random DM from them!! Don’t know who handles their social media, but out of the thousands that followed them (my finsta wasn’t even following at the time)- they remembered to message me about their opening!! (happy crying emojis) Dang, I felt special. They notified me of their Soft Opening on April 23rd. Naturally, my daughter + I stopped by.

[sigh] Still not serving afternoon tea yet. They said mid-May, maybe earlier. Okay.

Randomly, on Monday, I sent them a message asking when they might be serving afternoon tea. The following day they replied saying they were taking reservations. [GASP!] Let me make note here that I had one week before I was going on Break. Our last Spot is this Saturday, and THEN, I even scheduled another last-minute Spot visit for Sunday because this place will be starting to serve afternoon tea and my funny-self thought to squeeze that one in too. Ayyy! My only option would be this Thursday. BUT- they require a 72-hour advance reservation. [whine]

I called. Told them I was hoping to come in Thursday (this was Wednesday btw), but I understood there was a 3-day advance. They said they would take me. Huh? What!? I told them I wanted them to feel comfy + confident with what they were offering, and that I could maybe possibly find a time for Monday. They said they thought it was so sweet of me to consider that/them but that they would make Thursday work. So sweet, right guys?! I was on the books.

I decided to take my kid to this one for a Mommy-Daughter Date. And to make it even more interesting + fun for her, I told her she could Guest Write my blog post for them and even take pictures if she wanted for it. She loved the idea. As an artist + Lefty, she has some pretty cool perspectives and we have some of her photographs framed + up on our walls. (She has this sick one she took of the Bay Bridge right outside Delancey!) Let me take this moment to talk about the flyest 13-year-old girl I know. As mentioned, she has been making and selling her art for a few years now. She has an eclectic taste in music, knows how to play the ukulele and bass, and knows how to speak Korean!! I’m legit her biggest fan and am BLESSED to be her best friend. (but mostly her Momma!!!)

I’m telling you right now- I’m including A LOT of extra shots in this one, cuz there were just too many good ones and I’m sharing them ALL. Before even coming here, I have to admit whenever I would see overly floral cafe’s…I already wrote em off. After going to places like Son & Garden and iChina, where it was more about the trendy atmosphere and Instagram-worthy backdrops than the FOOD, I don’t expect much from anything that looks well (air quotes) too pretty. And altho this spot had the flowers…it was decorated really well. They were more like “statement” flowers, and not as the owner mentioned “gaudy”. But even for my daughter (who takes after her Mom and) who is not girly whatsoever, she could appreciate the interior.

I didn’t know til later, that we were their VERY FIRST afternoon tea party! Look at our cutie table!! I’ve had my name set on tables before, but not PRINTED!!?! That was such a sweet touch and very personal. Love! (yes, my name is spelled wrong but he even fixed it later and gave us the keepsake!)

Everything was ready for us as soon as we got there. We chose our shared pot of tea and she started bringing our tiers out. We each got our own too!! I couldn’t get enough shots!

[taken by my daughter]

I was taking everything in. All the details. Even the mismatched paper napkins, I loved! The Savories were their focus, you could tell. (LOVE THAT.) Points from me already.

[taken by my daughter]

They had 4 tea options. My daughter + I agreed on their Floral Peach. It had good peach flavor, tasted a little sweetened. Darling pink hue, probably from hibiscus.

Daughter – Yes even tho my mom sells tea and goes to tea places I dont really drink tea that often lol Oky! Soooooo my first thought was: Hhmm… the color of the tea is kinda dark… I hope its not too strong. My next thought after I had was: Ooooohhhh!!!! Its not too strong, It was so good that I had way more cups of it than my mom did lol

Truffle in Paradise (truffle cucumber sandwich) – This was me: “mm. Mm. MM!” Truffle is not a usual profile paired with cucumber tea sandwiches, a first for me for sure. She should be proud of herself and that was YUMMY!

Daughter – First thought: Hahaha!!! I love cucumber sandwiches!! After I had it: Hmm… the flavor is interesting! I like the way its not like the typical cucumber sandwiches, and the way you have to come back for more to get the flavor! Ok ok so far so good!

Apple of My Eye (apple chicken salad crackers) – There was maybe a light curry in there… Loved the apple. The chicken was so juicy + tender, like it was fresh off a rotisserie spit rod! I was clapping that there were three of these.

Daughter – First thought: Ok… this could either be really good or really interesting… After I had it: Again I dont really know whats in this… It took me awhile to get it but mom said that there might be a little bit of curry and I’m not the biggest fan of curry stuff but it was really really good! Like they made me a curry fan! Lol

Eggcitement (mini glaze egg croissant) – Egg + dill = GOOD. And of course (hand up) the Croissant-Lover enjoyed this one.

Daughter – First thought: [Back story: I dont wake up early at all oky? Like I’m talking 1:00PM Lol So this was my breakfast…] Oh ok… I’m not exactly excited to have egg breath rn buuuut… I’m still gonna eat it! After I had it: Aaaahhh!!! Its DELICIOUS!!! And is that dill?! I made a HUGE mistake of eating a small little smth before we left…

Talking to my daughter, I couldn’t figure out which savory was my favorite because they were all excellent! They each had just a little something in them to make you question ‘hm, what is that’ which I highly appreciate. Reminded me so much of when we catered for our old tea company. Each of our tea sandwiches from our menu had something different in them that made you keep coming back for more! Well played, K On The Go. (wink)

A verbatim convo between me and my daughter…

Me: “I’m ready for my sweets, dood.”

Her: “Half it!” (talking about all the mini cheesecakes + macarons)

Me: “Hold on, I’m licking my plate!”

HAHAHAH!

All My Ladies Cake (ladyfinger almond sponge cake) – This was so light + airy and had such good flavor. My favorite part were the crunchy pieces on top. What scone?? You did not miss any scone with this on your plate. It was like an elevated tiramisu…

Daughter – First thought: Uhhh….. Ok I’m not a big sweets fan but I’ll have it! lol After I had it: Oooooohhhh!!! I LOVE IT!!! Its soft and not OVERLY sweet! Definitely one of my favorites!!!

Assorted Desserts (changed daily) – Today’s were a variety of mini cheesecakes and french macarons. We couldn’t tell if those cheesecakes were store-bought or homemade and I think that is a compliment! They were fantastic. The macarons, they were really good quality ones.

Daughter – First thought: Ooooohhh they look soooo pretty!!! After I had it: WOW!!! Its rare that I come across food that looks good and taste better than it looks!!!

Just when we were pretty stuffed and about to clean up shop, she came out from the back with more! We were treated to these stunning complimentary desserts for being their first afternoon tea reservations. So so kind of them huh!? All I could say about those- INHALED.

Daughter – First thought: [Back story: The almond sponge cake had a butterfly and I bit it but I dont think it was edible lol but after I tried to eat the butterfly I said to mom: “Edible things like that is the way to win my heart” Then after we were done and they brought the special end and they said that the butterfly was edible my eyes got big and I was so excited!!!] Aaaahhhh!!! I’m soooo excited!!!! after I had it: I scarfed down one of them I said to mom: THIS WAS SOOOOO WORTH SCARFING!!!! As soon as I get a chance, I’m coming back!!!! 🙂

I was THOROUGHLY (how many ways can I highlight this?) impressed. The husband-wife team/owners were a delight!! He kept us company in between customers and she came out in between creating those culinary masterpieces back there. I loved how he was very community positive and got to know everyone that walked through their front door. He was even introducing me to their regulars! (dood, they’ve only been open a few weeks and already have Regulars what!?) You could tell how much awe he has for his wife (excuse me) Business Partner too, cuz he was singing her praises the entire afternoon. And she was just the CUTEST, so rightfully so!! Her imagination and brilliance shined in this tea service. My teenage daughter thoroughly enjoyed herself. We were both already planning when we can come back and who we were gonna bring. She kept saying “I really do love it here” and as a mom, that just made me so happy.

I really wanted this place to work out. Since the downfall of Tyme for Tea, I needed a new spot close to me that I could frequent. Of course, there’s still my new go-to’s Malaya and Four Seasons…but I still have to drive a bit for those. So I’m ecstatic that it turned out to be so good!! Stay tuned cuz they made it pretty high on my raTEAng. You’ll have to see where I put them! And please please please make your way to K On The Go Union City because you will eat well and be treated like family!

Follow us @parTEAwithmeBlog on Instagram | Threads | TikTok

Our 44th Spot:

SanDai & KOPI Bar

1522 N Main Street Walnut Creek, CA 94596

@kopibar.us

Because I am who I am, I found this place a couple months ago. It was a new thing for this area, so of course I booked and fit it in the Tour. When this Tour + Blog started, I was visiting already established afternoon tea places. I don’t know how I became this Scoper for new Tea Spots just started/just starting to serve afternoon tea, but here we are! (open hands emoji) I am a Detective after all. Altho the Huz asked me if I was actively searching for them…and honestly, NO! Haha. I’m telling you, sometimes they just fall into my lap!! But let me not give away all my secrets.

This cafe was cute. But kinda loud. The place we’re sat in is a narrow room, think of a train car. But still, very aesthetic and like I said: cute! This is the first spot that offered their tea service with the choice of coffee or tea. Neat. We chose tea, of course. Only 4 options, so it was easy to choose. And after salivating at their mimosa flavor types, I learned it was included! YAY!! I got the grapefruit and he chose pineapple.

Grapefruit + Pineapple Mimosas. Very good! Mine complimented the meal so well.

Tropic Garden – The menu is minimal, so there weren’t descriptions of the teas. But this one sounded fruity + floral, my jam. A pretty tea! I tasted hibiscus and cinnamon. The Huz said it was “woodsy and earthy” to him.

Teh Halia (ginger milk tea) – It was fun to see a milk tea on the menu. And I’m glad he chose it, cuz I was interested! He said it was “like a chai with coconut and turmeric”. I thought it had a good ginger presence, not too strong.

Something I need to point out… After dropping off my husband’s milk tea, the server looked at me and told me mine was still steeping. If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you’ll know I have a thing about people bringing the teas to the table already ready! I loved that they brought my tea out to me when it was ready. Points for this.

The first thing I noticed about the tier is that there were 4 items we had to share. To be fair, the event ticket we purchased said “for Two”. But what if we weren’t a married couple? Or what if we weren’t comfy with each other like that? People would have to get real intimate real quick and share food. Now naturally, I didn’t mind sharing with my husband. Or him touching my stuff with his knife, etc… But, I do like it when tea services offer individual items per guest.

The next thing I noticed (from the menu actually): only 2 savories…

Cucumber Tea Sandwich – I like when they made this with butter, it’s a fun change. Packed with slices of cucumber and a nice mild chive flavor. Those cucumbers were so crunchy I could do ASMR! It was too much bread for me tho. (I know right, is there such a thing!?) But I had to make a snake mouth to eat it!! (laughing crying emojis) The Huz was laughing saying I had to unlock my jaw and get around it hahah!

Avocado Tea Sandwich – It was good. Except, it reminded me of the guac that comes in a plastic container in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. The crunchy unripe cherry tomatoes gave a nice contrasting texture tho. And it had the tiniest of tiniest spice, which I liked.

Apricot & Almond Scone – Crumbs, all crumbs. It was so dry, I was having esophageal spasms trying to get it down! It had good flavor…but would’ve been nice with some fixings. There was just butter on the side, for the plain croissant I think.

Classic Croissant – That’s a good croissant. A little sweet. Nice bite.

Blueberry Lemon Tea Cake – Moist, not too sweet.

Pain Au Chocolate – That was a REALLY GOOD chocolate croissant. (a-okay emoji) My favorite so far. Beautiful layers and proportioned filling.

Pandan Coconut Roll – I didn’t know what to say about this one…

Klepon – Just kidding, THIS was my favorite. It had that sticky chewy texture I like, like mochi. And the filling inside was nostalgic for us!

Pandan & Moringa Tiramisu – The coffee they used for this was extraordinary. I just wanted that.

Listen, this wasn’t my favorite Tea…BUT, I understood their concept. They presented a gorgeous tier and we were able to sample some of their offerings from the bar next door. I would have loved more salty options, but we still enjoyed ourselves. The customer service was good and the ambiance was welcoming. We def wanna come back for brunch! They’ve only been serving afternoon tea since March. I’m sure they’ll refine their menu as time goes on and I’m not opposed to trying again! Let us know if you head out to Walnut Creek for their first ever tea experience at SanDai & KOPI Bar!

Follow us @parTEAwithmeBlog on Instagram | Threads | TikTok