Our 50th Spot:

Mints & Honey

1524 El Camino Real San Carlos, CA 2024

www.mintsandhoney.com

So, this place was on my radar when I first started the Tour. But as I understood it, it was only an event space then. I tried to ask when they started serving afternoon tea exactly, but I couldn’t get a legit answer from anyone. I scheduled it early in the Leg, since this was on the list a long time ago… This place was also the first on the Tour where they didn’t do reservations. They could just make us some tiers on the fly like that!? I called to confirm, their answer was yes. I made sure our party was small, so we didn’t have to wait a long time to find seats. Originally supposed to be 6, but ended up being 4 of us. Perfect, cuz things were about to get hectic.

As you know, I don’t look at websites or social media accounts before visiting a place. I like to have a clean slate, so everything is fresh when I am reviewing. Needless to say, I was not familiar with how to order when we got there. I should’ve done some homework first tho! That was the MOST CHAOTIC ordering I’ve ever dealt with on this Tour!!

First, you find your own seat. Thankfully, there was a couple that just left an area that seated 4. Waited for that to be wiped up, then claimed our tables.

There are menus by the register. You pick out what you want, order + pay, then take a number to your seat. In terms of their Afternoon Tea Service offering, they have a tea tower for 2. If you want tea, you order that separate. Except, this spot didn’t have tea pots. Ohhkaay… We went up to order and at the register, we didn’t know we had to make quite a few decisions. We sat back down. (Attempt #1)

I guess for these towers, you have the option of either Toast or Waffle bases. She showed us the flavor options. Back at the register and I’m telling her all my choices. But then we find out we need to COMPROMISE (between the two of us) which 4 flavors we want. We sat back down. (Attempt #2)

At the register ooonce agaaain, and now we’re ready! We thought. We come prepared with our shared flavors, aaand- we did it wrong again! Apparently, we chose the TOAST flavors but needed to choose from the WAFFLE flavors if we wanted waffle bases. We quickly figured out what 4 waffle flavors we were going to share while in line (cuz we weren’t about to come up for a FOURTH time), and finally did it right! Then, you choose between a scone or quiche. And when you choose either of those, there are then flavors of THOSE to choose from. [SIGHHH]

When I got to my seat I says to my friends, “I wanna cry!” Man, that was so stressful!! There’s gotta be an easier way! Put specific steps on the menu or don’t have that many choices. It gets worse guys, just wait.

My only cup of tea was already waiting for me while I spent those 45-minutes at the register ordering. The bag was overfilled and it was steeped too long. I chose a Caramelized Pear Tea. There’s a sign up and it’s plastered on their menu that says they proudly serve Art of Tea teas. I know Art of Tea (they serve that at the Four Seasons), and this was not a good representation of how good that brand is.

We seriously didn’t know what to do with ourselves when the tiers (excuse me, Towers) came. I think we sat stunned for a few, before accepting what was in front of us. So, me + my Tower Partner chose waffle bases right. Already having to compromise our 4 flavors, we thought we were going to get TEA FOR TWO!!?! It was Tea for ONE yall. There were 4 waffles, with the 4 flavors, only. That meant: if we wanted to try each of the 4, we had to cut the pre-perforated waffle iron waffle QUARTERS in HALF!!?! This what I had to work with yall-

Go ahead, take your moment. I’ll wait.

I couldn’t even take individual photos of each item (not that I even felt like it), so I got quick pics of each level…

It took me several bites, before I could even take notes on what I was tasting. I chose the waffle base since that was a first for me for afternoon tea. It was a good waffle batter, fluffy + light, almost melts in your mouth.

Prosciutto + Ricotta – My eighth had whipped cream on it, so there’s that. My notes say: “a lot of cream, had lots of cream.” I guess there was a lot of cream… It was a nice start, promising.

Applewood Smoked Salmon – This was good! But again, a lot of the ricotta cream. I scraped most of mine off.

Churro – Lightly scented cinnamon flavor, mostly whipped cream.

Rose + Berry – No rose present. The girls said they could make these at home.

Cranberry Scone – ONE TO SHARE. I took one bite and left it alone after that. Way too crumbly, don’t taste any cranberry, so dry.

The “salad” was not dressed. My girl put some leaves on her plate, then put them right back on the tower haha!

I was excited to hear we were getting Beignets on the tower! Those wasn’t no beignets. Stale donut hole, at best. Barely any glaze. Again, the dryest of the dry.

We had talked about how most French macarons all taste the same…unless they’re really good quality ones. I took a bite of the Chocolate Macaron, and was so surprised. It was good!? It had a nice bite/chew to it, almost brownie like. Best thing on the tier.

The Yogurt Parfait was another pleasant surprise. It was Greek, and the tart was welcome. I did my own Remy Ratatouille situation and had a bite of macaron + bite of yogurt together to end my meal.

Before we were even done eating, the overpowering smell of disinfectant polluted our lungs and tastebuds. They started packing up and washing the floors in the front room, chairs were being stacked all around us. Excuse my language, but it was hella rude. We had to go out the back and figure out how to get to where we parked.

Here are my only positives- the cashier was patient with us when ordering and coming up there 3 times, there were some step-above-mediocre items on the tier, and I was so sterile after being surrounded by clouds of cleaning agent I didn’t feel like I needed to wash my hair when I got home. Will I come back? For tea? Absolutely not. To try more of their food items? Maybe.

THANK GOODNESS for good company!! I was with my husband’s honorary big sister (so my Big Sis), a longtime girlfriend that we have a blast any time we’re together, and then we had a Firstie with us too! The laughs and Girl Time made this tea visit so much better. But now I can’t wait to take them to someplace better next time!

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