High Tea by the Sea - Salt on the Beach

Photo taken by Chia Hui on her new SLR!

It has been a while since I've blogged. So there will be a flood of posts from me in the next few days because every time I have been out this month, I have still discovered and found new and interesting things that I have to share... because after all, sharing is caring!

So on a wet Friday in July I met up with my old friend Chia Hui to celebrate her birthday. Two old girl friends looking for some girly catch up time... what better way than the meal that is cute, petite and close to bite size so that us chickadees don't have to worry about over stuffing ourselves and still get a variety of both the savoury and the sweet? 

High Tea is one of those meals that are somewhat hard to find in Perth. So I googled it up, and stumbled across Salt on the Beach.

And what a lucky find! They were having a winter deal called "High Tea by the Sea" for a cool $26 per person!

On the drive to Salt on the Beach, Chia Hui noted that it was where the old Oyster Bar in Fremantle used to be, therefore it wasn't too hard to find. (I shall ignore the fact that we ended up looping a street twice... ha ha.. ha?)

Anyways when we finally arrived and got out of my car, winter by the sea hit us like a soggy wet towel. It wasn't the nicest of days (the forecast for that weekend was to be stormy), but believe it or not, it was still quite beautiful. 

Entering into Salt by the Sea Chia Hui commented on how she loved the interior. We decided that it reminded us of a holiday home that resided on the beach. A holiday home which I dreamed of owning one day and would visit on the weekends, and to walk around in track pants and cook some eggs, mushrooms on toast and eat outside on the decking looking out into the sea. As we walked to our reserved table by the window, I looked up and saw that the roof had "sail-like" sheets which were hanging with a somewhat casual elegance across the ceiling.

When our High Tea came out we were presented with this tier: 

The finger frolicking fine food that was up for offer at Salt on the Beach started with an open smoked salmon, crème friache, caper and dill sandwich next to a chicken, avocado and mayonnaise finger sandwich and a ham, cheese tomato baguette. The favourite on that tier was the open smoked salmon as it was refreshing as well as quite balanced by not being to salty. Unfortunately the chicken, avocado and mayonnaise finger sandwich was prepared with stale bread... which Chia Hui and I were quite disappointed about.

The next tier was by far my favourite!!! It had lemonade scones with a generous dollop of cream and strawberry preserve. I wish they gave us more... (Though admittedly I'd rate the scones at the Botanical Cafe in Kings Park over these scones any day. I will do a review on the Botanical Cafe in the near future... got to get me more of those scones!) Next to the scones were a pair of mini quiche and one citrus and poppyseed friand which was cut into half. The quiche was pretty nice and the poppyseed friand was tasty yet a bit too doughy for Chia Hui's liking.

By the time we reached the top tier, which had cute tiny lemon tarts and pairs of mini chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, we were both stuffed. We were not particularly fond of the sweets as they were too sweet (or we are just getting too old). 

Overall the experience was intimate and nice. We were there from 3pm till 5.30pm taking our sweet time, and never felt rushed or that we had to leave any time soon. We were able to witness the big storm rush onto the shores of Fremantle and enjoy the finger food, warm tea and each other's company.  I'd say that I still have yet to find 'the' place for High Tea, but... $26 High Tea by the Sea ... that is still pretty good.

If you want try out the High Tea by the Sea, you will need to make a reservation and pay in advance over the phone by credit card as the High Tea is not part of the usual menu and they will prepare it especially for you. (Side note, if you want to eat the normal menu, Salt on the Beach is in the 2010-2011 Entertainment Book.)

Salt on the Beach can be found at:

44 Port Beach Road

NORTH FREMANTLE, WA 6159

Phone: 9430 6866