Sydney’s best high teas

Best for themed high teas: The Westin

If you're a high tea connoisseur, then you've heard of – nay – you've experienced this before: an Alice in Wonderland inspired high tea that’s guaranteed to have you tumbling down the rabbit hole in glee.

Fanciful and fun doesn’t even begin to describe the experience of one of The Westin’s Mad Hatter offerings. These offerings include A Mad Tea Party (served with bottomless tea or coffee), The Modern Twist (comes with a SuperFoodsRX Cocktail) and Ruinart’s Afternoon Tea (with a flute of "R" de Ruinart Champagne).

All that's left for you to decide is how far down you'd like to tumble.

Location: 1 Martin Pl, Sydney.
Price: A Mad Tea Party ($54pp), Down The Rabbit Hole ($64pp, includes cocktail), Ruinart's Queen of Heart's ($74pp, includes Champagne). Non-themed afternoon teas are also available for the same price.
Tea times: Daily 12pm-6pm.
What we love about this place: It's fancy, housed within a beautiful heritage building and doesn't deny you the chance to dress up as Alice in Wonderland. In fact, it encourages it!

Best for atmosphere: The Tea Room, QVB

This one's strictly for queens and princesses seeking a traditional high tea in the grandest of settings.

Located on the top floor of the Queen Victoria Building, The Tea Room offers one of Sydney's most established and esteemed high tea services and plates up its finger sandwiches and homemade scones on authentic Royal Albert china.

All its teas and tisanes are of the high-quality single-estate loose-leaf variety and are imported from China, India, Japan, Sri-Lanka, Taiwan and Africa. You've pages of options, so choose wisely.

Location: Level 3, North End, Queen Victoria Building, Sydney.
Price: Morning tea ($35pp), children's high tea ($35pp), traditional high tea ($50pp), sparkling high tea ($55pp), cocktail high tea ($65pp), champagne high tea ($70pp).
Tea times: Daily 10am-close.
What we love about this place: It feels as though we've stepped back in time and space to Elizabethan spaces in London where ladies of class dressed up and lunched for hours.

Best for a change of scenery: Vaucluse House Tearooms

How better to experience high tea than on the beautiful colonial estate of Vaucluse House? Its dedicated tea rooms boast views overlooking the 10 hectares of gardens that stretch all the way down to the banks of Sydney Harbour.

Dating back to the 1830s, this sandstone estate is a quiet oasis away from the busy city life. The Tea Rooms' High Tea is a tour through English dining history, offering scones with berry preserve and clotted cream and chicken and tarragon Harry's Bar sandwiches.

Location: Wentworth Rd, Vaucluse.
Price: High tea ($55pp).
Tea times: Wednesday to Friday 10am-4pm, Weekends 8am-4pm.
What we love about this place: It's the ultimate summer dining venue with well-groomed gardens you can sit in and while the day (or afternoon) away in.

Best for culture vultures: Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

Every visit to the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth is a unique one as its themes change according to the arts and entertainment scene. For example, during the Archibald Prize, bespoke high teas (2019's black and white offering is pictured) come complete with live performances by the Australian Youth Orchestra and ticket to the exhibition.

Location: 61-101 Phillip St, Sydney.
Price: Archibald high tea ($75pp)
Tea times: Subject to availability. Contact the restaurant for details.
What we love about this place: It supports the arts, hosting exclusive Archibald Prize events as well as musical-themed menus to coincide with current productions.

Best for chocolate lovers: Lobby Lounge, Shangri-La

And finally: the high tea dark horse. The Shangri-La often gets overlooked as a high tea destination.

Perhaps it’s because it doesn’t always put its hand up for events such as Good Food Month’s Ultimate High Tea, but it should not be discounted – have you seen this hotel’s dessert bar?!

While high tea isn't on the list, afternoon tea is in a multitude of forms. There's your standard afternoon tea with live music offerings and then there's the Shangri-La’s signature Wickedly Sweet Chocolate Afternoon Tea experience. You know which one we're opting for.

Location: 176 Cumberland St, The Rocks.
Price: Chocolate high tea ($48pp), traditional high tea ($55pp).
Tea times: Daily 11:30am and 6pm.
What we love about this place: It has a chocolate high tea. Need we say more? Oh, and the desserts at Shangri-La are the genius of none other than Anna Polyviou.