Older than the Savoy of London, the Hotel Ritz Paris, New York’s Plaza Hotel and The Raffles in Singapore, The Windsor Hotel is Melbourne’s dowager duchess.
She’s stood at 111 Spring St since 1883; grand and regal, tall and proud. The constitution was drafted within her walls and Lawrence Oliver liked to stay when he was in town.
This year it’s The Windsor Hotel’s 130th birthday and to celebrate, the hotel will host “1883 Afternoon Teas”, with recipes from original menus. We’ve got the inside scoop that one of them is the Victoria Sponge but you’ll have to wait until June to find out the rest.
Until then, there’s still traditional Afternoon Tea each day, when the dining room fills with the chink of fine china and the smell of freshly baked scones.
Rows of silver tea pots wait to be filled with Earl Grey and Oolong Rose, but order something a little different, like Seven Fairies, and you can watch your tea “bloom” in it’s glass pot. A glass of Morgan’s Bay Sparkling Cuvee is even more exciting.
Drinks are forgotten when the three tiered tea stand arrives. Start savoury, with the delicate mini quiche and cucumber sandwiches but skip the vege bun and head straight to the bite-sized Chocolate Gentleman, a decadent chocolate feuille of crème Broulee and mousse.
Tiny velvet cakes layered with Madagascar vanilla bean cream are almost too cute to eat, but so are miniature macarons and pretty praline profiteroles.
The Windsor Hotel Afternoon Tea
Mon-Fri: 12.30pm, 2.30pm, $59 per person,
Weekends: various sitting times, $79 per person (includes dessert buffet)
Bookings Essential
111 Spring St, Melbourne
T: (03) 9633 6000
