Adriano Zumbo’s ‘QTea’ at the QT Hotel Sydney

Australia’s ‘Sweet Assassin’ Adriano Zumbo’s killer high tea curation sets our sweethearts alight at the QT Sydney.

In Australia, Adriano Zumbo is an inescapable, delectable presence. As much a pâtissier as he is part of the fabric of Aussie culture, he first rose to fame on MasterChef, with his success leading to a number of sweet spin-offs, including Zumbo’s Just Desserts. The man knows his stuff when it comes to sweets—and has recently turned his talents to designing an impeccable and unordinary high tea menu exclusively for Sydney’s QT Hotel. We hopped off at Town Hall, right in the heart of the CBD, and strolled down to the Market Street location to taste what all the hubbub was about.

The QT Sydney is sensational, in an unexpectedly cheeky way. Situated on Market Street, it’s right next to the grand State Theatre, and the theatrical theme continues throughout the hotel’s interior. The QT blends a vintage 1920s glamour aesthetic with a fresh modernity, and upon stepping into the beautifully bedecked lobby and up to the cosy first-floor café, we felt excited and ensconced in its stylish cosiness.

Gorgeous server Shani welcomed us to the intimate café, which felt perfectly suited to small girly get-togethers or couples, as it was a lovely, quiet space. We noticed some of the other diners sitting astride an impressive, cubic high-tea stage set on their table—a super-modern take on the original tiered tea tray. We ordered the house special: a Burnt Blueberry tea blend, and one pot of the Chocolate Rooibos with milk. A glass of Mumm champagne perfectly set off the tea’s sweetness; however, it’s worth noting that classic and very special cocktails and mocktails can also be ordered on request to complement the meal.

The savouries were placed in little cubbies at the base of the tea tray. We played hide and seek finding the different offerings, which included an umami-licious chicken Katsu sando, and a fresh take on prawn toast with sesame. It’s not usual to see a salad on the menu at a high tea (!), however the ‘Farro’ salad, served in a tiny glass terrine, was such a fresh compliment to all the other tastes, with it’s cheeky mint and tart lemon dressing.

Speaking of tart, after we moved onto the scones, we were pleased to see that Adriano had clearly thought carefully about the jam – a seasonal Australian cherry variety was proffered that wasn’t too sweet and wasn’t too tart, just perfect. We sometimes like scones to be a little on the more generous side in terms of sizing, but the flavour was divine.

On to the sweet treats – the star in the crown of Zumbo’s high tea. There’s a reason why fine patisserie is Adriano’s calling card, they really did steal the show and were perfectly executed. Can we talk about the ‘Zumbaroons’? If they weren’t sweet enough by name, they were even sweeter by nature, with flavours of Turkish delight and tea. The banoffee pie expertly balanced the varying flavour profiles of not only but banana and caramel but lemon too, whilst the ‘Chocolate Stax’ was our very favourite. Sometimes we’re not too partial to something so full-on chocolatey, but the special stacking of 6 textures of chocolate cake and cream was just to die for.

We whiled away the next hour or so enjoying Adriano’s delights, listening to the live DJ playing chilled, funky music and hearing the pitter-patter of rain on the windows. The bustling shopping street outside seemed decades away and were sad when it’ was time to leave. We’ve become Zumbo fans during our journey through his high tea, and are now avidly watching for his next venture, which we know will also include branching the high tea into new themes and varieties, and QT locations, including their Newscastle branch.

As a note, the QT Sydney will be celebrating Mother’s Day with an exclusive High Tea menu and a ‘Glass of Mumm for Mum’ offer on the 10^th and 11^th of May only.

QTea Sydney High Tea Menu:

Sweet:

• CHOCOLATE STAX
  A Chocolate Celebration Featuring 6 textures of Chocolate
• BANOFFEE PIE VERRINE
  Layer dessert with Flavours of Banana, Caramel, Lemon, Chocolate & Pecans
• MAN GOES COCO
  Summer Feels of Mango, Passionfruit & Coconut on Shortbread
• ZUMBARONS
  A Selection of flavours
• SCONEZ
  Adriano’s Twist On a Scone with Cherry Jam & Clotted Cream

Savoury:

• CHICKEN KATSU SANDO
  White Bread, Katsu Chicken, Cabbage, Cucumber, Jap Mayo, Green Tea Tonkatsu
• FARRO SALAD
  Farro, Cucumber, Sun Dried Tomato, Olives, Capers, Peppers, Feta, Walnuts, Mint, Parsley, Caramelised Onion, Tossed in a Preservred Lemon Dressing
• PRAWN TOAST
• Sesame Prawn Toast with Bacon, Corinaderm Shallot Harissa Mayo & Pomegranate Sumac Reduction
• SEASONED SAVOURY CHOX BUN
• Mushroom Center, Bresola, Fontina Cheese, Mustard & Pickle Jam, Mushroom Cream

 

High Tea Sydney – find more experiences
in our High Tea Venue Directory