High Tea at Boronia House Sydney

Photographer: Joshua Pike
Boronia House
Boronia House

Boronia House, built in 1885 - and now heritage listed - is a beautifully restored colonial mansion set amongst manicured gardens in Sydney’s Mosman.

When you step into the garden, off the bustling Military Rd, the noise floats away and you’re free to enjoy a few tranquil hours with friends.

The manager, John, greets guests at the door and shows them to their tables. He was happy to tell us all about the history of house as we were walking through the rooms. There’s an assortment of tables all dressed with white tablecloths and fresh cut flowers. The rooms are large and airy, with high ceilings and chandeliers. All of the windows and French doors have views out over the gardens. The day we visited was a lovely warm Sunday afternoon so all of the doors were open and a nice gentle breeze was wafting in.

With several drinks packages to choose between, there’s something for everyone. We chose the Champagne package and the Cocktail package, so a glass of chilled Moet and a gin martini with a twist arrived at our table post haste while we were perusing the T2 tea menu.

The tiered stand is full of bite-sized treats. This isn’t a high tea you need to skip breakfast to be able to fully enjoy. We’ve noticed of late that other venues are following suit, it’s nice to be able to eat all of the offerings, sending food back to the kitchen because you’re full is such a waste!

The egg and chicken finger sandwiches were tasty, but the grilled vegetable sandwich had a little too many sundried tomatoes for my liking. It was good to see that each sandwich used different types of bread though.

The rest of the savouries were delicious. While I can’t say I’ve ever seen a chicken Yakatori skewer on a high tea menu before, this one was plump and juicy. The pumpkin tartlet with feta and balsamic would have been at home on any canapé tray at a cocktail party, but the frittata was what stood out most. Sometimes they can be a little too egg and not enough filling, not so with this one! It was packed with vegetables and had a daub of capsicum puree and a mini pepper on top.

The scones were petite and served with strawberry jam and cream. A nice flavour and not overly crumbly.

The sweet tier was an assortment of flavours and textures. The strawberry dome’s glaze was super shiny and had a chocolate mousse enclosed inside. The apple shot was like a deconstructed apple pie (but it could have done without the bright green jelly on top). The vanilla meuille feuille was quite sweet because instead of pastry, the vanilla cream was sandwiched between squares of white chocolate. The standout was the pistachio tart. A chocolate tart shell with a rich and smooth pistachio centre.

All in all, Boronia House is a beautiful venue to host your next high tea event at. There are several different rooms downstairs that can accommodate different sized groups, there’s also more function space upstairs too.

Boronia House Afternoon Tea Menu

  • Chicken Yakatori mini skewer
  • Pumpkin and feta tartlet with balsamic
  • Pea, corn and carrot frittata with mini capsicum
  • Grilled vegetable finger sandwich
  • Egg and parsley finger sandwich
  • Poached chicken and herb finger sandwich
  • Scones with jam and cream
  • Granny smith apple shot
  • Strawberry dome
  • Pistachio tart
  • Vanilla and raspberry meuille feuille
Melanie Pike

Melanie Pike is one of our Sydney contributors. In her life outside of champagne, tiered cake stands and fine bone china, she’s the Editor of the Fernwood Magazine. After a long week of writing about sugar-free diets and the latest gym sessions to get her readers in shape, she sneaks away to sample the delights of some of the best high tea venues in Sydney. She’s covered from Katoomba to Kiama and almost everywhere in between.

Articles by Melanie