So let's get straight to the tea. They offer a wide selection and it sometimes changes, but generally the teas have remained the same throughout the years. They have Seasonal Selection Teas, Signature Blends Teas, Green and White Teas, Black Teas, Oolong Teas, and Herbal Infusion teas. I had the Osmanthus Oolong tea which is described as having deep rich flavor with a champagne aroma. Annie had the Signature Blend called the Garden View. Garden view is their blend of Assam and Keemun black leaves with hints of Early Grey. My Osmanthus Oolong was very good, but the Garden View blend was my favorite. In addition to sugar cubes and artificial sweeteners, our wonderful server, Riley, offered us the option of sweetening our tea with honey, which we did.
First Course: A two-hour drive from the Grand Floridian, the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota produces absolutely delicious (and sustainable) Siberian Sturgeon Caviar. What is caviar you say? Well, it's cured fish eggs. If you've had sushi, it's similar to what they call masago, those tiny orange fish eggs that sometimes decorate sushi rolls. Served straight from the jar, the caviar is served with its accompaniments: toast, hardboiled egg yolk and egg white, capers, scallions, sour cream, and red onion. It went well with our Champagne, but then again, what doesn't go well with Champagne? We sure felt fancy.
Second Course: Our second course was an assortment of delectable finger sandwiches, berries, cheese and crackers. Four sandwiches were carefully arranged on our plate: pickled golden beet, chicken curry, egg salad, and cucumber. I love egg salad and it was very tasty with a good amount of white bread to egg salad proportion. The chicken curry was savory as the curry itself was not overpowering and had a slight sweetness to it. Annie had my cucumber sandwich and thought it was good. What was surprising was how great the pickled golden beet sandwich was. Totally delicious and unfortunately a seasonal sandwich. We had two cheeses on our plate, cheddar and a sage infused derby cheese. I love cheddar so that of course was good, but we did not care for the sage infused derby cheese. Lastly, on the right side of our plate was this sweet onion tart. Annie liked it, but I took one bite and stopped. Although it was sweet and did not taste much like onion, it did have too much of an onion taste for me for an apparent precursor to the sweets courses. The fresh raspberries and grapes that were served alongside were a nice change to the palate.
Third Course: Our favorite course! On our dish was a strawberry jam tart and a raisin scone. The strawberry jam tart was good. The scone was delicious because it was warm and buttery. Accompanying was apricot jam, butter, and lemon curd that went well on the scone. I was not a fan of lemon curd before, but their house made one instantly had me wanting for more. I think I could have had a few more scones and lemon curd and call it a day.
The finale gave us three options we had to think about: 1) strawberries and crème, 2) English trifle, and 3) mini éclair, white chocolate covered strawberry, and some sort of cream filled swan. We decided on 1 and 2, which were served in the same style of cup with its signature Grand Floridian initials on top. Both were absolutely amazing and made a great finale.
Overall it was a great experience. It was only an hour and a half long and provided a nice time away from the park. We were impressed by the selection and quality of teas along with the delectability of its courses. And although we got to splurge a little bit, there are less expensive options that can make anyone's time just as enjoyable. For example the Bedfordshire Tea, at $30 per person, includes three courses and a pot of tea — an option we'd get next time when there.
They do accept Tables in Wonderland (Disney's sit-down restaurant discount program). Reservations are highly recommend.
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