Tea in the City: Lovejoy's Tearoom

Located in the heart of San Francisco, down a somewhat quiet road, you'll find Lovejoy's tearoom, a quirky and cosy little tearoom with plenty of character and charm. Open from Thursday to Sundays, they offer a menu of different tea service options from a 'Light Tea' to their full 'Queens Tea'. They also offer 'pub fare' with options like sausage rolls and shepherd's pie.

First Impressions

This tearoom is really inviting as you step in, with an eclectic collection of tea inspired goods and decor and a warm and cosy atmosphere. The owner is British and makes you feel right at home with a warm welcome and lots of pretty mismatched teapots and teacups to swoon over. Although we didn't pre-book, we turned up on a busy Saturday and were seated really quickly.

The Tea

Lovejoy's has a really nice tea menu to choose from and every tea is loose leaf, so you can expect good quality tea here to go along with your lunch. We chose the Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong and both were equally really flavourful. The tea was steeped properly, so I was impressed by their tea and can't wait to go back to try more from their tea menu. In some other tea rooms I've been to, the tea has not been steeped properly or had no taste to either being stale or not using the right amount of leaves. So expect a good cup of tea at Lovejoys! They will also top up your pot with hot water too.

The Food

We chose Lovejoy's 'High Tea' which consisted of two sandwiches, salad and a scone with cream and jam. The 'Light tea' is one sandwich with scone and cream and jam and the 'Queens Tea' consists of two sandwiches, scones and desserts. And of course all come with a pot of tea of your choice. You can also choose what sandwich fillings you want from their menu. We chose the roast beef & horseradish, smoked salmon and cream cheese, cheese and branston pickle and their special of the day which was a shrimp and dill sandwich. All were really delicious. Although they seemed smaller than your usual tea sandwiches, they were all really tasty and perfectly dainty to go along with a sip of tea. We also ordered their sausage rolls ala carte which were also tasty, and hot out of the oven. I definitely felt right at home, biting into a hot sausage roll and munching on scrumptious sandwiches. The high tea was also served with a little salad and dressing which was a nice addition.

The scones were served nice and warm and you could tell they were homemade. They were soft and buttery and served along with clotted cream and raspberry jam. I was really happy that it was clotted cream and not whipped cream like some U.S. tea rooms serve. So it was definitely authentic. One thing that I really liked was that one of the servers came around to each table with a tray of sweet desserts and offered one to each guest. Although this is an extra cost of about $2, this is optional of course, but we decided on one strawberry fancy and a pistachio macaron to have with the last of our tea and made for a sweet ending. This is a really unique idea and a nice addition to the lighter tea if you don't fancy a full afternoon tea which can get filling quick and sickly at times.

Overall Experience

This is a really lovely little tea room in San Francisco, with lots of character and charm. Expect good quality food and flavorful tea. They even have another little shop right across the street which is full of antique and vintage teacups and teaware for you to purchase along with packets of their loose leaf tea. So if you tried their tea in the tearoom you can also purchase it to take home with you.

Verdict:

Price: 9/10: For San Francisco, their menu is quite reasonably priced with their 'High Tea' priced at $27.95 and 'Queens Tea' priced at $34.95. They also have an option for children under 10, and you can also make your tea gluten free for a small charge.

Service: 10/10: The service was great, the staff were very attentive, topping up your teapots with hot water and serving sweet desserts to each table. They make every effort to accommodate you and seat you at a table even if you haven't pre-booked. However, If visiting on a weekend, try and get there just before noon as during peak times they may stop taking walk-ins.

Food Rating: 9/10: The food was all really good, with everything being homemade and really tasty. I love that they also offer some other options as well such as sausage rolls, quiches etc and some ala carte options. They have quite an extensive tea list offering high quality loose leaf tea, so for tea lovers, you won't be disappointed. The sandwiches were a touch on the small side, but the fillings were delicious and very satisfying.

Atmosphere: 10/10: The tearoom itself is a quirky, eclectic place with so much to look at from Alice in Wonderland inspired decor to a red phone box, lots of British items and more! It's a warm and inviting place with cosy seating and pretty mismatched tea ware.

Put this on your list for your next afternoon tea in San Francisco, it's a fun experience and you'll feel like your in a little British bubble.