Tea in the City: The Dartealing Lounge

I had heard about the Dartealing Lounge through instagram when searching for more tea places to visit in the Bay Area. I had been wanting to try it for a while and then the pandemic hit and the Dartealing Lounge shut it's doors for a long time. Fast forward two years, and they have finally reopened their wonderful tea room with set dates for afternoon tea service once again.

First Impressions

The Dartealing Lounge is in the heart of San Francisco with easy access to the freeway. It is nestled on the corner of a busy street, but when you step in, you feel like you've been transported to a cosy tea room in the U.K or Paris. The decor is just adorable, with quirky furnishings, cosy table lamps and of course all the mismatched teacups and teapots you could dream of!

The Tea

They have an array of really good teas to choose from, ranging from Rooibos to green teas to flowering teas. I chose the 'Elementary, My Dear Watson!' black tea which was a full body tea with bergamot. It was served in a big, pretty teapot which I had all to myself, so I had plenty to drink. I would definitely like to try their premium teas next time and try the white tea or a flowering tea.

The Food

We started with the sandwiches which were classic flavours alongside a traditional English sausage roll which was so good and my favourite item from the savoury tier! The pastry was perfectly flaky and the filling was so good, with all the right flavours you'd expect! Some of the sandwich fillings I found to be slightly sweet, but that didn't take away from the overall taste and they were still really good. It was nice to see some extra savoury options too.

The scones were also a highlight. Still warm from the oven, they were soft and crumbly and delicious with the Devonshire cream. The cakes were also very good. The Raspberry tart was soft and moist. You could tell everything was homemade that day and none of the cakes were overly sickly or too sweet so we were able to finish everything! All the flavours paired well together.

Overall Experience

This is a really nice cosy tea room in San Francisco and well worth a visit. You can expect really good quality homemade food and superb tea.

Price: This is priced at $37 per person which for the area I think is reasonably priced and worth it.

Service: 9/10 - Staff were accommodating, friendly and gave great service. They were particularly busy on this soft opening date, but still managed to attend to all our needs.

Food Rating: 9/10 - The food was really delicious with a good variety and quantity of savoury and sweet choices.

Atmosphere: 10/10 - It's a very chic and cosy tea room with lots of cute furnishings and decor. I loved their display of teas. It's a relaxing place to sip on tea and get together with friends.

Be sure to add this to your list when visiting San Francisco for a relaxing afternoon with great food and service. If you've been before or will be visiting soon, let me know what you think!