“Tea! Bless ordinary everyday afternoon tea!” ― Agatha Christie
In the Richmond District of San Francisco, you will find Tal-y-Tara Tea and Polo Shoppe, a quaint neighborhood establishment featuring their delicious “Motorloaf.” The tea shoppe also doubles as a polo shoppe, so you will see riding apparel, tack and horse equipment, along with tea cozies and tea pots. My mother-in-law purchased a Groupon for Tal-y-Tara, and treated my sister-in-law and I to a lovely late morning tea time.
The Groupon was good for the Queen’s Tea service for two and included the following,
- Pot of tea for two (We added a 2nd pot of tea.)
- Scottish shortbread cookies
- Classic motorloaf sandwiches
- Choice of two homemade scones with Devonshire cream and jam
- Two salads (We chose the Wedge Salad with bleu cheese and peppered bacon and the Seasonal Fruit Medley with honey glaze.)
- English trifle
We had the first reservation of the day, at 11am. Expect to wait a little bit for the food to come out, especially the sandwiches. We could see the owner and his employee busily making each course, so we knew that everything coming to our table was freshly prepared. Since there were three of us and the tea service was for two people, we just split everything into thirds. There was definitely enough food!
The main course was the Motorloaf, a semi-sweet dark bread containing raisins and walnuts. Read about the story of the Motorloaf here. Tea sandwiches made from this loaf included Cream Cheese and Cucumber, Egg Salad with Capers, Cheese and Chutney, Smoked Turkey with Watercress, Black Forest Ham with Mustard, and Lox with Cream Cheese and Capers.
The sandwiches were really good! The sweet bread and fillings complimented each other very nicely. My favorite was the Lox with Cream Cheese and Capers sandwich.
I had to leave before the English Trifle came out, so unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it. Be sure to make reservations and allow enough time to stay, because you can easily spend 2+ hours there. Free street parking is also available. If there is a LivingSocial voucher or Groupon available, you will save a significant amount on this tea service. I believe our discount with the Groupon was 50% off. =)
Let me know if you have a favorite spot for afternoon tea. I am always looking to try new places.
See the Morning 