First taste: A Cup of Tea

(Credit: Advertiser library photo)

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There was a lady wearing a tiara.

And that just characterizes A Cup of Tea, where you can wear a tiara or a red hat or a feather boa and no one will bat an eye. Or perhaps they’ll bat an eye, but in appreciation.

Tiara Lady was probably celebrating a birthday or some other milestone, as many do at this 8-month-old tea shop in Kailua. And they go not just for the tea or the food, which are both exceptional, but for the way that, once you walk through the door of this nondescript office building, you enter another place. Victorian England.

“We don’t just serve tea; it’s an experience, and tea comes along with it,” said owner Darlene Pahed, who describes herself as a “Chrismaholic” who decorates 30 trees in her home during the holidays and loves everything about the Victorian era.

My girlfriend and I have visited pretty much every high tea on Oahu — multiple times, in some cases.

We couldn’t wait to try A Cup of Tea, once it arranged its dainty, blush-colored, lace-trimmed skirts in a storefront on Uluniu Street in Kailua.

Our first glimpse of the charming place with its gold-and-pink Regency-patterned wallpaper, period prints, Victorian tchotchkes and tempting gift corner promised good things. "I feel like I'm on the set of 'Gigi,' " my friend burbled, as we decided to pull out all the stops and order the five-course Lady Tiffany Tea ($29.95) — more like what a woman of the 1800s would call a "nuncheon."

Moments later, she was exclaiming over the rose-patterned china, falling in love with her tea pot (everyone gets a different china pattern) and snapping pictures like mad.

Then the scones floated over to the table, along with dear little pots of lemon curd and marmalade (one almost expected them to talk, as in a Disney movie, or "The Once and Future King"). These were not the usual triangles of rather dry and crumbly dough, but puffy little buns filled with dried fruit, so enticingly flavored that they had no need of butter. I suspected the use of beaten egg whites to lighten them.

After Pahed popped by to tell us about a recent sold-out "Mamma Mia" movie and pajama night, the soup of the day arrived — pear and watercress. This thin, milky mixture, in which floated slices of ripe pear and bits of bright green watercress, was as lovely and light as the scones that preceded it, and the flavors were simple and true. Each of us got a generous miniature tureen.

Between soup and salad, we had a chance to look about us some more and my friend murmured, "This is the women's version of a sports bar," noting a large table of well-dressed ladies in hats and another all bedecked in red. The lone man we saw all afternoon was a rather lost-looking Japanese tourist, although Pahed swears men do visit for lunch.

The salads of mixed greens, cucumber and tomato were a sweet-and-sour triumph, with fresh croutons and what we learned was a cilantro vinaigrette. I, who have never been able to make a good salad dressing and don't like most bottled varieties, either, joined the chorus of customers who have asked them to bottle this one. The tart-to-sweet ratio showed perfect pitch and the cilantro contributed bite without predominating.

Our sandwiches, fruit and sweets arrived on a tiered cake tray: smoked turkey, cucumber-cream cheese and egg salad; two tiny chocolate tarts, two squares of apple cobbler, grapes, oranges and strawberries. The cucumber sandwiches were loaned a bit of zing by a modicum of horseradish and the turkey paired with my favorite, cranberry sauce. The old-fashioned egg salad was a welcome bit of nostalgia.

And that cobbler or crumble! Paper-thin, skin-on apple slices nestled in a brown sugar-cinnamon glaze nestled under a rich, nutty topping. We speculated as to whether the slightly rose tone came from the peel or perhaps a little jam? No matter. As to the mini-tarts, I could have eaten the butter cookie crust alone and been happy. Somebody knows how to bake!

Our perfect tea ended with a contemporary touch: a scoop of lime-colored kaffir lime, lemongrass and green tea sorbet to refresh the palate.

A Cup of Tea
407 Uluniu St., Kailua
808-230-8832
acupoftea.com
Hours: 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays; seatings at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m.
Prices: From scones and tea, $8.95, to five-course Lady Tiffany Tea, $29.95
Other details: Reservations highly recommended; gift shop; private room for up to 10; special evening events include pajama movie nights; 18 percent gratuity for parties of six and more

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