Hopetun Tea Rooms in Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital of Victoria State, and it is also the second populous city of Australia. Melbourne locates in the southern of Australia. Due to its location, it belongs to temperate marine climate which is suitable for people to live in. Hence, Melbourne is one of the most livable cities in the world. In 19^th century, Australia was the colony of Great Britain, so when wandering in Melbourne, we can see many antique British architecture, such as Queen Victoria Market. Besides, there are also some famous afternoon tea house in this elegant city. In this essay, I’m going to introduce “Hopetoun Tea Rooms” which has already operated for more than one hundred years.

Signboard of Hopetun Tea Rooms

Although there are many modern shopping malls stand around Melbourne, many arcade malls still remain in the city. However, Hopetoun Tea Room has located in one of these arcade malls, which is called Block Arcade since 1892. Hopetoun Tea Room doesn’t have a noticeable signboard outside but passengers will never overlook it when passing by. The reason is there are many people lining outside the tea room all the times, even in the winter. From these phenomenon, we can see how popular it is. According to my friend who studied in Melbourne for couple years, if people don’t want to wait in the line, they need to arrive the tea room earlier than 11am. 

Block Arcade

Nonetheless, how can a little tea room attracts so many people lining in Australia? What is the magical power of Hopetun Tea Rooms? To unveil this secret, I decided to go to there to have an afternoon tea when visiting Melbourne. As I was lining before the tea room, I can see all kinds of fancy desserts, like cakes, macarons, fruit tarts, sweet pie and so on in the glass closet. As a sweet tooth, I can’t imagine how fantastic it will be to taste all of these desserts.

Cakes in Glass Closet

After entering Hopetun Tea Rooms, I was fascinated with the all dark green decorations and mirrors in the house. Dark green decorations and mirror make the  dining space looked ampler. On the tables, they also put a rose or a tulip in a thin transparent vase. All the decorations make the atmosphere in the tea house elegant and cozy. The other scene which impressed me is there were lots of elder couple having a date in the tea house, I thought there will nothing more romantic to enjoy leisure time with our beloved person in such a great place.

Dining Space

When the waitress delivered the cake to me, I couldn’t wait to taste it. I found the cake in Hopetun Tea Rooms taste sourer than cakes in Taiwan. In Taiwan, cakes are always decorated with cream and chocolate which make cakes taste much sweeter. However, the disadvantage of these cakes is it will make people feel fed up with the savor in few minutes. In contrast, cakes in Hopetun Tea Rooms tasted a little bit sweet at first, but when I kept the cake remaining in my mouth for a longer time, then I savor the sour taste and the taste of fruits and fresh cream. Furthermore, tea in Hopetun Tea Rooms also play an important role to balance the sweet tastes of desserts. For example, the tea I ordered was called “Snow White” is brewed with apples, cranberries and rose buds, and these ingredients let the tea have great odor, but taste very plain.

Cake of Hopetun Tea Rooms

In conclusion, though the price in Hopetun Tea Room is somehow high, it still worth the price. Next time, when you travel in Melbourne, no matter after a tired shopping in arcade mall or during the leisure afternoon, having a piece of cake and a cup of hot tea in Hopetun Tea Room will definitely be an excellent choice.