High Tea at the Mayfair Hotel

Adelaide, Australia


I love a traditional High Tea, and happily tried out a new venue for me. The Mayfair Hotel in Adelaide can be found in the Heritage Listed CML building in King William Street. It's just the external part of the building that is on the State Heritage Register and the internal part has been completely remodelled into a hotel complex. The CML (Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society) began operating in the late 1800s in Melbourne and then expanded around the rest of Australia. Along with their expansion, the company embarked on a building program of their rather unique buildings. The uniqueness of the CML building led to it being listed on the State Heritage Register. I'm always happy to see a heritage building preserved and given a new lease on life. The building was an added attraction and the internal remodelling has been very sympathetic to the old building.

The Mayfair Hotel offers High Tea on a Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 4pm and it seems to be very popular, with a full restaurant on the afternoon I was there. The hotel is very centrally located on the main street that bisects Adelaide, and just across from the main shopping area. High Tea is served downstairs in the Mayflower restaurant.

The staff were very welcoming and we were ushered to our table and then served with a glass of sparking wine. We had opted for High Tea with the Chandon NV, but there was also the option of a glass of champagne or the gateaux buffet. (For the nondrinkers there's the nonalcoholic option of a mocktail)

Special dietary requirements are catered for, one of our group is celiac and rang during the week to advise, and so a special stand was created for her.

The gluten free option.

The food was all delicious and a variety of hot drinks were offered, I went with the traditional tea. The hotel boasts that they use Wedgwood china, so the High Tea snob part of me was very satisfied!

A selection of Wedgwood teapots, for one or two people.


As well as the tea trays there is also the French Gateaux Buffet, which all looked sumptuous.

High Tea is a delightful way to spend an afternoon, once finished at the restaurant we went off to check out the rooftop bar called the Hennessy (after the original architects of the CML building) It was a mild afternoon so the bar was full, there's a nice view down Rundle Mall and over the rooftops to the Adelaide Hills.





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