Monday, January 31, 2011

Tea for Three

My friends and I love to go to tea rooms and enjoy a leisurely lunch over laughter, tea, and good food.  This past week, two good friends whisked me away to a new tea room in our area called The Old Farm House.  One friend had stumbled across it when she was out driving around the countryside and she had decided that we needed to try their brunch tea.

We've been to quite a few tea rooms together and I'm always amazed how each one manages to be different and unique.  This one started with some fruit juice and fruit cocktail in a lovely cut glass bowl.

Next we got to pick two different teas.  Since I was the "honored guest", I got to choose.  I picked "Apple and Cinnamon" tea and "Peachy Peach" tea.  This has been the first tea room where they served the tea in glass carafes that were placed on top of a stand with a heating candle beneath it.  I found that this was a great way to serve the tea because the tea stayed hot throughout our entire meal.  Usually at such places, you'll get your tea in a teapot that has a cozy placed over it but the tea tends to go lukewarm quickly.


Our second course were two types of tea breads and then some scones with clotted cream.  Then the third course came.  It was a quiche, a lovely little salad with a dressing on it that was absolutely delicious, and some fried potatoes.  Oh, my....those fried potatoes were fried to perfection.  Usually I have to drown my potatoes in butter but I didn't put any butter on these.  They were crisp and seasoned just right.  The quiche was fine but what really made it extra good was the crust.  That crust just melted in your mouth.


Then it was time to choose our dessert.  My friend, Jamie chose the custard coconut pie.  She said that it was excellent.

For me, it was a no-brainer.  As soon as the proprietor said "chocolate cake with peanut butter icing", I knew what my choice would be.  I've never been able to resist peanut butter icing.  It was quite good.
As an extra bonus, there are all sorts of gifts and little antiques scattered about the old farmhouse that are for sale.  We had fun just doing a little browsing before and after our lunch.  There is also an antique shop right next door to the tea room that is also owned by the same folks.  If the prices are as reasonable as the tea room prices, then I'll definitely have to check out the antiques on my next visit.  And speaking of reasonable, the price for a light tea is $8, a high tea is $12, the tea brunch (which we had) is $12, and a Tea meal (which is a full meal) is $16.  You sure can't beat that.

The Old Farm House is open Wednesday through Friday 11 to 2 and Saturday and Sunday 10:30 to 5.  They are located at 7027 Lincoln Hwy West, Thomasville, PA.  If you're going to be out and about in York County, Pennsylvania and want to enjoy a nice tea brunch, give them a call at 717-225-0451.  Just as a caveat, I'm in no way associated with them.  I'm just a satisfied diner.  I know that my friends and I are already making plans to return.

1 comment:

Karyn said...

Wow...sounds wonderful - and looks wonderful, too! And you are right, the price is unbelievable!

I might just have to go find a tea house to try. There is one in the town my kids live in.... if it is half as lovely as the one you have described, I'm sure I'd enjoy it. Maybe a good place to take my girls.