Olinda Tea House & Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

Hidden in the Dandenong Ranges, less than 1 hour away from Melbourne is an Asian Tea House which serves High Tea.

A few things to note: • You must ring to book for high tea • There are 3 sessions: 11am, 1pm or 3pm • High tea session goes for 2 hours

🔆SERVICE🔆 Service in the beginning was extremely slow. We were not provided with any water, or any service at all. We waited for over 10 minutes. As we were quite hungry, I had to get up and ask a waitress for service. Finally, a lovely lady came to our table bringing us some water and explained the high tea set. From then on afterwards service was very attentive, prompt and friendly. Given the restaurant was fully occupied, there was no social distancing and not all staff were wearing masks. Our waitress was accomdating and allowed us to stay a bit longer and we were able to enjoy our tea.

🔆MENU/PRICE🔆 The $59.00 High Tea set includes:

𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐲 Pulled pork slider Egg sandwich Mac and cheese croquettes Mushroom and corn quiche

𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 Chocolate mint & salted caramel macarons Vanilla cream choux pastry Mango swiss roll Apple & Jelly trifle Rabbit mousse cake (white chocolate mousse, passionfruit jelly, chiffon sponge, matcha crumble) Cherry Blossom mousse cake (light pear mousse, pear filling, chocolate chiffon, white chocolate glaze)

𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 2 types: plain and date scones with cream and homemade raspberry jam

𝐁𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 2 servings of tea or coffee – they have an extensive range of options to select from.

🔆REVIEW SUMMARY🔆 Overall, the variety and quantity of items in the high tea set is very good value money for only $59 pp and it is more than enough to fill your hungry tummy.

In the savoury section the most memorable were the mac & cheese croquettes and the mushroom & corn quiche. Both were soo delicious and full of flavour, If only I could have more of them!

In the beautiful sweets section displayed beautifully in an Oriental wooden case my favourites were the Rabbit mousse cake and Cherry Blossom cake which both are made by Linger Café in Camberwell and their cakes are delicious. They were super light, tasty and a delight to eat. The mango swiss roll was tasty but the outer layer was a bit dry. The rest were either too sweet or lacked flavour which was a real shame.

The scones were freshly made and generous size, however it was way too dense and not enjoyable even when I lathered it with yummy cream and raspberry jam. I only manage to eat half of the plain and half of the date scone.

We all ordered 2 rounds of different types of fine quality tea. Their most popular tea are Milky Oolong and Turkish Delight, try to order these when you visit. I ordered the genmaicha tea, and the lemongrass & ginger tea. Both were very nice.

We were seated in the outdoor balcony deck overlooking the beautiful Asian garden. You can wander down and meet some real alpacas and a cute mini pony. We enjoyed our 2nd round of tea relaxing in one of the many Oriental wooden gazebo and saw parrots and cockatoos flying around the lush green trees. A lovely day trip to the...

UPDATE: I had a call from the manager at the Olinda Tea House today and I must say after such a disappointing experience, the follow up has been very refreshing and was the type of customer care I wish I received yesterday. They were very apologetic and also mentioned they were not there to oversee everything, and to show their deepest apologies have offered a better experience for me if I wish to return. That alone and that kind of offer has given me much hope for this place so I will be returning again in the future which I am sure the experience will be much nicer! A follow up call does show they care which is a great feeling & much appreciated 😊❤️ Booked For Picnic Setting: I really wish I could have rated this place more highly, but unfortunately, due to the complete lack of customer service & limited food for 7 people. I just won't pretend like this place is somewhere I would return or even recommend. The atmosphere is absolutely stunning that is where it has a win but that's where is stops. I booked this place for my baby shower, under the "picnic" booking, whilst the set up was pretty, but nothing like they advertise on the website, for $65 pp all you got a slice of a sandwich (egg only) and a few bits of hot food like a potato ball, small spring roll and deep-fried squid bits (again completely different to the menu advertised). Tea & Coffee not included even though it's a "high tea" setting and a Tea House... The amount of food per person for the price was extremely disappointing and left us having to go up and order another serving of everything. Not 1 waiter came to check on us throughout the entire time (3hrs) & the ones I did manage chase up and to talk to seemed so disinterested in anything I had to say & rude. Such a disappointment as this was a special day for me and I feel this place really let me down. I'm not complaining about this to be a stick in the mud but if you are thinking about booking this place, I would highly recommend looking elsewhere because I would hate anyone to experience the lack of care that I did today. Spending nearly $600 overall for everything, in hindsight I would have much rather spend my money where its actually appreciated and your treated like a guest not a number or nuisance. To be honest there are so many more negatives I could type but if you managed to read this far, I'm sure you get the picture and unfortunately for The Oriental Tea House it's not a pretty one that I had hoped for. Won't be returning or...

Overall, we are very happy with our choice of Olinda Tea House (OTH) for our wedding reception!

We had about 55 guests, and the entire event went pretty smoothly from start to finish. There was ample parking for all our guests.

A special thanks goes to the event manager, Adi. She was incredibly supportive and attentive throughout the entire process. Her team was also very lovely and helpful.

We visited the venue multiple times before the wedding, and each time, they were very accommodating, answering all our questions and assisting with any requests. Their email responses were also timely, clear, and patient.

On the day of the wedding, the weather forecast predicted rain, and OTH was considerate to offer us an alternative indoor ceremony option at their venue at the last minute. Although we decided to proceed with our original outdoor ceremony plan at our other venue, we really appreciated their thoughtfulness and flexibility.

Due to the rainy weather, OTH also kindly welcomed our guests earlier than the agreed start time, which we are very grateful for, as it helped everyone stay comfortable.

We had a lot of DIY decorations, and we also had designated seating for all our guests. The OTH team was incredibly helpful in supporting our vision. They lent us their table decorations and flowers to enhance the space, making it even more beautiful.

Even though our ceremony was at another venue nearby, they generously lent us their speaker and microphones for the ceremony, which was a huge help.

The food was definitely a highlight! We opted for the Chinese banquet, and it was absolutely delicious. Our guests loved it! However, our bridal table didn’t receive all the dishes, probably because there were only four of us at the table. (We really missed and were looking forward to the scallops and fried prawns! 😅) That being said, the overall quality and taste were delightful.

We also booked a VIP room for storage, changing, and resting, and it was a great addition—very comfortable and convenient. It gave us the privacy we needed before our reception entry.

We also ordered the wedding cake through the venue. While it was delicious, the cake design may have been a bit too challenging for the chef. It wasn’t a big deal, though.

All in all, we highly recommend OTH for a wedding reception. The team did a superb job! Thank you so much. We will come back for our...