Skywater Tea House — Restaurant in Hillsboro

A gal friend and I visited Skywater on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I researched many tea rooms near Salem and she and I were impressed with the reviews and the huge tea selection. I had just visited The Hidden Gem tea room in Lodi, CA, a few months before and was curious to compare. (you can see my review of Hidden Gem on Google). Skywater is in a small cute cottage-style building, the reception and room decor and furnishings are chic and elegant, with large windows giving it an airy feel. We were greeted by Hans at the front and he seated us quickly. There is soothing music quietly playing, the unoccupied tables are all preset with proper white linens and lovely china place settings - each table in varying colors and styles. Hans explained the tea menu to us and then brought hot mini hand towels for us. Next we received tiny desserts consisting of decadent whipped cream and a raspberry coulis - yum.

The tea selection was an element of this visit we were so looking forward to. It's expansive and delightfully descriptive - so much to choose from! The sandwiches were fresh, the ingredients just perfect, a savory cracker with salmon was a nice touch, and the desserts, were of course, luscious. and plentiful. I particularly liked the sweet touch provided by a condiment dish lemon custard, clotted cream and raspberry preserves - really only served in the most "proper" tea rooms.

I have been to many proper English afternoon tea rooms - including high tea in London, England, the Empress Hotel in BC and the very old and traditional Drake Hotel in Chicago. I found that in a small scale comparison Skywater really puts forth a top-drawer effort for a small establishment in a very small city.

My friend Kelly and I agree that Skywater Tea House was a fabulous way to spend a cold rainy Sunday afternoon, and was definitely worth the almost 100 mile R/T from...

I'm in love with Skywater Tea House. I have gone for afternoon tea twice in the short time it's been open, and the second visit was even better than the first. I love the Japanese milk bread that they make the sandwiches on, I took both my young sons and they debated on whether the smoked salmon or cucumber sandwich is better. I loved the chicken salad. The scones were killer, one English style with flaky layers and one American - crumbly and freckled with demerara sugar. Both are neutrally flavored to act as platforms for amazing imported lemon curd and housemade clotted cream. There are so many dainty delights on each plate that we couldn't finish them all. The tea was out-of-sight good. You get so used to stale teabags, that when real tea is made by an expert hand, you're blown away by the flavor and depth. I even bought lemon curd and jam to-go from an adorable curio cabinet at the front of the shop. Hans was a stellar host, masterfully working every table in the room and clearly excited to introduce us to all the choices he made for our plates. The room itself is beautiful, elegant and understated, tastefully setting the scene for afternoon tea. It's really surprising given the relatively nondescript building. Make your reservation at least two days in advance, I'm taking my kids with their grandma...

The tea was the best I ever had, I'll def have to come here and order multiple varieties cuz I can't stop thinking about how perfectly blended and brewed it was. I do want to come back during the warmer seasons but coming by during Autumn with the leaves in variations of color right outside was quite the sight to see. Reservation only but that makes it all the more special to go during days of celebration or anniversaries, just be sure to book months in advance if you want to really come on a specific special day. I went with a group of 4 and everyone got their own pots of tea (that we all tried a bit of each other's hehe, I highly recommend the summer blend Blackberry one with a bit of the cream) and as others have said the clotted cream was a dream. Our food was like fall harvest related so it felt like an early Thanksgiving, the sandwiches were so good!!! We all had leftovers (thankfully they do have takeout boxes) I was so surprised the amt of food we got and will continue to dream about the tea for...