Secret Garden Tea Room & Gift — Restaurant in Sumner

I've been coming here for around 6 years. Maybe 40 visits in all. I always so the high tea and I've been to a few of the special even teas (Holidays, Mother's day) I'm going to try to make this review without rambling too much, no promises though. I am just so, so torn by this place. I'll try to explain. The food here is fantastic - it's really what keeps me going back. The price is steel, but I feel it's justified because everything is so delicious (and that's saying something because there's a lot of food on their high teas). The pea salad and scones are amazing. And the soup! Always so good! I love the soup, no matter the kind. I will say though, that the cooks obviously do not wear hair nets. I can think of 3 occasions that we have had hair in our food (One of my daughters dessert, and two different times in the devonshire cream, all different occasions) The old house is great and creates such a nice atmosphere. It's quaint, which is the opposite of me and just makes for a nice escape to enjoy good food and tea. With all that being said, the real drawback is the customer service. I'm not a complainer, I'm definitely the suffer in silence type. But this Mother's Day tea kind of did me in. We had to pay in advance to book it ($110 upfront for my daughter and I). I took my daughter and my mom. We were sat at a table on top of a vent and there was air blowing (strongly enough to move the table cloth). We maneuvered two of the seats out of the way but my mom's was still in the path of it. I was sitting by my daughter but switched her seats because it was making her eyes water (this happened when our waitress was there and my mom complained, the waitress did nothing) I didn't push it as i thought the air was coming from the vent and nothing could be done, it's an old house after all. Anyway, so I sat across the table from my daughter and they were so busy it was impossible to talk with her because of all the noise. I won't lie, it made me sad, I paid a lot of money to enjoy this with her. My pots of tea kept getting cool really fast, as well as the tray of food when it was brought-thanks to the air. Then there was a hair in my daughters dessert bar. Pointed it out to the waitress and she laughed and brought her a new one. (SERIOUSLY: HAIR NETS, ugh!) Anyway, time to leave and the lady at the checkout desk asks me how it was and so I told her everything above because it was just disappointed. Sitting for two hours in front of a fan. She was really sympathetic and went back to talk to (I'm assuming the owner) and comes back and tells us that the vent is an intake vent and they had fans in the room and we should have asked them to move it. I would have gladly if I had known that! I got no apology, no nothing, just an "it's your fault for not asking someone to do something you didn't know could be done" ugh. I wasn't expecting/trying to get something...and that response just left a bad taste in my mouth (metaphorically). There was one other incident when I had made a reservation for my friend and I ( a few weeks before this). The owner had taken my order, I had said to put me down for high tea but that I might do lunch, I wasn't sure yet. And she said ok. We arrive in a week and they didn't have me down for tea. And the cook was "being cranky and wouldn't make an exception" and they wouldn't budge! My friend told them we would just leave, and then they went back one more time and the cook made an exception. This is why i'm giving them two stars - they charge a premium price but they do not back it up with proper customer service-at all. Plus the no hair nets! And it's just frustrating. I honestly don't know if I'll be back after this. Not because I think it will hurt them, but because I'm just so over it now. Also - they will kick you out when they need your table after about 2 hours. I'm not complaining (we always overstay our welcome for more tea to digest everything delicious we just ate), I'm just putting it down for a note for people. Sorry so long-long history with this place! Thanks...

As soon as we parked, my thoughts were... cute cute cute!!!! The enterance path to the Tea House is a beautiful garden. (NOTE: To my fellow heel-wearers... it is a difficult to walk the walkway as it is gravel/dirt so you may want to keep your Louboutin's at home). The Secret Garden Tea Room resides in a Victorian home which is lovely.

It was a little difficult to find but Google Maps brought us straight there. We came from Seattle so it drives you past a commercial business areas. The Secret Garden Tea Room sits next to a business building which was a little confusing but TRUST Google Maps and you will make it just fine! Parking is available at the side of the home in their gravel lot.

My friends and I had made reservations to celebrate my best friend's birthday. Upon arrival, a man who resembled a concierge or host, was waiting to greet us on the front porch. When you enter the home, there are gifts and trinkets everywhere, with a tiny shop to the right. Tea hats, fascinators, jewelry, scarves, clothes galore! Our concierge/host seated us promptly and our waitress, Renee immediately welcomed us and assisted us in reviewing our menus. Our first task was to make our tea selection. They have tons of tea options, which are broken down in various categories. I prefer a naturally non-caffeinated tea and I was grateful that the menu made my selection easy to find. I chose a caramel red tea which was amazing! Each of us got our own tea pot with our own special tea selection.

As I am gluten-free, I was ecstatic to find that the Secret Garden offered EVERYTHING on the menu in a gluten-free option. (NOTE: For gluten-free, you pay an extra $5 and are required to place your order via phone at least 48 hours in advance.) I ordered the Larkspur. We each started off with scones, lemon curd, jam and a tart whipped cream. With my Larkspur, I could have had endless scones which I wished I had taken advantage of since my GF scone was so moist and delish... However, I wanted to leave room for the rest of my order. The Larkspur arrived on a three tiered stand. The bottom stand with little tea sandwiches with bread that did not resemble to be gluten-free (in GF terms, that means it was very good!) The second tier were savory items such as a meatball, quiche and fruit. My top tier were about 5-6 desserts. Everything was bite sized but it was all so good and surprisingly filling. I am still craving the scones and lemon curd with whipped cream! My friends ordered lunch dishes with lunch items such as: chicken pot pie soup, raspberry salad, orzo salad, pea salad, tea sandwiches... which they all said was superb. Since it was my bestie's birthday, our waitress provided her with a complimentary chocolate cake with a bday candle.

The price was not bad. The total for the four of us was about $95. Compared to Tea Rooms in Seattle, this is actually fairly inexpensive. Especially when it comes to gluten-free....

The ambiance is very Victorian. Floral wallpaper in every room, including the bathroom. I wouldn't have it in my home, but it was perfect for the Secret Garden. They even have a little side sun room with two two-person tables... might be fun for a date if you can finagle your love to get in touch with his feminine side. One downside is that they only had one bathroom. Our party of four had the same reservation time as a party of ten. So both our parties ended about the same time. Therefore, the bathroom was in high demand until they left.

Overall, from start to finish.. we had a great time. Customer service was superb... We never felt rushed and despite how busy they were, we never felt neglected. The owner even came out to introduce herself and welcome us. It was a very fun experience. We will definitely be back and next time, we will be in floral dresses and...

The review below was pre-covid time. We are Members at Secret Garden since they reopened in 2024. We love it here. The food is always incredible. So much thought and planning goes into every detail. Elizabeth and Diane make every visit an experience to be remembered. We have introduced so many of our friends to share the wonderful ritual of Afternoon Tea in this enchanting Victorian home.

I cannot sing enough praise for the Secret Garden Tea Room. We were planning a catered event with another tea vendor that was slowly spiraling into the abyss after months of planning. We had a dozen people coming from as far as Selah Wa to meet for a tea party in Southern Puget Sound and it was clear that we had to find another alternative. I have known Elizabeth since my first enchanting visit to Secret Garden in 2003 when they were still in the Factoria Mall. I called just a few days before the event to see if it would be possible to put something together and was delighted to discover they already have a fantastic system in place. Their Back Porch pickup menu is filled with wonderful options. Each individual tea setting was placed on a silver platter. Platters were artfully arranged with a small cup over a treat in the center to allow for stacking. Upon arrival, trays were brought out to a table under a canopy where we just picked up to load into a cooler. We ordered extra scones (because they really are the best we have ever had) and frozen cranberry salad for everyone in addition to each tea setting. They also cleverly bagged our tea choices to make steeping convenient and easy. The challenge was the hour drive ahead of us. To our complete astonishment, each serving arrived completely intact. The ingenious stacking kept things from getting smushed. The trays kept all the food covered and separate so each person just grabbed their gorgeous silver tray of food and their cup of tea to sit and savor. Everyone raved at how fantastic the food was. It's almost impossible to pull off food to go but everything was fresh and delicious. The frozen cranberry salad was even still frozen. So much thought and attention was put into every detail. Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for making this event a...