Jessa's tea parlor — Restaurant in Woodstock

This was my first time at a tea parlor and it was so cute! The place was small but just enough space for you and your party because it was reservation only. Our party was four ladies including a child. Each person had their own set of dishes and my little cousin had her own set too with her own tea course separate from us three.

We got our appetizer which was a small salad and choice of chicken salad croissant or tomato basil soup, I got the tomato basil soup. The soup was weird, I’ve never had tomato basil soup that was frothy, it also tasted a little sour. The salad was great! Never had goat cheese and boy was it creamy! For teas there is a huge menu to choose from; green, black, herbal, fruity. Each person gets to choose their own tea which comes in their own large teapot. And you could choose a different tea any time you wanted. The only thing was that there was a policy of NO SHARING. So there were four people in my party and we couldn’t try each other’s teas, which I think is a shame because the teapots were big and yes we could’ve changed anytime, but that would be so wasteful. Overall I think the teas were good, nothing that really stuck out there. My grandma did get the lemongrass tea and she enjoyed it very much. All tables had honey and sugar cubes already there. Onto the food! We were brought out a tower of three courses; scones, finger sandwiches and dessert. We each received four different sandwiches, three different scones and I think three mini desserts. I would give the sandwiches overall a 4.5 because they were the perfect size and the taste was great! My favorite was the one that actually didn’t come of the tower, it was served separately(not sure if it was intentional or not) but it was the one with apple slices. There was a pimento cheese sandwich that did not care for. The desserts…I think there was a carrot cake cookie, brownie piece, and a mini cupcake. I personally did not try any of the desserts because I was full but my aunt and cousin did and they said the cookie was good but unfortunately the cupcake and mini brownie tasted store bought. Now for the showstopper…THE SCONES! Oh my word! These were the most delicious scones I’ve had in a long time! They were served hot was clotted cream and lemon curd. I don’t remember the flavors but they were all delicious! I wish we could’ve ordered more!

Overall the place was cute, had a lot of tea sets as decor and you could definitely tell that Jessa, the owner, took time to collect each piece. Oh my gosh! I almost forgot about the water! It was different. Flavored like berry, not my favorite. I’m sure I could’ve asked for plain water but I just...

The service was excellent, but the food left a lot to be desired. If you’re expecting a traditional English high tea, this is not it.

The savory foods were largely okay, if a little bland. The cucumber sandwiches were dry, but topped with dill, which I enjoyed. The tuna salad seemed to not have anything mixed with the tuna, even mayo, and was inedible. The egg salad was fine and the chicken salad was a delicious traditional chicken salad. The green salad could have been delicious but the dressing tasted like it was made with rancid oil.

The sweets were so overly sweet as to almost be inedible. All of the desserts were cloyingly sweet, and even the scones were sweetened to the level of a cookie or tea cake, when they would normally be slightly sweet and served with jam for added sweetness. I took many of the sweet items home but could not finish them, even later.

I was so looking forward to traditional scones and real clotted (Devonshire) cream, but the scones were much sweeter than any other scone I’ve had, and the cream was EXTREMELY sweet and almond flavored, which completely detracted from the experience. I think if I wasn’t expecting traditional clotted cream, it would have been fine, but I was very disappointed by what amounted to a dessert-like scone and a dense, flavored whipped cream.

The tea was very high quality, but I personally prefer my tea a little stronger. It was a little weak and underwhelming for my taste, especially taken against the sweetness of the food. I would prefer to have the tea left in the pot so you can take it out at your preferred strength. I tried two varieties and the flavor of both was good, just not strong enough. The tea itself was the best aspect of the meal, however.

Our server was extremely nice and cordial, and very helpful. She provided all the refills we requested and everything was delivered quickly.

The shop was cute, if a little smaller than I was expecting. But overall, I wouldn’t make another trip, even though this is by far the closest tea parlor to me. In the future I’ll look for somewhere with a more traditional tea service and better...

OMG where do I start.... Hmm maybe at the fantastic and charming decor or the DIVINE, TO DIE FOR FOOD. This tea parlor is a mother daughter run factory of AWESOMENESS! EVERYTHING is fresh and homemade with love and the best ingredients. Their fried green tomatoes are out of this world and the pimento cheese has the perfect balance of heat and cheesy goodness. The chicken pot pie cups with rosemary cheddar mini scones are tiny food masterpieces that are so creamy and satisfying. All 3 scones, cranberry oatmeal, blueberry and chocolate strawberry were delicious with a perfect crumb. Lemon curd was bright and fresh. The other desserts like raspberry cheesecake bar and lime pound cakes are not to be missed either! Gosh I almost forgot to mention the BBQ sliders and chicken salad croissants... They are divine stand alone sandwiches. The BBQ was the perfect sweet smokey mix. The chicken salad is so flavorful and the grapes are a perfect sweet addition and the buttery croissants are the bees knees. Jessa and her mom Carolyn are 2 of the nicest most hospitable charming women you could hope to spend an afternoon with. Can't wait to come back here. The experience was amazing they made my mom's bday even extra special. Thank you for everything, today...