DASH OF WANDERLUST: My Mother's Day Surprise - Passiontree Velvet + Swissotel High Tea

I always find it really hard to find presents for my mum, especially since the past few presents I've given her were a dud. Let me point out that they weren't bad quality presents, just more she didn't appreciate it because she didn't see the need. Hashtag Mum logic (I would actually put a hashtag, but my 'three' on my keyboard is broken lol), what are you gonna do. This year I decided the best thing to my mum's heart is through her stomach, it's a genetic thing I suppose.

On Mother's Day, I made a french feast (not really, but I tried really hard to make it nice) and bought some flowers. She doesn't particularly have a favourite flower, but her favourite colour is purple so I bought an arrangement with purple flowers with lovely complementing roses.

There was a new cafe that opened up at Macquarie called Passiontree Velvet that caught my eye as I did my weekly grocery shopping. Aside from the Parisian desserts and Belgian chocolates, three things caught my eye. The display of Tiffany & Co hues across the cafe, a colourful display of my favourite dessert after ice cream (macaroons) and the fact that I've been wanting to try high tea for the longest time.

Strawberry cheesecake eclair & box of 6 macaroons

From Left Top side going down : Blackberry, Pistachio, Strawberry, Passionfruit, Chocolate, Blueberry

French Toast + Macaroons + Eclair + Tea

So that was the first part of her present. The second part included a High Tea at Swissotel. Being the asian person I am, I found a really good deal on groupon that I couldn't resist. I think it would've been a good experience to share with her since it'll be both our first time at a High Tea and it'd be a good change from normal cafe and restaurant setting. We went today because it was her day off and I made it a double date with my friend and her mum. The High Tea was located at Crossroads Bar at Swissotel and the decor was quite nice. We started the High Tea with a Chocolate Chai Brownie Mocktail/Cocktail and a shot of Italian Hot chocolate.

I really liked these drinks, the chai brownie mocktail especially.

Then came our high tea sets. Don't be deceived. These don't look that filling, but we didn't even eat lunch and we left in a food coma.

Serves 4 people.

Top Layer: White chocolate panna cotta with strawberry coulis, Milk chocolate profiteroles with cream, Chocolate Tart with raspberries & Orange cheesecake

Middle Layer: Chocolate Chip Scones with jam and cream

Bottom Layer: Vegetarian wrap, Turkey with vegetables with basil aioli, Smoked Salmon and cream cheese & Roasted beef

They also had a chocolate fountain with melon and pineapple, which I definitely couldn't resist.

That chocolate shine doe.

On top of all that, we got to try their wide selection of T2 teas. I drink tea on a daily basis, so I loved the selection. I tried the rosy red hip tea, which was really nice and my friend tried the detox tea.

Overall, it was a really good experience for high tea. We spent 2.5 hours just sitting down and chatting. I realise that people have really busy schedules nowadays, but it's always good to wind down and spend time with each other. Both our mothers didn't want to take photos, but we couldn't help but take some candid snaps of each other.