If there was one thing that springs to mind when you think of the good ole’ USA, it is not afternoon tea! But luckily, on my recent visit over to the states to visit my sister, I was shown just how good an American version of an afternoon tea can be. My sister, having lived in the states for nearly 15 years, has lived in several different states, but is currently in Indiana. It has been fun to visit the various places that she and her family have lived, but having never been to Indiana before, I was looking forward to seeing what the area has in store.
Based in Indianapolis, there are a few different things to do in the city itself. but based not far out of Indy, is Hamilton County, consisting of areas like Fishers and Carmel. The restaurant that we went to for afternoon tea was in Carmel, Indiana, and the town itself is super cute. It ha much more of a British feel about it, with a ‘town centre’ with shops and restaurants to walk around, rather than just shops off the side of the road like many other places in the states. The buildings were really cute too; so pretty!
As for Tina’s Traditional Tea Room, it was the epitome of cuteness, for sure. The outside was pretty, with a British flag flying, of course. Inside the tea room, was so much British memorabilia, flags, bunting, tea towels, and all things cute. The table settings themselves were pretty with lace tablecloths, and the daintiest tea cups and saucers. I really liked how they were all different, and looked really vintage; very classic style rather than just a plain white mug and saucer.
The menu has a real host of tea to choose from, with plenty of herbal infusions and fruit tea options (my preference). One thing that I thought was really cute was the tea timer – I’d never seen one before.
Our individual teapots were brought over and then we were informed of how long for the ideal brew, so we could check and watch the sand timer by us. Really cool.
The food menu has a great range of typical British food, from pies to sausage rolls, as well as quiche and salads.
We did choose the afternoon tea, of which there are a few to choose from. We went for the Duke and Duchess afternoon tea, priced at $55, that includes triple-decker cucumber, dill and cream cheese finger sandwiches, quiche, teacups salads, scones, clotted cream & jam, as well as seasonal pastries and fresh fruit. Of course, you can have unlimited pots of tea or coffee. It looked great, but the best thing, tasted amazing too. So nice to have a little slice of home on our trip, and treat my sister who hasn’t had a lot of British treats like scones and clotted cream for years! I think the price was totally reasonable for what you get – we both left feeling full, and I have definitely paid more for UK afternoon tea before.
We had a wonderful afternoon, and there is even a cute little gift shop as part of the tea room too. They also do a host of evening events (particularly jealous of the Poldark one coming up in the next few months), with food, tea, and cake, all based around Poldark and Cornwall. There is always a lot going on, or you can just pop in for a cuppa.
If I go and visit my sister again, I will add Tina’s Traditional tea room to the list – so cute and the area it is in would definitely need some more exploring.
Have you ever been to Indiana before? It would be great to hear what you think.
*we dined as guest of Visit Hamilton County, but all words and opinions are my own.
