【食記】古典玫瑰園東海店－il Giardino Romantico

Does this chandelier make you think that I'm back in Europe? Well, this was actually taken in Taiwan. No mistake. Rose House is a popular tea house famous for their so-called 'English style' tea. When we decided to come here, all spotlight was on me. As I had just recently returned from the UK, they were all dying to find out what I'd think of it. The truth is, this is so close to my old uni, but throughout the four years of college life, I had not set foot here even once. I think they've refurbished recently, and now I will never know what it was like before...

看到這個吊燈有沒有產生一種我又回到英國的錯覺呢！？其實這的確是在台灣拍攝的。地點就在知名的古典玫瑰園。我們決定要來這之後，一群人開始對我施壓。畢竟剛從英國回來，大家都想知道我對這間超有名氣的玫瑰園評價如何。其實這間總店就在我們大學附近。可是唸書那四年我一步都沒踏進來過。連他們什麼時候改建的我也不知道。（因為跟我印象中的外觀不一樣）。這樣一來我也永遠都不會知道原本的玫瑰園長什麼樣子了～

Because we had a big group, I came into the shop first to take a look at the tea for sale. To be honest, I was a little disappointed when I found that most of the tea were 'flavoured'. There was only one type of tea that was not 'flavoured'.

因為這天有大批人馬要入桌，所以在等到大家到齊前，我先行進入看看販賣的茶品。不過結果我是有點小失望。所有的茶都有＂加味＂。花茶居多。沒有加味的原味英式茶只有一種。

But I was immensely impressed with their service. They arranged a room for us, and must have waited for more than twenty minutes till we all found each other and sat down. They were patient and professional. This kind of service comes with a price, though...

雖然對茶品有點小失望，不過對於他們的服務我可是真的很滿意。在外頭等候的時候就有小姐詢問幾位。得知超過十位就主動說要幫我們安排包廂。擔心這種龜毛的店若是晚點進去該不會就直接取消了吧～不過我一直與店員確認︰先在附近逛逛、等人到齊了在進來可以嗎？店員也向我保證沒問題。整個過程讓人覺得很貼心。實在是很專業。果然是一分錢一分＂服務＂啊！

Apologies for the poor quality of this particular photo. I assure you this function room is actually a lot more impressive than it looks. Every single one of us had our jaws wide open when the door was opened. How posh!

這張效果沒拍的很好。不過相信我，這間包廂真的很令人吃驚。我們一群人，當門打開，幾乎每一個都是張開嘴巴不敢置信的表情！有沒有感覺很貴婦啊！

I think it's green tea red bean cake...
好像是抹茶紅豆蛋糕...

If there was anything I missed out on while I was in the UK, this would be one of them. Read on and you'll see. I had not actually had tea served on a tiered stand. I've only had scones and macaroons before, which were equally just as satisfying. But this was the perfect opportunity to finally see one set in front of my eyes! The best thing was, it included a scone. And now, I would really be able to tell, whether the scone tasted the same or not.

如果說從英國回來有遺憾的話，我想其中一個應該就是沒有在那吃到那種三層點心的下午茶了吧。不過我還是要很自豪的說我吃過好多scone[司康]跟macarons[小圓餅]。也是很滿足的啦！！不過現在能夠真正享受到這三層下午茶點擺在我眼前的視覺以及味覺享受，我當然不能夠放過。（不過真正的原因是因為人夠多才敢叫，不然會怕吃不完...）而且餐點裡面有包含scone。這下真的可以來跟大家說一下，這裡的scone道不道地囉！！

Supposedly, you're meant to start from the bottom and work your way up. But as my only interest was the scone, sod it!

據說是要從下層吃到上層。不過呢，這天我只對scone有興趣。所以我哪管的了它那麼多...

最底層(鹹的)

超難拍的第二層(微甜)

最高層(爆甜)

Other than this fancy set of snack, obviously, a tea cannot possibly be complete without - TEA!

除了高檔點心之外，當然來茶屋的重點—茶，也不能忘了呀！

Afternoon tea, with milk and sugar.
下午茶。加糖加奶。

Yorkshire tea
約克夏水果茶

Waffle
鬆餅

Wash basin in the loo
洗手間裡的洗手台 (tone會不會跳太快... )

Of course there were more than two cups of tea to satisfy a whole table of women... But I was too busy trying out my scone and distributing it after spreading both jam and cream on it to everyone who cared to try it the English way. That's why I ended up with only two shots of drinks... So what this comes down to, is that the tea was actually very nice. The atmosphere, also very grand. The scone, however, obviously needs improvement. But as this is not the UK, or anywhere near it, I think I'm pretty satisfied with what I got.

我們人數這麼龐大，當然是有點超過兩杯飲料啦。不過我忙著幫我的scone塗上果醬跟鮮奶油，然後切割分給想嘗試正宗英國味的大家吃，所以就懶的一份一份個別拍照了。不過最終的結論是，茶還不錯喝。（因為是外行人？）氣氛也很贊。有讓我想到倫敦Harrods某家茶店的feel... 不過這個scone就有待加強啦... 體積小、果醬跟奶油也都給的少的可憐（雖然事後要求有再補上）。話雖這麼說，不過跟在那邊吃中國菜同樣的道理。既然離發源地這麼遠，咱們就別計較這麼多了吧！

店家資訊︰
地址︰台中縣龍井鄉藝術街39巷7號
電話︰04-2632-1212