Belle Epoque is a French cafe/patisserie located inside the Emporium Hotel in Southbank, Brisbane. They do high tea year round, and a special festive high tea at Christmas time.

For a festive treat I took Rose to high tea for a mummy/daughter day out before Christmas.

High Tea in Australia is very similar to Afternoon Tea in England. It consists of a tiered stand of goodies including a savoury plate, scones with jam and cream and a selection of sweet cakes to finish. It’s one of my favourite things to do, especially if you go somewhere a little special.

When I was researching festive high teas in Brisbane I was drawn to Belle Epoque because they had a traditional sounding menu and a separate children’s menu. There aren’t too many places in Brisbane that will do a separate children’s high tea so we were excited to try this.

We started with a pot of tea each. For the adults there is the usual selection of teas and coffees which were unlimited for the duration of your high tea. I liked that for the kids there was a selection of fruit/herbal teas as well as milkshake or juice to choose as your drink. Rose chose a raspberry tea. She really likes to feel part of the high tea experience by having a pot of tea.

Savoury Selection

The tea and food arrived promptly and was very well presented.

For the adults the savoury selection consisted of one sandwich, one brioche roll, a few tarts and a few other savoury morsels. My favourite was the honey mustard egg.

For the children the savoury selection consisted of a few sandwiches, a chicken burger and a mini pizza. Rose’s favourite was the chicken burger.

In general the savoury selection was a little disappointing. Although the traditionals were in there with the egg and cucumber sandwiches I was hoping for more tea sandwiches rather than savoury canapes. Although I will note that this is the trend for high tea in Australia. I am a purist when it comes to afternoon tea in England and I always hope for this in my Australia high teas!

Scones

There were no scones on the children’s high tea (the mini pizza was on the middle tier) but the adult’s high tea came with two scones – one plain, one fruit – as well as a mini mince pie. There were two jams to choose from – a raspberry rose jam and a passionfruit curd – as well as chantilly cream. The scones were good, the jams excellent but the cream was a little too light and thin. Clotted cream is the standard for afternoon tea scones but again I am yet to find an Australian high tea that includes clotted cream. As a substitute thickened cream would have been better.

Cakes And Pastries

The adults high tea consisted of a number of festive treats on the top layer such as a snowman cheesecake and gingerbread man. These all looked well-crafted, delicious and very festive. I loved the Christmas theme that went through the whole high tea. The highlights were the snowman and the raspberry and chocolate tart.

The children’s sweet treats were a plate of chocolate delights. A little pot of chocolate fondue with marshmallows and fruit to dip as well as three chocolate brownies and three rocky roads. This was again very well presented but even Rose was defeated by this much food and couldn’t finish it all – and she has a serious sweet tooth and a very large appetite for anything sweet!

They will let you take any leftovers home in a box so we took some of the leftover cakes home to finish later.

Overall Review

A great effort from Belle Epoque with exquisitely created pastries and delicious scones and jam, but just missed the mark on the savouries. More sandwiches please!

Pricing

The adults high tea was $80 with tea and coffee, or $90 with a glass of sparkling wine. The children’s high tea was $45 and includes a glass of milkshake or juice.

How To Get There

Easy access by bus with the Southbank bus station a few minutes walk. There is also a ferry terminal 10 minutes walk away. If you are driving Southbank has a large underground car park. It does get busy but you can usually find a space and this will set you back $20 for 2-3 hours parking.

What Else To Do Nearby

There are many other things to do at Southbank such as Streets Beach, a splash zone for the kids, museums, art galleries and let’s not forget QPAC if you’d like to catch a show.

Southbank is a must for any Brisbane itinerary. For more suggestions of fun things to do in Brisbane click here.