Sometimes in life you end up in a certain place and wonder how in the world you got there. I recently experienced this when I ate at a new restaurant here in Searcy called The Old English Tea House located on Race Street across from Cash Saver. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. I found a female friend who was happy to go with me, which was a good thing for reasons that will become apparent later. I walked through the door into the restaurant, everything changed.
It was as if we had stepped through a portal and had been transported to Victorian Era England, minus the clothes. The ceiling was very high and there was a fireplace on one of the walls. It was very apparent that it had been decorated by a woman. The napkins were even pink. Imagine a scene from an Old West film where someone looking for trouble walks into a saloon and everyone stops and stares at him. I would say that sums up how I felt when I walked in. I was very ready to get out of there. However, I kept my cool and everyone returned to their meals, so my friend and I sat down. If two guys had walked in there, I am pretty sure the place would have exploded due to excessive testosterone.
As we sat down, I immediately noticed the flower centerpieces and the gold silverware. For a split second, I thought I had been tricked into taking an etiquette class, which is exactly how my friend described it. I immediately realized how silly I was being, as the waitress came over to take our order.
The good news is that the food is delightful. With more than 30 kinds of teas on the menu, they definitely live up to the “tea house” part of their name. These include fruit, mint, and even chocolate flavored teas. The best part is that the tea comes in a pot. For the “Alice in Wonderland” fans, you can imagine you are the Mad Hatter pouring yourself a cup of tea. They also offer honey and sugar to go with it. I ordered the strawberry-kiwi tea and my friend ordered the mint chocolate. Both were good, although I prefer the strawberry-kiwi.
They also offer sandwiches that change from day-to-day. When I visited, the sandwiches offered were a deli Reuben, a ham salad, an Italian, and an avocado pesto. Also, they make their sandwiches small so that you can try them all, which is what I did. The way it works is that you can do afternoon tea, sandwich tea, or full afternoon tea. Per their recommendation, I got the sandwich tea. Of the four, my favorite was the Reuben. It had Thousand Island dressing, homemade horseradish sauce, corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.
Last but not least are the scones. These do not change from day to day. They offer three types of scone: blueberry, raspberry white chocolate, and apple cinnamon. I ordered the raspberry white chocolate, which was very good. For the scones, they bring a plate of strawberry jam as well as cream and lemon curd, both of which are homemade. All in all, I would definitely recommend this restaurant since I did manage to enjoy it despite the awkwardness. I do think it would be a great place for date nights, which is something they talked about having once a month.
It costs about $20 or less per person, but I think that is worth it for the quantity and quality of food you would get. They also offer party packages for birthdays, bridal showers, and luncheons. More information can be found on their Facebook page.
Whenever you are craving a spot of tea, the Old English Tea House is the place to go.
