Florentine Tearoom

Had a lovely high tea here — it’s like stepping into your grandma’s (poshed-​up) sitting room; all chandeliers & mis-​matched tea sets. There’s even a wee courtyard out the back.
The cabinet food is a drool-​worthy selection of gourmet pies, sausage rolls, sandwiches & filled rolls. If you fancy something sweet with your cuppa, you’re also in luck — lamingtons, cupcakes, scones, brownies & cakes galore hide under beautiful cake trays.
We had booked for the High Tea — $ 40 for 2 people, and had managed to get a sweet spot in the courtyard on a balmy Saturday autumn morning.
The tea list came out first with a good selection of black, green & herbal teas. You can also order milkshakes, smoothies & coffees.
I went for a Gorgeous Grey blend of black Earl Grey leaves with citrus. Other options chosen were Japanese Lime green tea, Berrylicious herbal & Red Vanilla herbal tea. All were leaf teas leaves served in individual teapots with lovely china tea cups & saucers. To be drunk with your little pinky extended of course!
The cake stands arrived laden with our high tea, consisting of a selection of club sandwiches, brownies, cupcakes, pecan & blueberry tarts and the most amazing date & orange scones served with cream & yoghurt. We really struggled to get through all the food. It was so fresh & tasty; the sandwich fillings of ham & cheese, egg & cress and chicken & avocado were a big hit.
A super cute little suburban spot to read the paper, shout your nana or start writing that novel!

Florentine succeeds beautifully at being a small high tea café with a slightly baroque flourish. The chairs and crockery and teaspoons are all slightly mismatched in a cute granny kind of way and the glass domed cake stands make the sweet treats look like something from Beauty and the Beast.
It felt rebellious ordering a coffee between groups of impatient elderly women and the small kitchen could barely hold the three staff members working. But sweet Jane Austin, what a coffee it was. I completely forgot I could see the neighbours laundry from the cafés courtyard.
Florentine’s is an understated little treasure of Epsom, both classy and romantic but humble.

This place looks fabulous from the outside and it looks fabulous inside, but what a lot of people don’t know about this place is that it has a courtyard outside! It’s a great place to go if you are wanting some outside time away from Auckland noise and traffic. I would describe the décor as decadent and elegant and the food is… dainty? It’s like delicious little cakes and biscuits and things that go well with english breakfast tea if you catch my drift. I had always driven past this café and had always wanted to go in, when I finally did I kind of wish I didn’t because now I regularly think about it and want to go back. The only niggle I have is that they close quite early I wish they were open till four it’s much easier to get there for then and much more appropriate for afternoon tea, but other than that… love it!