High Tea at Pullman Cairns International

Cairns

May 6

I’ve always been happy to go to the Pullman Cairns International.

With its huge colonial style entrance, floor to ceiling arch windows, plush furniture, decadent fixtures and sweeping staircase – for me its always been Cairns’ equivalent of Raffles Singapore. So to be invited to their High Tea ‘Instameet’ was just the excuse I needed to soak in the atmosphere of their grand lobby.

**Matt Lonne (Exec Chef ) explaining what’s on the High Tea menu**

So what is High Tea? Well for some reason it has always bought up visions of cakes and tea (by the plentiful) and people sitting around balancing fine china with their pinkies and enjoying frivolous conversation, and then there’s the sugar overdose…..In other words it was an activity that I had never really seeked out before now.

High Tea at the Pullman Cairns @adventuremumma.jpg

The good news is I was proved wrong on a lot of points. Number one being the drinks. I am happy to note that alcohol was available as well as an amazing variety of mocktails, some awesome iced tea, traditional tea (of course) and some kick-arse coffee.

The other surprise is that there is an equal amount of savoury items on the menu which have as much detail and attention to them as the desserts.

**Savouries as well as desserts are on offer here**

In fact, the cakes and pastries were only part of the fare that was on offer – I learnt later that finger sandwiches without crusts are the norm, as are scones with jam and cream at High Tea events.

**Skip a meal and save yourself for the food that is on offer here. Don’t try and wedge it in between your normal meals, go all out and treat yourself ‘proper’.**

So once you’ve decided where you will start on the 3-tiered silver stands you are in for a taste bonanza. I’ve never been a big fan of desserts (I’d choose an entrée over sweets any day) but I couldn’t resist the look of the watermelon mousse and knew I had to start my gourmet tour here.

**The watermelon mousse looked, and tasted divine**

Although sweet, the taste of the mousse was well balanced by the sour-gel capsule that poked out from its side (please note that this is a tiny pipette and all you need to do is squeeze it gently….don’t try and twist the end off like I did!!).

**My daughter was happy I saved some macarons for her & her friends**

I was also pleasantly surprised with the peanut butter and jelly macaron. Neither peanut butter OR macarons are on my menu of ‘must have’ items BUT in this case the sweetness of the macaron was evened out by the crunchy saltiness of the peanut paste inside.

Peking Duck Eclair & a deconstructed Beef Wellington

Betroot & ricotta tartlets (savoury NOT dessert)

And yes, I did manage to squeeze in some savouries as well. There was bite-size portions of Beef Wellington and Peking Duck but my favourite by far would have to be the pate. In fact I may (or may not) have managed to secure a few plates of this from various locations along the table.

**Had to remember we were taking pics for the Instameet ( & not just there to eat)**

Meanwhile the cameras were going off around the table and I’m pretty sure between us all we managed to spam the Tropical North Queensland Instagram account for at least a week with all our delish foody images. I definitely gave my own Instagram account a break from my normal outdoorsy shots with my kids doing active stuff.

And where were my kids during all of this you ask? Well they did have an invite but chose to ‘hang out’ with friends at a local freshwater creek rather than join me for a ‘sugar fix’ – it seems I’ve taught them too well!

Good Things to Know:

High Tea is available daily from 10:30am – 4pm & the menu changes weekly
Ring Coco’s for bookings: +61 7 4050 2101

BREAKING NEWS!! Superfood High Tea is now available everyday with healthy options - sugar-free, gluten and dairy free plus vegan friendly.

Pullman Cairns International offer a range of dining options including Tapastry (tapas dishes to share), a seafood buffet, just deserts and an a-la-carte menu. They also hold special events and make sure you LIKE their Facebook page to keep up to date with what’s on offer.
Dietary requirements are catered for (just notify the staff when ordering)
For the inside scoop on the latest temptations at Pullman Cairns International follow these chef Instagram accounts --> @melday15 @_ash93