The whole concept of going for tea is not part of my culture. While I understand this is a big part of British culture it certainly isn't part of mine or of Vietnam's. This doesn't change the fact that there is a rather fancy looking place that is a block from my house and I have ignored it up until the other day when a South African friend of mine recommended I go there with her.
It was interesting, that's for sure.
Maybe I was "doing it wrong" because I did not order any tea. Hot tea just isn't my thing. I'm American, we drink iced tea. I was on the other hand quite excited to try scones for the first time in my life because what's not to like about a pastry with fruit an cream on it?
This was our initial set up and I can't really say that I was thrilled about how the coffee was served but hey! It's their place and they can do whatever they want.
I'm sure I could have figured out the process on my own but I had professional instruction from my friend about how to prepare a scone properly. It isn't rocket science.... just spread all the goodies all over the place and dig in!
I'm not really a sweet-tooth kind of guy but this was sinfully delicious in my mind. It also seemed like a wonderful way to gain a bunch of weight if you made it a regular part of your life.
I don't know if this is just a throwback to the olden days of British life or if this is really something that people regularly do over there but I'll say this... I enjoyed it but I probably won't go back any time soon. To me, having an extra dessert in the afternoon just seems like overkill. It was very very delicious though and if you have never tried a "proper scone" as it was referred to by my friend, I think you should have a go at this at least once in your life. Although I have near zero experience, I believe that the outcome would largely be determined by the cream, which in our situation was absolutely excellent.