Why high tea isn’t just a snack, it’s a social ritual

In Sydney, where the views are high and the standards higher, high tea isn’t just a snack, it’s a social ritual. Here are five that prove it.

In Sydney, high tea isn’t just a snack, it’s a social ritual. Here are five where the views are high and the standards higher.

The Charles Brasserie

CBD

The Charles Brasserie. Picture: Steven Woodburn

If the Palace of Versailles had a pastry chef with a cheese fetish, it might look something like high tea at The Charles. One of the CBD’s most extravagant high teas blends European flourish with unapologetic indulgence, set inside one of the city’s most stunning dining rooms. Smoked salmon madeleines flirt with gougères, while a roving dessert trolley rolls by like a Parisian dream on wheels. Expect praline tarts, a rainbow of macarons and a Russian honey cake so delicately layered, we presume it took an architect to construct it. It’s chic, it’s spectacular and it’s gloriously, deliciously unbothered by subtlety.

66 King St, Sydney

Gunners Barracks

Mosman

Gunners Barracks.

Tea tastes better with a view, and views don’t get more cinematic than those served up at Gunners Barracks. Perched on the edge of Mosman with a sweeping harbour panorama and flanked by native bushland, it feels more Jane Austen than army officer’s mess (which the sandstone building started life as). The terrace is the perfect setting for delicate cucumber sandwiches and scones that crumble like our diet willpower. Service is silky, the tea list encyclopaedic and the ambience timeless. Squint and you can almost imagine a colonial officer plotting an Instagram story featuring a perfect lemon tartlet.

End of Suakin Dr, Mosman

Amah by Hojiak

Chatswood

Amah by Hojiak.

This fresh take on high tea offers a Malaysian-inspired experience that reimagines tradition through a South-East Asian lens. Each tier on the heaving tower is an exploration of flavour and an exercise in creativity: delicately wrapped siu mai ingeniously stuffed with Hainanese chicken, crisp spring rolls filled with rich satay and chilli crab dumplings bursting with shellfish and spice. It’s a menu that feels both celebratory and comforting, accompanying beverages like matcha lattes, Chinese teas and signature cocktails. And, yes, there are sweets, too: aromatic, textural desserts that bridge cultures and round out the meal with elegance.

Chatswood Interchange, Level 3 K1 & K2, 436 Victoria Ave

Parkroyal Parramatta

Parramatta

Parkroyal Parramatta.

This high tea is all about generosity: of flavour, of portions and of spirit. Your tower arrives generously heaped with buttery croissants layered with smoked salmon, dainty finger sandwiches, warm scones with lashings of jam and cream, and jewel-like petit fours that feel lifted from a pâtissier’s daydream. The tea selection is thoughtfully curated, with everything from floral blends to breakfast classics. But what sets it apart is the sense of ease: everything from parking to bottomless glasses of sparkling wine is included. No bill shock, no upgrades needed, just a complete, satisfying tea service in the heart of Sydney’s west.

30 Phillip St, Parramatta

Shangri-La Sydney

The Rocks

Shangri-La Sydney.

This is high tea in every sense: perched high on the 36th floor, the Shangri-La’s sky-high spread is a homage to both tradition and daring, where cucumber sandwiches and salmon blinis politely rub shoulders with roast pork bánh mi and wagyu mushroom pies. The view? All postcard. The sweets? A banoffee Paris-Brest that could double as a love letter to caramel. Bonus points for a vegan menu that’s not just lettuce in a tiara. Add a flute of bubbles and you’ve got yourself a tea party worthy of the gods.

176 Cumberland St, The Rocks

Originally published as Why high tea isn’t just a snack, it’s a social ritual