Syllable In The City

Friday French High Tea

I love a good high tea, and when I saw Liberté’s Instagram post about their French High Tea every Friday, I had to look into it. The first thing I did was send the post to Nafisa, who took these incredible pics and my usual partner in crime when it comes to exploring everything food related.

What it’s all about

Every Friday from 11:00 – 15:00, you can enjoy sweet and savoury treats and a pot of tea for only R500 for two people. That’s R250 per person, and in terms of high tea in Johannesburg, that’s an excellent price.

But it’s also outstanding value for money. I’ve never left a high tea feeling like I don’t have space for another crumb. That was the case here. Nafisa and I shared a scone and I just wanted to fall over on the couch and have a nap. We packed up one of the crackers, the bread and cheese, half of Nafisa’s chocolate cake, half of her half scone, and the remaining scone. It is so much deliciousness.

On the high tea menu

So what was on the menu? The savouries included (with my personal rating out of five):

Zucchini and halloumi skewers (2.5/5)
Smoked salmon and spinach canapès (3/5)
Potato and leek canapès (2/5)
Salmon, caviar, and cream cheese crostini (4/5)
Chees, fruit, tomato jam, and artisanal crackers (3/)

The sweet tray only had three offerings:

Dark Belgian chocolate ganache cupcake (3.5/5)
Eclair with crème pâtissière (5/5) (It’s acqually choux au craquelin but it comes doun to the same thing :))
Freshly baked scones with cream and jam (2.5/5)

The verdict

I really enjoyed the artisanal cracker with the soft cheese but would’ve preferred caramelised onion to the tomato jam. The crostini was also excellent. The potato and leek puff pastry was my least favourite. It was a bit heavy and would probably be better on the winter menu (did I mention their high tea menus change seasonally?). I would’ve loved a creamy mushroom pastry. They’re lighter and always a winner.

Nafisa and I agree that the custard-filled choux was the star of the show. I don’t have words to explain how good it was. I’d be happy if they only had a few of those on the sweet tray. And you know I’m a chocolate cake stan. The chocolate cupcake was good; the ganache the perfect consistency and flavour. Unfortunately, the scones were disappointing. They were too big. Scones are a high-tea staple, but their proportions were completely unbalanced with the rest of the treats. If they were half that size the restaurant could probably add a petit four (I’m not a huge fan), a truffle, or another little treat. As it was we shared a scone.

By the way – weigh in on the great scone debate in the comments: cream then jam, or jam then cream?

Would I go again?

Definitely! I would like to see how they change the menu for the different seasons. I love that they included a cheese and fruit platter; I feel that’s very unique, and I haven’t seen it on any other high tea menu. Last year I had high tea at an upmarket hotel (complimentary but priced at R350 per person) and while they had more, smaller treats – both sweet and savoury – I could have had another snack. The main difference between that tea and the French high tea at Liberté is that with the latter, you get a pot of tea, and at the hotel, you could have a different flavour of tea in every cup; they provided hot water and various tea packets on the table. However, I didn’t mind having a pot of only one flavour tea. It was still a lot of tea and absolutely delicious.