One of the treats for my mum’s birthday was taking her to her very first high tea, and for those of you who love a fancy high tea will know the Oyster Box Hotel’s reputation. That’s why my sisters and I were quite pleased when we confirmed our booking for that birthday weekend. The hotel itself needs no introduction, and with Durban’s warm, sunny weather all year long, there’s never truly a bad time to visit.
We were one of the first guests to arrive. The buffet table spread was large, with a wide variety of savoury and sweet treats. Unfortunately I was told that the hotel doesn’t allow pictures taken with cameras, so I was stuck taking pictures with an iPhone. Thankfully my sister’s iPhone 7 takes amazing pictures.
Greeted by our friendly waitress, we were lead to our table at the far end. We had a choice of picking between a selection of warm or cold beverages. The high tea team also left us a personal card at our table, welcoming us and wishing us an enjoyable experience. We then surveyed the buffet table, which was made up of a variety of fruit, scones, cakes, biscuits, mallows, desserts, mini burgers, canapes, samosas, salmon and fish pate, and crackers (among other items).
The meaty options were not halal so we took the vegetarian ones, which were incredibly good.
The vegetable canape particularly stood out for me as it was absolutely divine! I couldn’t make out exactly what was in it, but it was full of flavour and it was moist. I’m not embarrassed to say I returned to the buffet table for a few more! 🙂 My mum enjoyed the mini vegetable burgers; unfortunately I was too full to get a taste of it…
At some point later into our visit, our waitress brought over a platter that read Happy 60th Birthday, with a cupcake and sparkler for my mum. They also played the Happy Birthday tune on the piano when they brought it over.
It was a warm touch to our visit, as we had only mentioned about 20 mins earlier to our waitress that we’re treating my mum for her birthday. The thought and effort meant a lot, and it was much appreciated.
The high tea is served from 2.30 pm until 5 pm. It was enough time to relax and enjoy everything.
Thereafter we took a stroll around the hotel, and got excellent views of the lighthouse and the ocean. It just so happened that it was the weekend where there was a cyclone in Madagascar and Durban’s beaches were going a little crazy (to say the least). The tide was high and witnessing it was both scary and fascinating at the same time.
High tea at the Oyster Box Hotel was a lovely experience. I expected a larger selection of flavoured teas to choose from, but it didn’t compromise my experience. However, our seat was right behind the piano, which would have been fine if my mum, sisters and I weren’t so hard of hearing anyway (running joke in the family – we’re all near-deaf!). The hotel is beautiful; the views are fantastic.
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