Up until recently, Steakhouse 55 in the Disneyland Hotel has only offered breakfast/brunch and dinner.  This past January, they opened their doors for a lovely Classic Afternoon Tea.

When I first heard about the tea offering, I knew I wanted to try it out.  Steakhouse 55 has always been one of my favorite Disneyland Resort restaurants.  I especially love the atmosphere here, so I was really excited to have a new Steakhouse 55 experience.  Breakfast at Steakhouse 55 is what I believe to be one of the very best breakfasts on property.  Dinner is wonderful too, so I was sure afternoon tea would be a delight as well!

I tried to book immediately, but it was full almost a month out! So, I booked my month out and waited patiently.  Checking in for tea is the same process as a meal.  Just head on up to the podium and you will be escorted back to the dining room.

When the time came, I was joined by my best pal.  We took the first reservation of the day, which was at noon, and when we got there it was basically empty.  By the time we left, there was not one open table!

If you’ve never been inside of Steakhouse 55, you need to remedy that.  It’s gorgeous with an old Hollywood feel.  For the tea, the tables are dressed in white linens.  At each place setting sits a silver accented cup & saucer with a matching bread plate.

There are 3 different “Tea Parties” to choose from: The Classic Tea Party, The Premium Tea Party and the Kids Tea Party.  The difference between the Classic and Premium is an added Glass of Sparkling Wine, a Salad, and a Farewell Truffle.  We chose the Classic Tea Party with a “Hint” of Kids Tea Party.  I’ll explain that more in a bit.

Now, if you aren’t a tea connoisseur, not to worry.  Your server will ask you what you like (sweet or savory, iced or hot, etc.) and help you make some decisions.  There are 12 different types of tea and they can be served iced or hot.  You may try as many as you like in either form.

We started with the Tangerine Iced Tea and the Eros Hot Tea.  Teas are brought out together; the iced tea served in a carafe and the hot tea in a simple yet elegant white teapot.

Of these two teas, I actually preferred the Eros, I loved the vanilla hint to it.  The tangerine to me was just a bit to perfumy.  Later on we also tried the Russian Earl Grey hot tea, which was wonderful.

Of course you are also brought out lemon, honey and sugar for your tea.  Not pictured are the adorable white rock candy sugar stirrers.  Sorry!

As soon as you have your tea, this gorgeous three tiered tower of deliciousness shows up.

The top tier features two types of freshly baked scones; the first was a Currant Scone topped with Sugar Crystals & the second was a Blueberry Scone with Lemon Glaze.  Both were amazing.

The scones are served with Lemon Curd, homemade Blueberry Preserves and hand whipped Devonshire Cream — all of which should be immediately slathered upon your scones and devoured, in a lady like manner of course…

I thought both the scones and toppings were absolutely delicious.  If I would have been at home, I would have licked that lemon curd bowl clean. Also, the preserves… I would have loved to purchase a jar to bring home.  So wonderful.

Now, remember above how I said we had a “hint” of the Kids Tea Party thrown in?  Well, when I saw on the menu that this one came with a Mickey Mouse Shaped Chocolate Chip Scone, I asked if we could get one of those too!

It was baked to perfection, generously filled with chocolate chips and topped with little sugar crystals.  A deliciously fun treat for adults AND kids.

Let’s move on to the middle tier, Tea Sandwiches!  I absolutely loved the presentation of the 4 different sandwiches.  In the center you have a Salmon Gravlax Sandwich, above and below the salmon is the Cucumber & Watercress, then you have a Deviled Cage Free Egg Salad Sandwich & an Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Sandwich.

My favorite sandwich was actually the most simple one, the Cucumber Watercress.  It was really refreshing and I could have probably eaten about 5 of them…

My second favorite was the Deviled Cage Free Egg Salad Sandwich, quite a mouthful of words, but basically a good ‘ol fashioned heap of egg salad sprinkled with paprika topping a circle of white bread.  I loved how finely the egg was chopped.  I don’t think I’ve ever had it this way.  Again, I wanted more!

I also enjoyed the Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Sandwich.  Although I’m not a fan of tomatoes, I do LOVE mozzarella, and this mozzarella was divine.

The final tea sandwich was the Salmon Gravlax Sandwich.  Personally I do not like seafood, so I didn’t try this one.  Also, Gravlax means raw, sliced thinly salmon, just not my thing.  It was however a lovely presentation and I’m sure if you enjoy salmon, it was probably wonderful.

We actually traded out the Salmon Gravlax Sandwich for the Kids Menu Mickey Mouse Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches.

You may see it otherwise, but I was very pleased with my 5 year old-like decision.  Strawberry Jam with Creamy Peanut Butter on White Bread shaped like Mickey Mouse.  Perfection.  And by the way, doesn’t a PB&J always taste better when someone else makes it for you??? Such comfort food!

Now, on to that final tier, DESSERT!

The dessert tier consisted of Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Mini Fruit Tarts, and French Macarons.  All three items were lovely, but I think my favorite were the Chocolate Covered Strawberries.  If the strawberries are juicy, plump and flavorful, which they were, you can never go wrong with a chocolate covered strawberry.  They were excellent!

The Mini Fruit Tarts were filled with vanilla custard and topped with fresh fruit.  Ours had blueberry,  peach, raspberry and strawberry on top; refreshing and delicious.

And last but not least, the French Macarons.  The plate came with 4 different Macarons; I only tried one of them because I was so full at this point.   The flavors from left to right are Vanilla, Strawberry, Caramel (which was so tasty), and pistachio.  The outer shell was perfectly crisp upon biting then soft in the center.  The filling was creamy and sweet.  I thought the presentation was really nice, switching it up from the traditional round macaron.

Overall

Overall, we really enjoyed the Classic Afternoon Tea at Steakhouse 55.  I’ve heard people talking about how pricey this is, but compared to other high end traditional afternoon teas, I feel like this is a competitive/fair price.  I’ve experienced high tea at the Queen Mary in Long Beach and the pricing there is $36 a person, plus you have to pay for valet parking which is $15.  This ends up costing the same price as the Disneyland Hotel tea, which includes free valet parking with validation. I also felt that the service and atmosphere was better at Disneyland than in the Tea Room on the Queen Mary.

Classic Afternoon Tea takes place on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays with reservation times starting at noon and ending at 3:00pm.  Reservations can be made online or by calling Disney Dining at 714.781.DINE.

Do you plan to visit Steakhouse 55 for afternoon tea? Or have you already visited? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Heather Sievers is the Disney Food Blog’s Dining in Disneyland columnist. See more of her columns here!