Stratoz had the fine idea to try the new tearoom for my birthday, The Village Teahouse in West Point, PA(Lansdale address). We have a history of going to tearooms at least 20 years, with Stratoz usually being the only man in the room, which doesn’t bother him because he enjoys taking tea. We used to go to Thyme for Tea in Lansdale, and were sad that it had closed, so it was a treat to visit The Village Teahouse. When I called to make a reservation, the woman on the other end said “Oh, you are a Margaret too.” The owner is Margaret Miley Shaffer.
The theme is Alice in Wonderland, and we were seated in the Mad Hatter Room. I was tempted by the tea with lavender and if it had been a black tea, I would have gone with it. Instead I tried the Wedding Tea, with rose petals, which was more frilly than I usually like, but when the server asked if I wanted more tea, I ordered the Oolong(which is what Stratoz had) which was more my speed.
The Full Tea started with a two tiered tray topped with scones and tea bread, lemon curd, cream, and fig jam. The tea sandwiches were a nice array for a bacontarian such as myself since there was a tasty variation on a BLT in miniature form, in addition to vegetarian options of egg salad, carrot salad on raisin bread, cucumber, and then Stratoz ate both roast beef sandwiches.
Dessert included banana cream tarts(which made me think it was Stratoz’ birthday since he enjoys bananas and I don’t ;-), but I ate both chocolate cherry cupcakes, followed with a lemon meringue tart and a chocolate dipped shortbread cookie shaped like a teabag.
In addition to satisfying my sweet tooth, The Village Teahouse is a Victorian designed by Milton Bean, Lansdale architect, in 1896. I had heard a talk by Drexel Librarian Leopold Montoya at the Lansdale Historical Society. Montoya became entranced with Bean when he discovered his house was designed by him, but little information was available, even though Bean designed over 1000 area homes and churches. Our house was built in 1900, so the The Village Teahouse had a 4 year head start on us.
The Village Teahouse opens in Upper Gwynedd article in North Penn Life, July 20, 2015. As we were leaving, the owner told us it was always nice to meet another Margaret. Even though she goes by Meg much of the time, she does have Margaret’s Late Day Tea on the menu, so she is Margaret approved.
PHONE
(215) 699-1800
HOURS
Wed-Sat 10a–4p
Call for special event hours
LOCATION
1919 West Point Pike
Lansdale, PA 19446
Happy Birthday Margaret! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂