The Tea Cosy @ The Rocks, Sydney

It's been a while since I stepped back onto the soils of Australia.  Right after I landed in Sydney, I decided to stroll around The Rocks looking for somewhere decent to have brunch.

Almost to the end of George Street, I stumbled across this tiny little souvenir shop called the Irish Design Shop.  Tucked deep inside the rear courtyard of the Irish Design Shop, lies a cute cafe, The Tea Cosy @ The Rocks.  Previously known as the "Tara Tea Room", it serves really nice Grandma-style scones.

As you enter the 180-year old heritage building, you will slowly be greeted by the wonderful smells of freshly-baked scones (not to mention, the beautiful decorations of Irish themes all over the place).  I was pretty lucky as I came just in time for the tray of scones to come right out from the oven.

The Devonshire Tea (AUD 12 per person) consists of two freshly-baked scones with all natural double thickened cream and gourmet fruit jam, served with any choice of drinks.  As I was too early, there were only limited choices.  I went for the Apricot scone and Raisins scone.

The scones, they are really huge!  I must admit, they definitely tasted slightly different from the ones I had before - more crumbly.  I love the Apricot scone as it is sweet and has slices of apricot in it.  However, I was not very fascinated with the Raisins scone as the raisins were a little bitter (or maybe I was just too bloated to have another bite).

Their jam are all homemade with fresh ingredients.  With so many choices available, I went straight for the Staff's Pick of Pear & Vanilla jam.  It was definitely a wise decision as the jam is really good, although on the sweeter side.  I just couldn't help licking off every bit of the jam off the knife.  You know it was made from the real thing as you can feel little bits of the pear.  Pairing up with that double cream and jam on the scones, it is just so wonderfully tasty.  Yum yum.

For drinks, I ordered the Barry's Imported Irish black tea.  Served loose in a pot dressed in handmade tea cosies, it was a pretty sight.  Unfortunately, I didn't really like the tea as much as I wanted as it sort of gave me quite a numb feeling after a drink or two.  I shouldn't have been so adventurous and stick to the usual English Breakfast or coffee.  Well, at least I know what Irish tea tasted like.

Enjoying tea by the sidewalks was definitely a very relaxing and enjoyable treat, while getting some sun to warm the body.  But if you come here during the weekends, it would be more lively as you can enjoy the sights and sounds of the famous weekend "Rocks Markets".

The good thing about The Tea Cosy is that they put up a sign right outside the store to let you know when the next freshly baked scones will be out, so that you will know when to come back and get your hands on those scones.

I will definitely return here again for the scones and jam.  Word of advice, the portion can be quite big for a small eater (I couldn't finish it myself), so do bring along a partner to share.

The Tea Cosy @ Irish Design Shop

33 George Street

Sydney

Australia

Open Thursday & Friday (10am - 4pm) and Saturday & Sunday (10am - 5pm)