Title: Dec 11, 2012
Author: jean komatsu
Last saved by: ENU

Lovey's Tea Shoppe
4430 Coast Hwy (aka Cabrillo Hwy or Rte 1), Pacifica, CA
http://www.loveysteashoppe.com/  
Review date: December 2012

About six years ago I went with a group to Lovejoy's Tea Room in San Francisco. It's a cute place with an excellent high tea – so much so that until we discovered tea at the Pardee Home Museum/Oakland, Lovejoy's was my standard for a high tea. And since Pardee's tea is supplied by volunteers as a non-profit (giving them an advantage), Lovejoy's remains the 'gold standard' for a commercial tea room.

On a Chowhound discussion thread, someone posted that the partner in Lovejoy's had just opened a branch in Pacifica called Lovey's. Since Lovejoy's is a parking nightmare, I'd never brought Carlos or Inez there. But we planned to be in the Parkmerced neighborhood of San Francisco visiting an elderly relative, and I realized Pacifica would be an easy drive south. 

So off we went for a late lunch. As we weren't sure what time we'd be free, I didn't make a reservation. Lovey's is very small, and we were lucky to get the last three seats at a round communal table. If we return (and we will if we're in the area again), I'd make a reservation. The menu is identical for both tea rooms.

Be warned that they are located right on Hwy 1, just a few feet north of the Rockaway Beach streetlight, on the ocean side of the highway. It is all too easy to miss them and then have to go another half-mile south to be able to hang a U-turn! There's a very small parking lot in front of Lovey's. If it's full, just turn right at the streetlight and there'll be street parking available leading down to the Beach. It will only be a short walk back to Lovey's, unless there's an event going on at the ocean's edge. 

It should be noted for those with walking difficulties that Lovey's bathroom is outside and down a short flight of stairs, and it's too small to handle even a walker.

Inez got a Light Tea, selecting a shrimp-mayo sandwich to go with her scone and fruit. She also asked for coffee instead of tea. We were surprised that they gave her a four-cup French press of coffee. We were even more surprised that she drank three cups, since she usually only drinks one cup when at home!

Carlos opted for the Savory Tea, choosing the smoked salmon sandwich and ham-mustard sandwich. He also ordered two a la carte sausage rolls. For tea he selected the Lapsang Souchong, a heavily smoked black tea. 

I picked the High Tea, with the smoked turkey sandwich and chicken-apple-walnut sandwich. This also comes with coleslaw, salad greens, a scone, fruit, and a shortbread biscuit. Since the drive had been frustrating – our GPS flaked and sent us in dizzying circles that delayed our arrival to visit our relative by at least twenty minutes – I picked the Black tea with vanilla and lavender, for something soothing. 

Inez loved her Light Tea. It was just the right size, and the owner who was waiting on us, gave her a free petit four which made her very happy. These are classic petit fours, covered in marzipan and decorated with royal icing, sweet enough to make your teeth hurt. 

The sausage rolls have a soft but tasty ground meat filling. We both liked these, although I took only a couple of bites. Carlos thought the sandwiches were pretty good, but nothing unusual. He had the tea with milk and sugar, something he always does at tea rooms.

My smoked turkey sandwich was indifferent, but the chicken-apple-walnut, a finely minced version of a Waldorf Chicken salad that was heavy on the toasted walnuts, was tasty. Still, the fillings were adequate but not generous, with the crustless triangles modest in size. 

The coleslaw had little dressing and even less interest. The greens were the usual mixed baby greens, with a sweet honey balsamic dressing which was quite good. There were a few canned mandarin orange wedges tossed in. The cut fruit consisted of small green apple wedges, a wedge of pineapple, a thin slice of a tasteless navel orange, and a couple of slices of fuzzy kiwi. 

Lovey's/Lovejoy's offers a nice menu of pub food – the aforementioned sausage pasties, regular pasty, quiche, and a shepherd's pie – in addition to the different levels of tea goodies. Next time Carlos and I would go for the pub food items. The sandwiches weren't that interesting.

Ah yes, the scones. It's been a while since I was at Lovejoy's but I must not have remembered them correctly. I'm fond of the occasional scone, and prefer the ones from Scone Henge Bakery & Café on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley. The cream scones we had at the Pardee Home Museum/Oakland are the upscale homemade version. 

The scones at Lovey's are different. Somewhat crumbly, but more cake-y in texture than I expected, they were a little too big. They might have been undercooked a bit due to their size. The batter is generous with raisins, but scones are better with true currants (the only time I ever say this). Neither Carlos nor I cared for the scones.

The lemon curd was good, the raspberry jam very fine with it, but the Devon cream was like tasteless cheap whipped butter. It's not the real thing – Devonshire cream is clotted cream, and highly perishable. Most people (including me) have never had it. There is a tin canned version but it's usually mediocre. The best is a pasteurized glass-jar version that is as close as one can get to this super-butterfat cream, and this type we used to be able to get as an extra at the original Crumpet Shop when it existed in the Inner Sunset district. But it's extremely expensive and I don't know of a single tea room or shoppe that can afford to use it (see Wiki's suggestion for an alternative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotted_cream). Most places use a light whipped cream or butter, sadly.

One of the distinguishing things about Lovey's and Lovejoy's is that they restrain themselves when it comes to sweets. The only sweets are crumpets, scones, shortbread cookies (one type, which they were out of), and classic petit fours. No cakes or tarts, unlike Jacqueline's and other tea rooms. Carlos and I adore crumpets, but unfortunately Lovey's ran out. I was offered a petit four as a substitute, which I saved for Inez later. 
  
Service is very sweet and cheerful but it's best not to be in a hurry. They're not slow, just busy even though there's two waitresses (one of whom was the owner/partner). They're assiduous in keeping the teapots filled, though.

The tea was phenomenal. These are some of the best quality teas we've had in a long while. It's the one thing Lovey's does much better than Pardee – indeed, better than most tea shops and high-end restaurants.

There's always the caveat about tea rooms/tea shoppes that this is not a gourmet experience. It is a romanticized Angliophile's daydream of a brief era when being described as "genteel" was a compliment, not a suggestion of dusty anachronism. 

But for a simple lunch – some sausage pasties or a simple shepherd's pie, a crumpet with lemon curd to top it off accompanied by a whacking great pot of fine tea to wash it down…well, we can't think of a better place than Lovey's or Lovejoy's to indulge in the occasional Victorian fantasy.

My niece Suko and I discussed this review while it was in draft form, and she gave me the link to yet another tea room – this time in our old neighborhood in San Francisco's Richmond district, of all places. So we may be trotting across the Bridge again (oooh, the pun – check the website out to understand the joke) soon for another comparative review for tea: http://talytara.com/

Three people: with tip $90.