Discover tea and treats at this Secret Garden

The holiday season was in full swing when I was driving on West Valley Highway next to the Old Cannery Furniture Warehouse in Sumner. People were riding in horse-drawn carriages and the bridge into town was decorated with lights and red bows.

It was the perfect route to take to The Secret Garden Tea Room & Gift Shop for lunch and tea.

After years at Factoria Mall in Bellevue, the restaurant and gift shop moved to the Herbert Williams House last year. The Victorian mansion, built in 1890, was a great place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

My companion and I ventured to the tea room to try the Victorian Christmas Tea ($29.95): five courses of sandwiches, pastries and other treats, sparkling cider and a pot of tea for each of us.

I tried the Raspberry Patch tea, which smelled as delicious as a bowl of raspberries, and my companion chose the Caramel Toffee tea, which she enjoyed with lemon and milk.

The meal started with a creamy soup of Italian sausage and red potatoes served in a tea cup. Next up were fresh-baked scones with raspberry jam, lemon curd and Devonshire cream, and then sorbet in a miniature tea cup, which we took home as a souvenir.

We ate almost every bite without thinking about the courses still to come.

We were overwhelmed when our waiter brought out a three-tiered tray with three types of sandwiches; fruit; truffles; and bite-sized vegetable quiches, pastries, cheesecake, gingerbread rolls and shortbread.

We took our sweets home, so we had room for the final course: wonderful Victorian cranberry pudding cake with buttery vanilla frosting.

We spent two hours in the tea room and then browsed the gift shop. It was worth every minute.

Janica Lockhart: 253-234-8603 or jlockhart@seattletimes.com