Boston Tea Party at Bond - Boston

When I brought that first cup of tea to my lips, I felt the way I often did during the beginning of my 3^rd year of med school. As a wide-eyed, brand new student on the wards, I had no idea what my role was at any given time. As a 3^rd year, am I supposed to take the bandage off and change it or do I wait for the attending or resident? As a transplant Bostonian, am I supposed to drink the tea or dump it in the harbor? I didn’t dump the tea at Bond. It was too cold to run all the way to the harbor, but I might have if it would have helped me protest Boston’s sales tax.

As for Bond, Bond is the place where modern girls nurse their hangovers and divulge the state of their affairs with curled pinkies under the splendor of three hanging chandeliers. This is the closest you get to a garden party in Boston winter.  The $30 (plus sales tax) is a bit pricey for a non-meal, but then again, what are you willing to pay for old-school glamour and a little bit of class? Just understand before venturing to Bond that afternoon tea is about the tea. It’s not meant to be a meal so walk to the nearby Chinatown if it’s large platters of food you seek.

The Egg “Mimosa” had unearthly smoked salmon with a deep smoky flavor, perfectly smooth texture, and just enough to make a hard-boiled egg slide down smoothly. The Mushroom Tart had the telltale taste of fresh mushrooms, and I could actually believe that they were the result of a recent foraging expedition. The Cucumber Sandwich is yet another light refreshment, but I didn’t care for the salty Ham Roulade. Overall the small plate of refreshing mains is a clever way to make you feel like you ate real food while leaving you not too full to savor the scones.

The Scones were the perfectly doughy and in the crumbly, classical style of the English. With Devonshire cream and the first truly luscious lemon curd I’ve had, these surprisingly-filling subtleties were the highlight of my afternoon. As a bonus, you get to feel elegant spreading with the new-moon blade of the curved knife.

The desserts were hardly memorable. The sugary Macaroon and the Chocolate-Covered Strawberry were tasty tidbits, but the dry, flavorless Madeleine seemed to have had all the sugar kicked out of it by the sickening Berry Trifle, a difficult finish to the scrumptious scones.

Now on to the tea. Afternoon tea is the age-old tradition of watching life go by and thinking about it as it goes. Tea is a reflection of who you are, who you think you are, and sometimes who you want to be. Josephine’s tea was the White Ginger Pear. Light, pretty, and sweet, the ginger goes with the pear, and the white brightens your afternoon.

I had the Orchid Vanilla. A dessert tea before dessert, unthinkable but so unthinkably good. Like every other bite of this meal.