La Tea Da Tea Room and Parlour

Just a few steps down a walkway lined with flowers and lush foliage brings them to the doorway of a Victorian building—hard to miss, in its brilliant shade of violet. Once inside, one may be excused for thinking that one has stepped into a time warp. Pastel-colored tables surround an elegant couch in a parlor decorated with a hodgepodge of porcelain sculptures and decorative plates that evokes an era long past.

With their easygoing demeanor and willingness to strike up a conversation on the spot, the parlor’s friendly staff members are also an anachronism of sorts. Their menu includes selections for brunch, lunch, and afternoon tea, from bite-size pastries to hearty slices of quiche. Steamy brews such as earl grey, peach rooibos, and Japanese sencha tea pour forth from teakettles emblazoned with polka dots or cast in the shapes of plump bunnies and perky frogs. Children play-act in the parlor during tea parties, pulling on sequined dress-up clothes and communicating through vocoders that embellish their voices with British accents.