The National Hotel : Hightea at a historic building

98 High St, Fremantle WA 6160

https://www.nationalhotelfremantle.com.au/

On Saturday we ventured an easy 40 minutes south to Fremantle. Our destination, the National hotel. This is the first time we have tried their high tea and we are curious as their price point is a remarkable, $49 p.p. Will we receive the level of craftsmanship and skill we have become accustomed to? Time will tell.

As this is a historic pub don’t be surprised or put off by your initial entry into the main bar area. An easy walk to the side staircase and a quick climb up the stairs(there is an elevator if you need) will have you entering into the hotels calm dining room. We are met by the delightful Lisa who takes us to the balcony and our table for the next few hours. It seems we will be joined by a lovely mix of a birthday party table and ladies who like us, delight in a few hours of delicious delicacies and girlie chitchat. A bottomless Prosecco package is on offer but we chose to stay with our tea with a little side shared cocktail ( we had to try one for you 😉) a delicate pink cosmopolitan.

The hotel is a vibrant location with groups coming and going below us which makes for excellent “people watching” but we are above this on our balcony location. Lisa promptly arrives with our teas and quickly follows up with our tower. We were amazed! with the amount on offer, as mentioned this hightea is a very delicate $49 p.p!! We get straight into capturing our tower, so you too can appreciate the value on offer here.

The savouries:

We decide to dive straight in and try the mini beef pie. Wow !! From the golden short pastry to the tender beef filling this pie had the perfect balance of flavours required to elevate a humble pie into a masterpiece.

We quickly made our way through the other savoury options, enjoying the prawn & dill on sourdough and the sausage roll. The Brie & caramelised onion tartlet lack flavour and came across very bland, however on a positive note the pastry casing was perfectly executed.

Both of us dislike curried sandwiches as we believe they detract from the plain egg sandwich flavor, but that's just our personal taste preference.

The scones:

These looked lovely, sitting sweetly on top of the tower. Perfectly shaped with a little dusting of icing sugar to dress them. An unusual vanilla flavour had us wondering but we decided they were a less rustic and a more cupcake style scone. Something that we hadn’t encountered before but we happily enjoyed them and would recommend. The jam was gorgeous, made in house and the perfect balance of sweetness. We don’t like any jam that is overly sweet. Balance is everything and this jam nailed it. The cream was generous in quantity and perfect in form. At this point we were happy ladies. Full !and happy and somehow wondering how we would manage the sweets. But onwards we go, in the name of research 😉

The sweets:

The stand outs for us were the silky vanilla panna cotta and the chocolate brownie with! chocolate mousse, so much goodness in a tiny little square! We couldn’t believe these two delicate morsels came from a humble pub/hotels kitchen, truly remarkable! The owners of this hotel should take note and give this group of skilled craftsmen a pay rise. What they manage to produce for our high tea while servicing a regular pub and her patrons pubby food needs,is remarkable.

In all we had a lovely afternoon eating our way through our tower of pretty treats while listening to the joy of a birthday celebration table and the boisterous comings and going of a corner pub. Well done to The National !

Would we recommend Yes !! Book a table now for your next birthday, baby shower, girlie catchup or a solo people watch with a tower of treats for company.

Booking info:

Advance booking of 7 days and pre-payment required.

Email bookings@nationalhotelfremantle.com.au or telephone 08 9335 6688 to make bookings.