You know how people always say, “It just wasn’t my cup of tea.” Well, this WAS my cup of tea. It was an herbal number called Blue Eyes with an apple- and candy-like flavor and the color of a good rosé wine.
We were dining at Dragonmoon Tea Co. with a granddaughter who was preparing to return to the University of Mississippi following Christmas break, and it was a treat for all of us.
We had waited in the small lobby and gift shop for 40 minutes before a table opened, but once we were seated and ordered, the food came swiftly.
“We never know how crowded it is going to be,” Sara Creed-Piper said later. “It varies all the time.”
Creed-Piper and her sister, Susan Blair, have owned the lunch-only Dragonmoon Tea Co. for almost five years, and as far as I know, it is the only true tea room in the Tulsa area. One would have to go to Claremore or Muskogee to find something similar.
It has three tiny eating areas — the dog room, Paris room and macaroon room, named for their decor — in what used to be first-floor rooms in a 1920s-era house at 19th Street and Harvard Avenue.
We had the Three World salad ($10.95), turkey croissant melt ($8.95), egg salad sandwich ($7.95), a large pot of Blue Eyes tea ($8) and three deviled eggs ($2.97) before thinking about dessert, a must at Dragonmoon.
The salad featured servings of chilled rice salad, Calcutta chicken salad and egg salad. The chilled rice salad included dried cranberries, green onion, pecans, rice and orange thyme dressing, and the Calcutta chicken salad was prepared with celery, apples, raisins, peanuts and green onions in a curry-and-chutney dressing. The egg salad was a simple, classic preparation.
The dish came with a few slices of raw parsnips and two slices of pumpkin bread spread with a thin layer of cream cheese.
I added thick, flavorful Raisin River brand bacon to my egg salad sandwich, and it was well worth the $2.50 upcharge.
The croissant sandwich featured sliced turkey with melted cheddar cheese, red onions, tomato and maple champagne mustard.
The sandwiches came with one side, and we selected a cup of fruit with grapes, bananas, walnuts and grapefruit, and tasty hot German potato salad.
The deviled eggs were almost like dessert, but we could not pass up a trio of Blair’s desserts, which change constantly.
We had the intensely flavored baked chocolate pudding ($3.95) topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, a smooth and not-too-sweet strawberry shooter ($2.95) and a small gingerbread boy ($2) dipped in dark Belgium chocolate.
Other popular items are quiche, pastries, chocolate croissant bread pudding and the soup of the day. The soup recently was mulligatawny, a delicious mix of chicken, curry and rice.
Dragonmoon has dozens of teas, both for table service and to take home, and it recently started making its own rye bread.
Guests may make reservations for an afternoon, or low, tea ($21 per person) with finger foods, or high tea ($26 per person) with quiche and soup between 3 and 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance.
Among items for sale in the retail room are teas, teapots, cozies, candy, curds, jams and cookbooks.
Since Dragonmoon opened, Diane Russell has joined the kitchen staff, and Vladimir Levin has been named manager.
Find this and other reviews in Thursday's Weekend magazine or find all of Scott Cherry's reviews at tulsaworld.com/cherrypicks.
DRAGONMOON TEA CO.
1927 S. Harvard Ave.
918-742-8322
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (lunch served 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.); accepts all major credit cards.
