The Vintage Tea Salon is the bomb! What can I say? The quality of the scones to the tea served in silver teapots is exceptional. Located in one corner of Dirty Jane’s Emporium, a cavernous shed housing small unmanned shops selling anything from second-hand vintage clothes and furnishings, to brand new homewares, the tea salon is doing a roaring trade. It’s not just the quality of the food that has me hooked, but it’s the little touches like the vintage tea ware, including the milk jug and the sugar bowl, to the cosy nooks that you can crawl in to on chilly days. The menu is impressive too. As if the plain, lavender, date, and rose scones aren’t choice enough, there’s a coffee/walnut/white chocolate scone on the specials board the day I visit. Each order comes with two scones, but if you ask nicely, they’ll let you pay a dollar or two extra to have a couple of flavours. I try the rose scone, which comes with pretty rose-coloured cream that’s topped with a few tiny rose petals. The scone is crisp and light, and as if it needed to look any prettier, a rose bud is imbedded in the top. The rich berry jam is delectable, and couldn’t be any better. The lavender scone is much the same, light and crisp, and is served with mouth-watering thick lemon curd and thickly whipped fresh cream. It doesn’t matter whether you do your browsing through the shed before or after, just make sure to take a break at the tea salon.

Scones: 

Jam: 

Cream: 

Tea: A superb range of loose-leaf teas by Highlands Tea Company (including their Specialty Tea range). My tea was served in a posh silver teapot.

Price: $$

Overall: A ‘must eat at’ establishment in the Southern Highlands.