Anaba Tea Room

While driving around the cute little neighborhood of Shorewood which was near our hotel, I came across the darling, Anaba Tea Room. Since I didn't have the option of having tea with my usual tea-mates, I decided that I would make an effort to have afternoon tea with boys sometime during our stay in Milwaukee.

Anaba is a Japanese word for "a little-known, but pleasing spot." And it was just that, a quaint, calming atmosphere. Anaba features Rishi tea, a Milwaukee-based company, which gets its tea leaves directly from tea forest of Jing Mai Mountain in China. Anaba serves over 60 kinds of tea, including many varieties of green, black white and caffeine-free teas.

The boys and I shared the "afternoon tea for two," and Ethan picked our tea, a peppermint-ginger green tea -- it was an excellent choice! The combination of the two flavors made my taste buds go wild. I purchased what they had left of the peppermint-ginger, unfortunately it was only an ounce, which I will use sparingly.

This was the first time that I had afternoon tea with my boys and surprisingly, it was a pleasant experience for all of us. Anaba's was very accommodating. When the boys turned their noses up at the cranberry-walnut scones (which I thought sounded delicious), our server brought us two chocolate-chocolate chip scones instead and the boys devoured them. We were served three tiers of sandwiches, scones and even crumpets. The scones and crumpets were served with an apple jelly, Devonshire cream and lemon curd. On the bottom tier, along with the scones and crumpets were two delicious five-spiced carrot tarts made with chai caramel and poppy seeds. I've never tasted anything like it. The tart crust tasted like a combination of a carrot cake and cookie. Ethan and I both thought these were delicious. The top and middle tiers were sandwiches, and boy were they heavenly. There was a tuna sandwich with capers, olives and lemon garlic mayo, a cucumber sandwich made with minted cream cheese, and roasted pistachios, a chicken salad sandwich made with cranberries and walnuts mixed with sweet Vidalia onion dressing served open faced on spicy ginger maté scone, and a cilantro and lime shrimp with watercress, tomato and green onion also served open faced on spicy ginger maté scone.

Anaba is definitely one of the best tea rooms that I've been to. The food and tea were unique as well as delicious. It was definitely the highlight of my trip and I hope to have the opportunity to go back again.