Luxuriating in the prettiest flower garden afternoon tea in Melbourne.
Our experience
Although we spent just under a year in Melbourne after NYC, we never did have a chance to partake in an afternoon tea. So on a recent visit back, the second “MO” of these Dessert Correspondents arranged for the first “MO” to indulge in one. Just as almost 15 year as flown by since we started writing this dessert blog, so are those days long gone when afternoon tea was about AUD $50-65 per person, and when creativity in afternoon tea essentially meant cloning flaccid ribbon sandwiches, and lackadaisical tarts and cake slabs. In 2026, for almost double the price, afternoon tea at Oxi Tea Room – an edgy venue space situated just north of the CBD – infuses its afternoon tea offering with a level of creativity ordinarily the reserve of high-end restaurants.
On our visit, afternoon tea started with perusing a long list of teas. Specifically, sniffing through wafts of tea predominantly from Japan or Africa, and a smattering from Taiwan. This part was perhaps a little disappointing. We would loved to have seen Chinese teas. But the savouries more than compensated. Commencing with a salty chunk of mushroom bread latticed with truffle cheese to be dipped in vinegar, there were five other savoury nibbles. The abalone sitting on a nori cracker was the highlight, followed by orange-infused fish wrapped in a soft tortilla-like envelope and a corn fritter filled with duck and topped with a crackly caramel nest. A trompe l’oeil white lemon creation hid a tea-flavoured mousse and ushered in the dessert section of the high tea.
Numbering six sweet bites, plus a morsel of cheese, the desserts were crafted in a rather refined manner. The most scrumptious was the dumpling-looking dessert, where pandan cream and pineapple compote laid underneath a translucent wrapper. Of an equally well-excecuted pedigree, there was also a strawberry daifuku ball, a blueberry tartlet and a leaf-shaped banana bread dessert. The epilogue of Oxi’s afternoon tea was resolutely, unforgettable in presentation and conceptualization. The last course deconstructed peach into several ways – as a marshmallow to be submerged into a peach oolong tea, then as fresh cubes of soft pale-pink poached fruit nestled against a cream base.
Our verdict
In looking over 15 years of dessert blogging, Oxi Tea Room is undoubtedly – truly – the most sophisticated of all the high teas that we have had in Melbourne. For us, it is a love letter to the progression of history, cultures and dessert craftsmanship over the past 15 years into 2026. From nibbling through afternoon teas so many years ago that adhered so rigidly to a traditional English sensibility to one that today – finally – brings the dessert tradition into the new century, acknowledging native Australian flavours like myrtle and saltbush, and injecting Asian flavours like pandan, daikon, and oolong – it altogether makes for a truly unique and memorable high tea experience.
Dessert adventure checklist
- ☑ Dessert destination: Oxi Tea Room, 158 Victoria St, Carlton, Melbourne.
- ☑ Budget: $$$ (AUD $135+ pp).
- ☑ Sweet irresistibles: High Tea.
- ☑ Must-eat: The full experience is exquisite, excepting the average tea selection.
- ☑ The short and sweet story: Luxuriating in the prettiest flower garden afternoon tea in Melbourne.
