Tea Room Review: Afternoon Tea at Nora’s Terrace (Obrien’s Irish Pub) in Warrenton, Virginia

Xak and I always get a week off from work in July. Every year is always exciting, but this year we would be celebrating our one year anniversary! Our plan was to visit THREE afternoon tea rooms and end the week catching Ultra Beast Pokemon at Pokemon Go Fest in New York. To kick off the week, we planned on continuing our afternoon tea tour at an Irish pub in Warrenton, Virginia.

I don’t have too much experience with Irish food other than a few visits to The Auld Shebeen in Fairfax and some Arlington pubs. Every single time, I got corned beef and cabbage (yum!) since, as usual, once I find something I like, I find it very hard to switch things up. I was quite eager to experience an Irish afternoon tea for the first time. I wasn’t really sure what to expect… quite literally since most reviews online did not include any afternoon tea pictures and there was no afternoon tea menu on the website.

Since Xak and I had plans to go down to Warrenton to pick up something else for our anniversary, we wanted to make a day of it by stopping off at Obrien’s Irish Pub which apparently served afternoon tea. I’ve never had tea at a restaurant, much less a pub which made me wonder if I would be enjoying tiny tea sandwiches right next to people pounding down pints. This would be quite the adventure… but at least there would be tea (I think).

Our visit took place at noon on June 28, 2024… which just also happens to be National Cream Tea Day. Coincidence or planned? (I’m sure you can guess.) 😄

About Nora’s Terrace (Obrien’s Irish Pub) in Warrenton, Virginia

Obrien’s Irish Pub opened their doors in 2021, taking over the building which was the home to McMahon’s (an Irish pub that closed its doors in 2019). Warrenton, Virginia is part of Fauquier County which is a little over an hour west of Washington DC. Depending on who you ask, Fauquier County might or might not be considered “Northern Virginia.” Either way, no one can argue that it’s certainly more rural than other cities in the DC metro area. 

While the main restaurant serves typical pub fare such as Beef and Guinness Stew and Fish and chips (and yes, corned beef and cabbage), a new tea room within the restaurant, named Nora’s Terrace (in honor of the owner’s mother) held its grand opening in 2022 specializing in afternoon tea on Fridays, Saturdays and Saturdays.

As of July 2024, Nora’s Terrace is now open Mondays-Fridays as a cafe featuring an expanded breakfast and lunch menu, alongside pastries, scones, coffee, and tea. Afternoon tea is still available with a reservation on Saturdays and Sundays.

Reservation Process

Note from Dani: As of July 2024 (the time this entry was written), It is important to note that the available times on Tock do not necessarily match what is listed on the site, nor does it reflect the updated tea reservation schedule.

Reservations for tea can be made either through phone (necessary if you have a party of 12 or more) and on the website which provides a link to Tock, a restaurant reservation platform. There are three different tea options available:

• The Kerry Way – $36 for Tea, 3 mini sandwiches, 2 scones, and 3 mini desserts
• The Kingdom – $42 for Tea, a mimosa or a glass of sparkling, 3 mini sandwiches, 2 scones, and 3 mini desserts
• Fairy Tea (children’s tea age 10 or less) – $25 2 sandwiches, 2 desserts, 1 scone

Pricing as of July 2024.

According to the restaurant’s afternoon tea FAQ on Facebook, there is currently no gluten free option available, nor is there any option to input allergies when making reservations. I would highly recommend you call to see what your options are.

Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance and In order to complete your reservation, you must pay in full in advance. This includes the following:

• The price of the tea service you selected
• An order fee ($2.25)
• Restaurant Tax (11.3%)
• Service Charge (20%)

For two people getting the Kerry Way, this meant we were paying $96.79 upfront without even having drank any tea yet.

Parking

Upon pulling into the parking lot, you’ll see a large sign reassuring that you’re in the right place along with an Irish flag.

There is a huge parking lot in front of the restaurant, and there were plenty of open spots for Xak and I to choose from. I imagine it is much more full at nighttime on a weekend or an event versus 12 PM on a weekday. There are also reserved accessible parking spots in the front of the entrance.

Not having to pay for parking is always nice and also further proof that Warrenton isn’t Northern Virginia 😄

Exterior

As expected, the parking lot is large for a reason since the building is huge. A retaining wall containing some nice flowers lay underneath a room with a wall of windows that was facing the street. There were also a small fountain and some small flower beds with whimsical fairy garden toadstool statues next to the entrance.

The building is quite beautiful and although my knowledge of Irish architecture is limited to the Ireland themed episodes of Murder She Wrote, the stone exterior fit my idea of what I imagine I’d find in the Irish countryside. 

Check In Counter

Upon entering, there was a podium where the hostess likely stood during busier times such as dinner hour. Since we were there during early lunch time, no one was there but we did see a sign that said “Please seat yourself.” 

After exchanging a glance and a shrug with Xak, we headed past the sign to find the dining room and follow directions. 

We entered a large room with several dining tables and chairs but no other customers. There was another attached room which had patrons eating lunch and some seated at the bar that looked over at us. 

Me: “I’m pretty sure we aren’t having afternoon tea in there.”

(proceeds to backing out slowly from the room)

We turned back around into the empty dining room and sat down. If this wasn’t the right place, someone would surely tell us. As we sat and looked around, a server came out with some menus and greeted us. We explained we were there for afternoon tea, and she picked up the menus and told us that we were in the wrong room. Uh oh, maybe we were having afternoon tea in there.

She went on to explain that our afternoon tea would take place in Nora’s Terrace, which was the room with the wall of windows facing the street, on the immediate left when you entered.

We got up and headed back to the entrance and this time, took a left instead of a right.

Dining Room (Nora’s Terrace – the actual Tea Room)

Much better!

Nora’s Terrace looked way more appropriate for an afternoon tea. There were several tables with white tablecloths and vases full of flowers. The room was well lit due to the entire wall of windows as well as strings of lights and light fixtures hanging from the ceiling.

The stone walls held frames with photos and artwork as well as a mantle full of trinkets and what looked like personal photographs. In the corner was a small table which held some shells, rocks, and other likely sentimental objects.

There was also a bar area which we later learned would be where pastries would be on display for the new cafe. There were several tea pots on display along with tins and bags of tea and jars of preserves.

Overall the atmosphere of the room felt so pleasant and a stark difference from the room we were in before. Playing from a speaker was some classical sounding instrumental piano music which would have been very inappropriate about 30 seconds earlier, but perfect now! 

The Table

Only one table was fully set for two with teacups and saucers, glass goblets, cloth napkins, plates for the tea treats, tea bag holders, and a sugar bowl (with tongs on top meaning sugar cubes).

As we were admiring the room, our server, Mason, came out to greet us (and to confirm we were in the right place). We sat down and Mason gave us a tea menu with several flavors to review as well as brought out a bottle of cold water to fill up our glasses. 

Tea Menu

Mason explained that there were two special blends specifically for the tearoom: one was Nora’s Blend (a Black tea blend with chicory, citrus, honey, and turmeric) and the other was Sherky Isle (a green tea blend with citrus, honey, lavender, and roses).

The teas are blended from a local company in Lovettsville, Virginia (Loudoun County) called Green Alchemy. I was interested in trying Nora’s Blend, but since Xak said he wanted to get it too, I decided it would be nice to see how the Our English Breakfast flavor tasted from here, especially since it mentioned having a hint of vanilla.

Mason took our tea orders and came out with individual tea pots filled with hot water. My tea was already in a tea bag, but since Xak’s flavor was loose leaf tea, Mason also handed Xak a disposable tea bag to fill it with the tea leaves. 

Typically when Xak and I use loose leaf tea, we either strain out the leaves or put it in an infuser so filling up a tea bag was a little new to us, but it did mean one less thing to wash (hm… not a bad idea)

Mason also took the time to tell us some history of the restaurant, including the background of why Nora’s Terrace was built and explained some of the decor including the table in the corner. 

He asked if we needed milk, lemon, or honey to accompany our tea and brought out a small pitcher with our request. After the tea steeped for 5 minutes (I like mine as strong as possible), I clumsily poured it out into my cup (dripping on the tablecloth) and was very pleased with the aroma rising out of my teacup. 

This particular English Breakfast blend was excellent! While no two English Breakfast blends are the same, the inclusion of the vanilla in this tea definitely made it unique and memorable. In fact, while I usually drink black teas with milk and sugar, this cup really didn’t need it. Looking over at Xak, I could see he was also quite pleased with his cup of Nora’s Blend, and commented on how he could taste the honey. We exchanged cups to taste each other’s tea and grinned giddily at how much we enjoyed it. (Luckily Mason was not present to witness this)

Food on the Three Tiered Tray

After some more sips of tea, Mason returned again, this time with a three tiered tray full of delightful looking food. He placed it down on our table along with two bowls full of Devonshire cream made in house and strawberry preserves before beginning to explain what each tier contained.

I listened eagerly and tried my best to take notes, to which Mason kindly repeated details when I asked. Although usually Xak and I start from the bottom and work our way out, Mason recommended we start with the warm scones, made by the owner of the establishment for the weekends’ tea parties. I saw Xak’s eyes light up the same way when he sees foxes. We were definitely starting with the scones first.

scones

Almost every tea room I’ve visited has had some form of an English cream scone, with only a few exceptions that served sweet denser scones similar to those found in an American coffee shop. 

One noticeable difference at Obrien’s was the fact that each of us had not one but TWO scones!!! At this point, Xak’s grin had been on his face for about 3 whole minutes. We each grabbed one scone for our plates. The exterior of the scone was more golden brown than the scones Xak makes, and also had a harder exterior. I embarrassingly struggled to rip my scone perfectly in half, but Scone loving Xak handled his with ease and eagerly used the spreader to load the warm scone with the cream and the preserves.

The scone was full of fruit (sultanas/golden raisins I think?) and tasted quite nice, especially with the tea. If you’re going to celebrate National Cream Tea Day, this is definitely the way to do it. 

Since there were still an additional scone left for each of us, Xak and I agreed to save the other scone for the end of the meal and move on to the other courses.

Sandwiches

The bottom tier had three types of sandwiches for each of us including the following:

• Cucumber Cream Cheese
• Turkey with Ballymaloe relish
• Chicken Salad Croissant

Cucumber Cream Cheese

Savories are my favorite course and I tend to be the one who handles making them for our afternoon teas at home. Cucumber sandwiches are served at all our teas, and I usually make them with a ton of herbs. At most tea places we go to, the cucumber sandwiches tend to lean towards the bland side. Cucumbers don’t carry too much flavor on their own, and when placed on top of plain cream cheese with white bread, while it’s perfectly nice and refreshing, I don’t find them very flavorful or memorable.

The cucumber sandwiches here however used the right amount of herbs in the cream cheese layer. There was a ton of flavor including a good amount of salt which is the real reason why I love savories. 😏

Turkey and Ballymoe Relish

Ballymaloe is an Irish food company known for their relish made with tomatoes, sultanas, and spices that is typically eaten with cheeses, cold meats, and salads.

Each slice of bread was spread with a layer of the relish with turkey in between. While I love pickle relish (particularly on hot dogs, yum!), I’m not huge on condiments in general, particularly tomato based condiments (translation: I hate ketchup). Still, I would certainly be open to trying it. It tasted savory and salty which is as good of a compliment as one can ask from a person who hates condiments.

Xak (who doesn’t have a strange aversion to condiments) remarked that the sandwich was very tasty and actually ended up being his favorite. Then again, Xak does has a strange penchant for turkey, so his review is also probably biased. 

Chicken Salad Croissant

The final sandwich was the chicken salad croissant. It was a little crisp and toasty due to it being warmed up, but I always love having croissants as part of afternoon tea. Mason had mentioned the chicken salad was made in house and I could taste some crunchy bits of celery and tomato in it.

Desserts

After the savories, Xak and I skipped over to the dessert tier which contained some small treats:

• A chocolate covered chocolate marshmallow
• A wafer with lemon creme
• A vanilla encrusted lemon petit four 

Petit Four

One of the reasons why afternoon tea is a bit unique from your normal tea time is because of the tiny, delicate, and pretty desserts. This little cake definitely met the description of an afternoon tea dessert. Mason had described it as a vanilla encrusted petit four with lemon. When I bit into it, I also saw a layer of what looked like fruit jam. It reminded me of a fancier, fresher and tastier version of a Zebra cake. The only bad part about little tea cakes is that they’re gone in two bites.

Lemon Creme Wafer

The wafer looked like two plain crackers sandwiching lemon flavored creme that seemed to have similar consistency to the creme in an Oreo. As Oreo Club president at my work, I’ve eaten plenty of Oreos and am very familiar with Oreo creme. I did taste the lemon flavor, but unlike Oreos, this particular cookie wasn’t very sweet. It seemed like something one would have during their casual tea times in the afternoon (not to be confused with “afternoon tea” )

Later that night when I was browsing online, I stumbled upon an Irish food brand called Jacob’s that sells Lemon Puffs, which look quite similar to what we ate earlier that day. Strangely enough, my down the rabbit hole research led me to find that Jacob’s does have a connection to Mondelez, which is the parent brand of Oreo. So if those were indeed Lemon Puffs, maybe I wasn’t too far off about the creme consistency.

Chocolate Marshmallow

Xak’s face lit up yet again when we moved onto the marshmallow. Chocolate and marshmallow make up 2/3s of a s’more so it was no surprise that s’more enthusiast Xak was thrilled. Unlike the lemon wafer, this was very sweet since the chocolate marshmallow was also covered in chocolate. Xak was very pleased.

Yum!

-Xak

During my Lemon Puffs hunt on the Jacob’s website, I also found Elite Chocolate Dreams which these might have been. I also discovered that I really would like to try a Chocolate Kimberley.

After Xak and I finished off our desserts, we moved back to eat our last scone. Since the scones are a pretty good size, we also asked for more hot water for our tea pots since it would be a waste to enjoy a scone without more tea. (heh)

Of course, drinking more tea usually guarantees a restroom visit before leaving…

Restrooms

The restrooms are located on the right as you enter, which Xak and I apparently had passed when we first arrived. It has more than one stall including one that’s handicap accessible. The restroom was uneventful, as it should be. I’m just glad it’s there and in working order.

Payment and Tea purchase

Since we had already paid when we made the reservation (including gratuity), we weren’t waiting for a bill. There was nothing to sign and we could have left right then. The final price for the tea itself was just what we paid in advance during the reservation: $96.79.

However, Xak and I were so pleased with the tea flavors we had that we decided to purchase one tin of each. Each 20 bag tin was around $16 and I was able to pay with a credit card. After signing the tea purchase receipt and me anxiously tipping my teapot to ensure I got the last drop, Xak and I were finally ready to leave.

Final Thoughts

If I had a tea room, I would want it to look and feel like Nora’s Terrace. It’s possible things might have been different if we weren’t the only customers in the room, however overall it felt very serene. It wasn’t fancy like a hotel tea, but also not casual like you’re going to a Starbucks. It felt comfortable and homey, but also special. I appreciated the personal touches that the owner added to honor his mother and although she did not have a chance to see or experience the tea room, I am grateful that her love for tea inspired her son to bring this charming place to life. 

Our server, Mason, was also great and certainly contributed to our enjoyable experience. Thanks for answering my questions so I could take notes!

I really enjoyed the scones and was pleased to see that the weekday cafe would be offering them on the menu. I’m pretty sure Xak is already planning our cream tea return trip. 😄

Bonus: Rady Park and the Mini Chai Doughnuts

We have a tradition of pairing afternoon tea with an excursion, typically a garden or museum depending on the weather. During my Googling of Warrenton, I saw there was a nearby park called Rady Park which featured an asphalt walking path and also an arboretum. 

Pokemon Go Walk at Rady Park

As someone who loves flowers (we did get married in a botanical garden), I was pleasantly surprised with the arboretum. I’ve been to the State Arboretum of Virginia in Clarke County and while the Rady Park arboretum was nowhere near as large, it was still very nice. There were flowers in bloom along with little signs describing the plants. There were also several park benches within each specific garden area and some in the shade.

The asphalt path was also very nice to walk on since it circled around the entire park safely away from any vehicles and took about fifteen minutes. We also discovered it was a path in Pokemon Go which was an added bonus. It was so nice being out there that we ended up walking the path about 3 times before heading home.

Wedding Anniversary Doughnuts

Earlier that morning, Xak and I had stopped by to pick up some special mini chai donuts from our previous wedding dessert caterer, Signature Sweets by Amanda, who is based in Warrenton. Instead of a wedding cake, Xak and I had chosen several desserts for our dessert bar including the all important macaron that brought us together and mini chai doughnuts. These donuts were so good that Xak and I agreed we needed to experience them again for our one year anniversary. I guess this is like the millennial version of saving the top layer of your wedding cake? 

After safely transporting the doughnuts home, it was time to dig in. After all, Xak had his fair share of scones during afternoon tea and now it was my time to have some doughns. (Hint: Scones and Doughns!)

Yep, these doughnuts are just as amazing as they were the day of the wedding and I really wouldn’t mind us making this an anniversary tradition. 🥰