The area was named Sassafras Gully, after the trees which grew in the area. The land was opened to small scale farming in 1893 and a small township developed. The Post Office opened on 1 June 1901 and has always been known as Sassafras Gully. In the early 1900s tourism began to increase and the township consequently grew. Today Sassafras is a tourist destination with several boutique stores including Devonshire tea outlets, antique shops and nurseries.
Drawing inspiration from Agatha Christie’s classic character, Miss Marple’s Tea Room (382 Mount Dandenong Tourist Road) features an intriguing gallery full of memorabilia. The quaint, cottage style café offers a menu of traditional English fare such as cottage pies and Devonshire Tea. Unfortunately, the milieu is not good enough to make up for the shortfall in the menu - ranging from the rather ordinary, uninspired, to the much less than average food. For example, the "scones" are really a bready, cake-like concoction and the savoury dishes completely lacklustre. Still, I guess it's OK if the company is compatible, in which case, who cares about the food...
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What an interesting post. I love everything about it. Your photos are amazing.
ReplyDeleteWonderful place and great interior and exterior photography!
ReplyDeleteHappy Week to you,
artmusedog and carol
It does look like a lovely little tearoom ...such a shame the food did not live up to it's surroundings, but the company does make up for those types of shortfalls :-). Great shots!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a long long time since I last visited these tearooms. I agree about the food even so long ago - uninspired and unimaginative. But the building itself is a photographer's dream. Enchanting photos.
ReplyDeleteI am with you totally. My parents didn't have any money for elaborate holidays in the 1950s but they took us children to places like Sassafras on Sunday afternoon drives. The drives always ended in Devonshire Teas in tea rooms like you photographed.
DeleteThanks for the memories :)
Nick - when I saw the photo I thought you'd jumped ship and were on holiday in the UK! "No come back" I was going to say you're missing the football and the tennis in Melbourne! So glad you are only in Sassafras because I can go there, if only for the experience, if not for the scones!
ReplyDeleteWren x
This business is a true success story Nick. Best to beat the queues.
ReplyDelete