To celebrate my best friend Jaclyn's recent engagement, a few of us girls headed out to celebrate with afternoon tea at the Montage Beverly Hills. Going out for tea is somewhat of a tradition for the group of us, and we've indulged at all the high tea hot spots in LA (the Hotel Bel-Air, Peninsula, Beverly Hills Hotel, and who can remember where else after a decade of friendship?). So, being somewhat of connoisseurs, we held our 3 pm treats to the highest standards. 

Perhaps it was the complimentary champagne our waiter brought us to toast the bride-to-be or the couldn't-be-cuter china place settings, but I liked this place right off the bat. Ordering was simple--all we had to select was our tea of choice. I'm a traditionalist and stuck to English Breakfast, but my friends sampled organic teas with fun-to-say names like "Mightea Aphroditea." We settled happily into our armchairs and plush sofas and prepared to overeat. How is it, by the way, that with food so tiny one always manages to leave feeling uncomfortably full?

I had warned my friends that I didn't like "freaky" finger sandwiches (i.e. a slice of boiled quail egg atop a layer of beef carpaccio on a brioche crouton). I was thrilled to find out that the Montage valued tradition as much as I did when we were served a tray of chicken salad, egg salad, smoked salmon, cucumber, and tomato finger sandwiches. Yes, there was one prosciutto and asparagus, but I let it slide. Plus, we were alloted enough sandwiches for each lady to have one of each--no squabbling, thank goodness! As for the scones, both butter and currant? Perfection. In addition to your usual clotted cream and lemon curd, there were also bowlfuls of house made strawberry preserves, which were gladly refilled upon request. The only disappointment came with the dessert course, which didn't surprise me (this is usually the case at afternoon tea, in my opinion). The teensy pastries and tarts were adorable, but just couldn't compete with the divine scones and the sandwiches, especially when we were already reclining into our food comas. The one dessert worth its salt was the slice of cake with "Happy Engagement" written in chocolate on the plate. The harpist even struck up Pachelbel's Canon in honor of my friend. Could you get any more celebratory?

Last but not least, the whole shebang was entirely reasonable, at $30 a lady. I'll toast to that!