Malaya Tea Room’s Malaysian-Inspired Afternoon Tea Boxes Promise to Be the Opposite of Bland | Eater SF

"Opened in Alameda this past September, Malaya Tea Room was Leena Lim’s attempt to marry the British afternoon-tea ritual she grew up with to bold Malaysian flavors while keeping the vibe a little less kitschy and a bit more casual. She develops nearly all the recipes herself and, with few exceptions, makes most items in-house; she also says she’s one of the only tea rooms actually making clotted cream from scratch, cooking each batch in a low oven for 12 hours. The takeout $25 afternoon-tea box (available for curbside pickup usually every other weekend, Saturdays and Sundays between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., and by special request with a minimum order on other days) is meant to include everything needed for a home tea party: traditional British scones with her house clotted cream, finger sandwiches such as housemade kaya jam and butter, sardines in tomato sauce, and a rendang-style chickpea curry, a simplified tea choice (black, green, or white/herbal selected weekly), and rotating sweets like pandan chiffon cake or chilled black sticky rice with coconut cream; customers can also add Malaysian shaved ice (ais kacang). Lim will take special requests for more elaborate or kid-friendly boxes, and the takeaway boxes have helped keep her staff employed and the business connected to customers while the in-person experience is paused; pre-orders are taken via malayatearoom@gmail.com." - Luke Tsai