A few weeks ago I celebrated a friend's birthday with afternoon tea at The Ritz-Carlton. It was actually more like lunch as we had an 11 am booking, yes, 11 am (likely to accommodate more seatings). This worked out as afternoon tea usually consists of enough food that in most cases would substitute for a meal so I don't think my group minded at all. I've also been lazy to bring a proper camera so these are pics are not the best and were taken on my phone.
All the teas are from Sloane Fine Tea Merchants, a Canadian and Toronto based tea business that focuses on tea blends. With their very pretty packaging and fairly decent teas, you can find their teas at many locations across the city. We were offered a box of samples to smell and I decided to try the bespoke white tea blend made for the Ritz called Feuilles D'argent (white peony tea leaves, hint of mint, Jaipur roses, and gogi berries). This blend was quite fragrant and you could taste the mint and roses but not so much gogi berries which to be honest, I find hard to identify in the first place.
The teas came out in large Le Creuset tea pots that took up a huge amount of space on the tables. We did manage to fit them all but they are really huge! The teas were steeped and poured into these teapots as no leaves were found in the teapots. I gather they use such big teapots so they do not have to refill the pots and also could forgo the tea strainer. The Le Creuset pots also retain the heat very well so most people would be satisfied with the temperature even after some time has past.
Here's a run down of the offerings:
Cucumber & Kohlrabi with quark cheese on pumpernickel (I thought it was goat cheese upon first eating this mini sandwich).
Lobster and Hummus on a Roll.
Lamb & Rhubarb on a mini bun.
Egg & Arugula on white bread.
For the sweets, we had:
Dulce de letche & shortbread cookie (top L on the plate).
Raspberry & white chocolate mousse entrement (my favourite of the sweets).
Gianduja cake & hazelnut caramel (very nice but quite sweet).
Chocolate marshmallow topped strawberries.
And to finish, chocolate chip and tradition scones with devonshire cream and preserves. Decently made scones 😊
I didn't take any pics of the dining space, it was nice with good lighting, but we were seated at their lobby bar. Although a nice space, not stellar in decor or design so I didn't take a picture of the space.
Please note that their Chocolate afternoon tea on the weekends consists of a glass of proseco or mocktail to start, adding to their afternoon tea price which currently starts at $54.
Overall, the offerings were quite nice.
I think the desserts were slightly done better than the savories but I don't think anything really stood out as stellar. The staff were also very friendly. My friend also brought her pre-schooler and they offered a children's menu and were quite accommodating. We had a great time and stayed for 2.5 hours or so; overall an enjoyable way to celebrate a birthday!
