Afternoon Tea at the Ritz-Carlton Toronto

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!

Shangri-la Hotel Afternoon Tea (2)

This was my second time at Shangri-la Hotel for their Afternoon Tea and it was once again a great experience.  Afternoon tea is a special treat that I usually reserve for special occasions and this year for my birthday, this is one of two afternoon teas I had scheduled. This time I ordered the Shanti Gold which was a blend of Asian black teas - bold enough to pair with the food but without much astringency that I didn't need to add milk or sugar.

They still offer a large selection of teas, some of which would have an additional cost if selected.  My friends found it helpful that they short-listed the teas that would be included without an additional fee and made the decision easier than looking through the book.  They still offer an iced version of the tea which is great but this time around instead of brewing it table side, they brought a huge pitcher when my friend ordered the Assam iced.  Tasted good at the start but would have been better to brew a small amount and re-brew as needed as the large pitcher resulted in diluted tea later.

Complimentary drink to start (prosecco or mocktail).

And now onto the food!

Tower of treats.

The savouries:

Ratatouille with Buffalo Mozzarella

Sweet peas, asparagus, lemon ricotta on sour dough - so refreshing, simple yet elegant!

Snow crab tart, this was also a really great combination of flavours.

Virginia ham and cheddar cheese on a brioche bun

The sweets:

Rhubarb sponge cake

Raspberry & pecan cookie: surprisingly my favourite sweet of the afternoon.

The cookie was slightly chewy, sweetness was well balanced with a bit of tartness from the raspberry. 

Yuzu macaron, nicely made but we couldn't really taste the wasabi.

A classic, strawberry shortcake, well made.

Pineapple Upside Down Tart and Chocolate & Mint Tart; both were good.  The Chocolate & Mint Tart was the sweetest of the bunch.

And scones that came separately, served with clotted cream and a berry compote.

Prices have gone up since my first visit, Shangri-La now charges $75/person for afternoon tea which is the priciest in the Toronto market now, even with the complimentary prosecco I think.  

Our spot was more private this time and was elegant as usual.  However, I think next time I'd ask to be sitting with more of a window view - to take advantage of more natural light for pics!  

All in all, a lovely experience!

Light Cafe - Offering Light Meals, Desserts and Coffee/Tea on Baldwin St.

A clean and modern space, Light Cafe 路燈咖啡 will appeal to those looking for a light meal or leisure chat with friends over waffles and coffee or tea.  Light Cafe is originally from Taiwan and I believe this is their first branch outside of Taiwan.  Gosh, how I miss cafes in Taiwan!!

You'll notice quite a bit of detail went towards the atmosphere, menu, and food presentation.  Especially important in this age of social media, pictures are worth a thousand words.  Typically, cafes like these have average food (of course there are some exceptions that also have stellar food) but the draw for people is the food presentation and the space is usually a haven for a girls get-together. Not to say guys don't go, but walk into a cafe like this in Taiwan and the majority of patrons are groups of females.  However, if it's near a university than there will be a more balanced ratio, but I would say girls still out number guys.

Anyway back to my meal.  I was by myself on a Monday and ordered the smoked duck salad and an iced Southbrook berry herbal tea. Although I thought about ordering one of their sandwiches, the smoked duck is not too common in a salad and I had quite a bit of bread for breakfast so a salad it was.  The salad was very fresh and paired with their yuzu salad dressing, it added just the right amount of zing.  But, I would have liked a little more butternut squash or tomatoes or both to make it a little more like an entree salad.  Overall, a good salad.  But to be honest, I was still hungry afterwards...I think I would have even settled for just a slice of buttered toast with my salad.

The berry tea was also very nice; both in taste and presentation.  A nice berry taste, not too sweet, no artificial aftertaste and quite refreshing. I also liked how they presented the tea with frozen berries and apple slices...makes the price of the tea a little more worth it.  If I were to say anything negative, it would be that there was a ton of ice in the drink!

It's interesting that the cafe decided to use Pluck Teas which is a local purveyor of tea rather than Taiwanese tea.  I've heard about Pluck Teas, but have not purchased or tried any of their teas until now.  Pluck Teas tries to separate themselves by stating that they use local ingredients in their tea blends.  Of course the tea leaves are from overseas, but the added ingredients could be local depending on the blend.  On their website, they list whether they use local product or not however in a blend with 6 ingredients, I'm not sure if all are local when they say local.  I've noticed Pluck Teas showing up in a lot of places now and I think it definitely owes to the personal touch of the founder...definitely look out for this tea company!

Quite spacious

Looking out through their front window.

In terms of value, I would say that is where the salad was lacking.  It was over $10 and in a city like Toronto where you have lots of great options for salads (e.g. IQ foods for a quick lunch option), it's a bit steep for what you get.  Especially when most of the salad is actually spinach and mixed greens. Despite this, Light Cafe is definitely worth a second visit to try their sandwiches which looked very appetizing, and their waffles and ice cream!  Oh, and bring CASH, they don't accept anything else.

Also, if you're a coffee fan, they also have some interesting coffee options.  Their Light Cafe Special coffee and the cotton candy coffee (the online menu offers a picture of these items) are definitely worth a look!

Light Cafe 路燈咖啡
23 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON M5T 1L1
647-347-3883
http://lightcafe.ca/

Afternoon Tea - Windsor Arms Hotel

Afternoon tea is a special indulgence that usually leaves me stuffed and quite happy.  These days, it's been hard to go for afternoon tea but in June, I had the day off work and we went to indulge. In Toronto, there are very few places that actually hold afternoon tea on a weekday as most hotels and other establishments only offer it on weekends.  Windsor Arms Hotel offers it daily, at various times and even a twilight afternoon tea (5:30 or 6pm)!  I had read good things in the past and was eager to try their afternoon tea.

Sadly, it was a bit of a let-down.

The room was nice but the table was quite small.  I ordered the Windsor Arms Private Breakfast Blend which is a mix of Ceylon, Nilgiri, and Assam tea leaves.  The tea was pleasant and the big pot lasted throughout our stay.  The tea strainer was a little disappointing, it didn't strain all the tea leaves so both of us had tea leaves in our tea.  Not a huge deal as in Chinese restaurants you can get tea leaves in your cup depending on the tea you order...but this is not a Chinese restaurant.

The tower...

The scones were probably the best part and were quite large...a little disproportionate to the other items.  烤餅是最好的部分也很大...可是比例別的食物就覺得太大了.

The sandwiches - the rolled sandwiches were unfortunately mushy.

Petite fours...

Clockwise from top left: pistachio cake, lemon meringue tart, (tasted like) caramel cream filled chocolate cup,
and a coffee and chocolate layer cake

The best petite four offered was the lemon meringue tart.  I am starting to wonder if weekday offerings are sub-par to their weekend service.

The space...

All in all, I'm glad I tried their afternoon tea as the scones were quite good and it's a place I've been wanting to try, but I really think they need to revamp their menu a bit. Looking back at other reviewers, the sandwiches looked much fresher and well made.  The desserts could also use a bit more creativity and for the price charged, the quality was just not there.  

Windsor Arms Hotel

18 St. Thomas St.

Toronto, ON M5S 3E7

416-971-9666

http://www.windsorarmshotel.com/tearoom/

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!

Crimson Teas - Try Some Pu-erh Teas

Last week it was raining and much like today's cold weather (can't believe snow in April!), I was in need of something.  Something soothing and warm, but I wanted something different from the light oolong teas I regularly drink.  It was a dark tea kind of day so I headed to Crimson Teas and I'm so glad I did!

A week or two ago I saw an Instagram post from Gustahaus praising their yin yang tea/coffee mix 鴛鴦茶and although I love ordering HK milk tea at HK cafes, I was more intrigued by the Pu-erh (pu'er/puer/po lei) teas 普洱茶offered.  Pu-erh or also known as dark tea (後發酵茶, 黑茶) and is often associated with HK dim sum; the tea that gets dark, earthy or bitter (depending on quality) and strong very quickly.  Pu-erh tea though, can be quite soothing and it was that kind of day.

Situated on College St., at the edge of the UofT campus, most of the people there appeared to be students.  It's been a while since I've been in the area...I've probably been back to the campus only a handful of times after graduating years ago so it was a little strange for me to walk in.  There is a long communal table and the ordering is actually done at the back of the shop.

Crimson Teas offer 5 different types of Pu-erh: black, red, green, white (moonlight), and raw.  All are available for sampling which is awesome.  Pu-erh tea is different from others as there is a fermentation and darkening process the leaves undergo to create that earthy flavour and supposedly develop healthy microbes that aid in digestive health.

Aside from pu-erh, they also offer milk tea, a variety of other specialty teas, and coffee for those that really, really want to have coffee for very reasonable prices.  A small amount of baked goods and light snacks/meals are available too.

I had a cup of the white pu-erh.  It was lightly earthly with background notes of peach, similar to how white tea tastes.  The white pu-erh is made with leaves from Yunnan province that I'm told is plucked at night (hence the name midnight white).  They are plucking the characteristic fuzzy buds of the white tea before photosynthesis can occur and then process it to make a pu-erh.  If you have a chance to speak with Phillip (the owner), he can tell you about how the tea is processed in more detail.  I had the opportunity to chat with him about the heatlh benefits of tea too.  I've been in the process of writing a post on the health benefits of tea, and he ended up being a great resource; I'm sure I'll be asking more questions.

Besides the pu-erh, I also got a chance to sample the milk tea there and it is quite smooth and flavourful.  You add your own sugar and I must say, not much is needed.

If you're a fan of pu-erh tea, go and try it out.  If you've never tried it, go and try it out.  If you've never liked it, go and try it out and then if you still don't like it you can try something else.  Point is, go and try it out!
如過你喜歡普洱茶, 去試試看.  如過你沒有喝過, 去試試看.  如過你不喜歡普洱茶, 也要試試看或試別的飲料.  終點, 去試試看!

Crimson Teas

233 College St

Toronto, ON M5T 1R4

http://www.crimsonteas.com/

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!

Tsujiri in Toronto, A Matcha Tea Lover's Heaven

Ok, maybe not 'heaven' but pretty blissful if you're a fan of matcha tea, AND as long as you don't mind waiting in line for probably 30-60 minutes.  Tsujiri is a Japanese brand established in 1860 in Kyoto, Japan that opened their first North American store in Toronto, so it was no wonder that there were long lines!  Their menu is also quite diverse, offering Japanese tea beverages (you can get a variety of beverages that are not matcha), floats, soft serve ice cream, sundaes, shaved ice/kakigori, and pastries made using matcha tea.  

Last week I invited some friends to check it out as I get excited about matcha anything...

After a 30 minute wait, we ordered a few things to share...and after another 20 minutes got our orders.

A quick run-down:

Soft serve matcha ice cream...the matcha flavour is nice and strong and the aftertaste is slightly bitter but the kind of bitter that is expected and enjoyed...the best in Toronto.

抹茶冰期淋...抹茶味道夠濃和很好.  後味有點苦味可是這種苦是享受的種苦味.  我覺得是多倫多最棒的抹茶冰期淋.

Matcha chiffon cake sundae...chiffon cake was light but couldn't compare to the soft serve...there are corn flakes layered near the bottom.
Matcha cream puff...filled with whipped cream and matcha cream, enjoyed and at a good price point.
Matcha latte...good, but I would have preferred stronger matcha flavour....milk was nicely frothed.
Matcha shaved ice/kakigori...very good, the syrup drizzled on the ice was top notch...but quite expensive.
Mochi/shiratama with black sesame...chewy, but I thought it was just okay and something that can be made at home.

They offer a range of drinks that include houjicha and yuzu tea that I'm sure to try in the future, but most people were getting the ice cream, sundaes and shaved ice...they are fairly unique and are soooo instagramable that it's not a surprise people are willing to shell out $8 for a cup.  If you look at menus in other parts of the world (e.g. Taiwan), when you do the $ conversion, the prices are the same so it's not like they are overcharging North Americans, that is just what it is priced at.  And judging from the flavour of the matcha soft serve, you do get quality.

The staff were trying to be as efficient as they could and would tell people in line when something ran out so you'd have time to come up with a backup if that said item was what you wanted originally.

TSUJIRI

"Tsujiri assures you of the highest quality Japanese teas and sweets that create a more tasteful ambience and a moment of tranquility in your life"

- tagline on their takeout bag

I would like to think there is 'a moment of tranquility' when you sip or eat whatever tea product it is, but the experience could be less than tranquil when you have hoards of people crammed into the narrow space. Seating...almost non-existent.  Despite this, I would definitely come back!

Waiting in line to order...

Tsujiri

147 Dundas St. W. (West of Bay St.)

Toronto, ON M5G 1C5

Toronto FB Page

Why the occasional duplicate sentence written in Chinese?  

One of my goals starting in 2016 is to improve my Chinese language skills so this is one way I'm going about it.  
Please comment if you noticed I've totally messed up!  Thanks!