By: Victoria Garland
I’ve been really excited to write this review ever since Alex and I went to lunch about two weeks ago at The Tea Party!
I heard great things about it but since I had only stopped in once about two years ago (to pick up some Arctic Fire loose leaf tea) I was itching to go back and experience their vegetarian lunch menu.
The Tea Party is located on York Street, right across from Market Organics. It is housed in a very welcoming, old Victorian-style house with seating that includes a black leather couch, little tables and a large raised table.
Along the walls are large mason jars filled with loose leaf tea that you can open up and smell to help make your selection. Other items include tea paraphernalia such as teapots, cups, diffusers, bagged teas and a selection of preserves (I have my eyes on the Victoria Plum! I wonder why… ;) ).
Alex and I unanimously decided on the High Tea Lunch option, though we’re excited to return and try the others. The High Tea lunch is an assortment of four sandwiches, four small desserts and a beverage. We opted for two different types of tea and decided on two separate pots to keep us going. Alex went for the Earl Grey and I went for the Apricot Black Tea. As soon as I smelled it I knew that it was the right choice for me!
It was perfect that we ended up with two pots of tea since we were able to share and after we finished our lunch we were able to sit and enjoy each other’s company and people watch out the window. It was the perfect lunch date!
When the High Tea arrived there were four types of sandwiches cut in half, so we were able to try one of each. There was cucumber and cream cheese on white bread, spinach and cream cheese on white, tomato and pesto on whole wheat and roasted red pepper with goat cheese on whole wheat. The desserts were selections from their daily selection and we happened to receive a brownie, salted caramel square, lemon shortbread square and a pistachio cookie.
It was incredibly charming and we weren’t the only ones who thought so! As we were getting ready to leave, we heard another table exclaim how cute and British the whole experience was.
I enjoyed it so much that I brought two of my girlfriends for lunch last weekend. That time we ordered two orders of The High Tea lunch and two pots of tea (Apricot Black Tea and Pomegranate Black Tea) to share. The sandwiches were the same, however the desserts were different. This time we were served a raisin cinnamon loaf, a chocolate chip cookie, a double chocolate mini cookie and the salted caramel square adorned with a walnut.
This time on the way out I opted to pick up 50g (for $5) of the Apricot Black Tea, and 50g (for $5) of the Strawberry Black Tea, after it was recommended to me by a friend.
This place gets a solid 5/5 for me. The food quality is amazing and the price is right.
The Tea Party may not have as much of a selection of teas as The Tea Store located a couple blocks away, but the atmosphere and quality will continue to bring us back!
$11.99 for The High Tea plate and $2.99 for a pot of tea (extra beverage)
Michele says...
I went for High Tea at the Tea Party with a friend using a $20 Groupon coupon, not including tax. The place is like a small coffee house with lackluster furniture: old tables (no table cloths), hard straight chairs and one sofa, with no air conditioning. For $20, we got 4 small pieces each of sandwiches on dry bread (white and whole wheat) with 4 different fillings such as cream cheese and cucumber, 2 small baby spinach leaves on a thin layer of hummus, a thin mushy piece of tomato with some type of curry mayo, and 2 thin red pepper strips on hummus, I think. Not too tasty. A large enough, dry, scone each with raspberry jam and whipped cream, as well as 4 (in total) very small, stale and hard dessert squares (difficult to cut in half) came with it, as well as a pot each of tea of our choice (good tea). Finally, as part of the deal, we got to take home a small bag of tea leaves of our choice. It was not at all my idea of high tea, having experienced much nicer ones for about $30 or less (at Billings Estate for instance) with delicious, fresh food. I find it hard to believe that the food we were served was worth $40 (original advertised price) when the price on the menu was $11.99 plus $2.99 for a pot of tea. I am very annoyed that I paid about $10 more!The poor quality of the food, lack of “ambiance” and, with no air conditioning (it was 30 degrees celsius outside), it made for a very disappointing and uncomfortable experience – not enjoyale!
On August 01, 2012
Anita Mac says...
Glad to read your review was so positive. I was checking them out on Trip Advisor and was quite put off by the comments, so many negative ones. Your review is a few years old and so positive, contrasting with the comment from Michele – I just don’t know what to think! I love the concept of the Afternoon Tea and the price is right – I hear the Chateau Laurier has an amazing afternoon tea, but that it is a fair bit more expensive! Hmmm…
On January 07, 2013
Ottawa Restaurant Bucket List « traveldestinationbucketlist says...
[…] provided such mixed reviews – polar in their opinions! I found an older review from 2011 by Ottawa Restaurant Reviews that suggests the cafe ranks 5 out of 5 for the author, however a more recent comment on her review […]
On January 11, 2013