Introduction

I arrive in Montreal on Saturday, which means I have the Sunday off. In the morning I go for a long walk along the St. Lawrence. It‘s a lovely day, but already very cold.

In the afternoon I have a reservation for tea at the Ritz-Carlton at the foot of Mont Royal and close to McGill University.

Afternoon Tea at the Palm Court

My reservation is for 15h00. Initially, my table is set for two. However, upon confirming that I will be on my own, a server is quickly sent to my table to remove the second cover.

The waitress comes to take my order for drinks. The Palm Court has an extensive list of some interesting teas to choose from. But I learned my lesson at Le Meurice and decide to stick with the Earl Grey and sparkling water.

The food is served on a traditional and elegant three-tiered étagère, with sweets on the top tier, scones in the middle, and savouries at the bottom.

I’m pleased to see that they have decided to go with a more traditional interpretation of the afternoon tea. I’m all for experiencing different takes on a classic. But I also feel that there are things that should not be up for negotiation – things like cucumber sandwiches, for example.

On the plate there is a cute little quiche lorraine, a smoked salmon mousse canapé, a rost beef sandwich, shrimp mayonnaise sandwich, and a brioche with coronation chicken.

The scones are served with whipped cream and two preserves made at the hotel – mixed berries and strawberries with rose. Especially the latter is divine! The scones are authentic too, with one plain and one raisin scone.

The sweets are excellent and have a nice seasonal theme. One is a mixed spice carrot cake with frosting, while the other is a chocolate ganache with raspberry cream. The flat yellow one is a zesty and very refreshing lemon tart.

The food is great, and the service at the Palm Court is excellent. All the staff are very attentive. At the same time, they’re also chatty, but without being nosy. I definitely wouldn’t mind going there again!