Introduction

Of course it wouldn’t be a proper trip to Canada without an afternoon tea. Granted, my afternoon tea at The Connaught in London was already quite grand. But in the interest of cultural diversity I think it is important that I should try at least one afternoon tea in the new world too.

The afternoon tea at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel is served at the main Restaurant, Hawthorn, which is on the ground floor, off to the left of the lifts going up to the rooms.

As our luck would have it, we’re given the only table that sits opposite the chimney. We’re seated on a comfortable leather sofa facing the open fire.

The table is nicely set with mismatched crockery. The selection of teas is quite unusual and unexpected. There isn’t a single normal black tea, in the sense that they are all heavily perfumed. The server assures us that the rose tea was one of Lady Di’s favourites. I doubt it.

I go with the creamy Earl Grey, hoping it will not be too far off from a traditional Earl Grey. It is, and tastes more like a Lapsang Suchong than an Earl Grey. The tea is served in an enormous teapot, and throughout the meal, our server repeatedly comes to ask if we’d like a top up. For the welcome drink I have a mocktail with strawberry and lime, which is refreshing.

The afternoon tea is served on a three tiered étagère. What the whole experience lacks in finesse, it certainly makes up for with the waiting staff’s enthusiasm and the size of the portions.

To start, there are five savouries – a turkey and cranberry finger sandwich, a boiled egg finger sandwich, a roast beef finger sandwich, a grilled vegetable canapé, and a small smoked salmon tartlet.

There are two scones per person, and they’re quite substantial too. They are served with strawberry jam and whipped cream.

And then on the top tier are the sweets. To be honest, these are not very good, and they taste like something that you could also get down at your local supermarket. Not that it matters, really, seeing as I’m already quite full by this stage from the large sandwiches and scones.

Conclusion

The sweets at the end aside, I rather enjoyed this afternoon tea. The table by the fireplace was like something out of a Hallmark film and very cozy. As I already mentioned, the experience is hardly refined, and the quality of the food is nothing to write home about, but makes up of for it with the friendly staff. It certainly beats walking around outside in below zero temperatures, like, way, way below zero.