Having enjoyed afternoon tea at many tea rooms throughout Toronto and
around the world, I have been wanting to experience tea at the Shangri
La Hotel in Toronto, ever since I saw a segment on it during the Morning
Show on Global. I missed the Nutcracker Tea they presented at
Christmas. So, with Easter upon us I booked reservations for Easter
Monday.
Mr. G., and I were seated, and quite impressed with the beautiful tea setting.
Tea is served in the airy Lobby Lounge
with fireplaces and a beautiful Italian handcrafted Fazioli piano. It
was a little disappointing that we didn't get to hear the pianist - we
learned later that the entertainment is offered 3 pm - 5 pm and our tea
seating was at 2 pm.
The extensive tea menu rivals that of any fine wine menu, with 68
Premium Teas. Teas range from $7 - $70 per teapot. The $15 tea
selections were included as part of the Easter Tea. Though we could have
ordered any of the other on offer and paid the difference.
Mr. G. selected the Kenya Purple Tea (very rare tea from Kenya , high in
antioxidants with bold and earthy flavour) and I choose OM Chai
(traditional lightly spiced black tea from India. Exceptional flavaour
profile with lingering sweetness)..... both teas were fabulous! and
truly the best part of our tea experience. Don't you just love the tray
the teapots arrived on?
The tables are low and servers actually kneel at your table to review your sweet and savory goodies. I learned that the
Ming porcelain-inspired qipao dresses the servers wore were designed by Sunny Fong.
Though they looked beautiful and elegant the slit on the side was
perhaps a little too revealing on some of the servers as they exposed a
little more, than I'm certain they would care to, when bending to place
items in the sideboard.
Bottom tier: a selection of honey
baked ham with caramelized onion on sourdough bread; poached Atlantic
lobster with citrus crème fraiche on brioche roll; Pacific smoked salmon
with caper cream on dark rye bread; and Truffle egg mayonnaise on wholemeal bread.
Middle tier: fragrant spiced hot cross buns and classic
English scones served with caramelized white chocolate and strawberry
jam, and Cornish clotted cream.
Top tier: milk chocolate and raspberry verrine, a light chocolate mousse, raspberry gel and pistachio crumble; tropical Easter Egg with coconut cream, mango curd and crispy meringue; Religieuse Profiterole, a baked choux pastry with white chocolate orange blossom cream and lemon glaze.
Thinking the tongs had been overlooked, I asked one of the ladies for a
pair of tongs to retrieve the sandwiches. She respond they "don't use tongs" my puzzled looked must have spoken my thoughts of "umm
so how should I retrieve the sandwiches in a lady like manner -
especially since the sandwiches were larger than bite size/finger ones "
that she quickly said - she would see what she could do. She returned
with these (above)... which were of no use to pick up the delicate and
slightly larger than finger size sandwiches.
Improvising I used my knife and fork ... but again the size of the sandwiches did make this method of retrieval little awkward.
I found the biscuit to be dry and slathered it and my scone with cream and jam.
The tea was served lukewarm ... and Mr. G. noticed the water for
replenishing the teapot sat in carafes on the sideboard - so no hopes of
actually getting a hot cup of tea. Despite the lukewarm temperature we
both did enjoy our selection and can only imagine how much more
delightful it would have been - served hot.
The Final Verdict:
Setting: The tea service with the lion motif was beautiful and elegant. Mr.
G. found the low table and sofa seating somewhat awkward (and I must
agree with him) as you had to bend over to get anything from the table. A
grandmother at the sofa next to us gave up on using her utensils when
the efforts to bring her sandwich bites to her mouth failed and just
picked them up with her fingers after cutting them into manageable bite
size.
Tea, and Sweet & Savory goodies:The
sandwiches were average : the lobster brioche roll was more brioche
than lobster filling. The ham was chopped into little squares which made
for an odd texture. The smoked salmon was very nicely done ...and
the truffle egg mayonnaise I passed on. I found the biscuits dry and
the scones a little chewy (maybe a little under done) - the jam and
cream were most welcomed. The caramel was an interesting surprise. You
can wrap fruit cake in pink marzipan and top it with a flower ... but
it's still fruit cake. I found the chocolate mousse cups too rich -
though Mr. G. quite enjoyed them. The Religieuse Profiterole reminded me
of Paris and they had me at the Easter Egg meringue, coconut cream and
mango curd - scrumptious!!!
Aside from the musical flower arrangement at our table (we started with a
tulip arrangement, which was replaced twice with two different Orchid
arrangements during our tea) the service and attention was good.
The reason for going was to experience their Easter Tea which I had seen
pictures of the beautiful chocolate Easter Eggs and read about the
offerings. If there were any (chocolate Easter Eggs) still on display -
we did not see them. So aside from the Easter Egg meringue on the goodie
tier and the mini chocolate Easter Eggs we were given to take home ....
there were no signs that it was Easter. Perhaps it was because it was
the last day of the Easter Tea (we went on Easter Monday).
Would I Go Back?
Yes ... I would definitely give tea at
Shangri-La Toronto another try. After all the tea selection with 68
Premium teas is nothing to turn one's nose up at. What I would do to
help ensure a better experience: book my tea seating between 3 pm - 5 pm
when the entertainment is present; ask to be seated at a table with
chairs - sans sofa if going for afternoon tea - just for tea the sofa's
would be great to sit back in with teacup in hand; request sitting
closer to piano - so as to not be right in front of the the lobby doors
or close to sideboard. If going because it's a special tea they are
offering don't wait to last day - reserve either for right at the start
or mid way through promotion - reserve early!!
And as luck would have it one of our
eggs was a winner!! - and I believe that means Afternoon Tea for a year
at Shangri-La Hotel Toronto. Looks like there will be plenty of
opportunities to experience tea at Shangri-La.
out of 5
