Afternoon Tea at the Windsor Arms Hotel

On a chilly February morning I found myself outside of the sort of grand, sort of nondescript doors of the Windsor Arms Hotel, excited to be seated for an afternoon tea specifically to celebrate my tea buddy's birthday. 

Once seated, we selected our teas, I went with Black and Blue which was a blend of blueberry and black tea. In my opinion, a perfect pairing of two tasty things.

Next, our three tier platter came out filled with fancy selections of savoury, sweet and scones. Unlike most afternoon teas I've been presented with, the Windsor Arms had the scones on the bottom tier (usually reserved for the savoury items and tea sandwiches). The waiter informed us that we were to eat from the bottom up, starting with the scones, moving to the savoury and finishing with the petit four.

If you know anything about afternoon teas, you know this is wrong. Flat out. Wrong. We disregarded the advice of the misinformed waiter and started on the second tier.

True to hoity-toity form, the savoury items were teeny tiny and overly fancy. Cheese and caramelized shallot quiche; prosciutto roll with fig, arugula and chevre; wild mushroom salad in vol-au-vent; egg salad roll; mini croissant with smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese; and pumpernickel bruschetta with mozzarella, basil, shallots and olive oil.

The scones are freshly made in house each day. We each had a plain one and a cranberry, lemon one. Both were tasty and I smothered them with cream and jam, as is customary (and in that order).

Lastly, we attacked the petit four, of which there were only four. This irks me. When I'm having tea for two, I like to try everything, so if there are four different items for two people to share, someone is going to miss out on something.

The petit four at the Windsor Arms do change, but on this morning we had a chocolate truffle, mango cake, red velvet cake, and pistachio cakes (the clear winner of these four).

The setting is certainly swanky and gives one a sense of posh-ness, but this wasn't my favourite afternoon tea. I would however, return for the tea room decor, a cream tea and that delicious Black and Blue tea.

Interested in more posts about afternoon teas, check out my Afternoon Tea page dedicated to the lovely, decadent and diverse afternoon teas I've had here and abroad.

Seriously though. Cream or jam first on your scone?

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MacaronZ Mother's Day Afternoon Tea

My mother works in a flower shop. The busiest days of year, as you might expect, are Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. She gets worked off her feet; bunching, wrapping, and watering flowers for the masses. We hardly see her in the days leading up to these two events. Once they are over and there has been enough recovery time, she emerges from her slumber to again partake in regular life.

Since she works so darned hard, I thought this year, we should postpone our Mother's Day. Instead I decided to treat her to an afternoon tea the following weekend. She was pumped for this plan.

I made reservations at a local French macaron boutique called MacaronZ. We couldn't wait to check it out since the website showed an adorable little cafe.

Very recently, MacaronZ expanded to the space next door to their original shop and offer a proper Afternoon Tea service in the larger space.

We arrived on a gray, rainy Sunday. The owner herself, Zanda Rodriguez, welcomed us into the chic and comfortable cafe. I had a good feeling about this place.

The artwork on display was acquired by Zanda during her travels in Paris. The furniture is eclectic and serving-ware mismatched in that perfectly uncoordinated way. I was in love. 

They have a good selection of black, green, herbal and white teas from Sloane Fine Tea Merchants. Available for coffee drinkers is Mochaberry's Fair Trade Organic Medium coffee. I selected the Heavenly Cream black tea and hoooo boy! I'm now a huge fan!!

The menu starts with a twist, instead of the traditional finger sandwiches of an afternoon tea, MacaronZ serves mini quiche. The pastry was flaky and the filling nice and cheesy. As always, I could fill up on the savoury items, but thankfully there were only two, leaving me room to gorge on the rest.

Large plain scones with cream and jam are all hand made. Sometimes a scone can taste a bit dry. Leaving your mouth with an odd aftertaste and in need of gulping tea. Not these scones. They were slightly sweet and dense. The perfect base for smothering in cream and jam (or is it jam and cream?).

On the top tier of the cake stand are the sweets. The lovely, delicate, beautiful, tasty sweets. A petit four, profiterole, shortbread cookie, and of course a French macaron. Everything was made in-house and you could tell. The food was fresh and flavourful.

Over the course of our tea, we got to chatting with Zanda and she might possibly be my new favourite Lady Boss. She started her business selling her French treats at the Brampton Farmer's Market and eventually opened a store front with cafe in 2011. She still sells at the farmer's market each summer, supporting the local commerce.

Zanda said that on Mother's Day (they were full so remember to book early for next year), they gave out a present to all mothers and since this was our Mother's Day, she extended the gift on this weekend to my mum as well.  When we left, we couldn't stop gushing about this place; the service, the food, the tea, the macarons, the owner. I might have found my favourite Canadian afternoon tea spot.

The official grand opening of the dedicated tea room will be taking place in June.

MacaronZ serves Afternoon tea Thursdays-Sundays: 12:15-2:15 and 2:30-4:30. Check out its website to make a reservation.

 

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Afternoon Tea at the Boathouse Tea Room

It's been a while since I've reported on my quest to find the best British afternoon tea here in Canada. Today I will be sharing my time at The Boathouse Tea Room and Ice Cream in Guelph, Ontario. (I visited there back in November before they closed for the season).

I used to frequent this place when I lived in the city, but only ever for their ice cream, so this place was on my radar but this was my first time here for their afternoon tea. I went for the town's special blend McCrae House Blend. And it was goooood.

We ordered the High Tea for Two and weren't disappointed with the beautiful presentation. Look at those flowers! The assorted finger sandwiches were simple and trad.: tuna, egg salad, and cucumber with cream cheese.

These scones were heavenly. Nice with the cream (would have been better with actual clotted cream, but then again would have been better to have been enjoyed in Devon) and fruit jam.

And just look at these petite sweets! They were just darling and delicious.

This afternoon tea was fun, the atmos. splendid with the pastel colour palette and mismatched tea cups, and the food simple and perfect. I'd certainly go back when they open again for the season in April. And I'm sure my regular tea date would be willing to do so as well.

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Home Afternoon Tea

A few months back I was on a quest to find my English Afternoon Tea in Canada. I found a few winners (here and here) but no matter how they tried, it was still a bit Canadian feeling. 

My 'Afternoon Tea' friend and I decided to have out own afternoon tea in the comfort of our home. The catalyst for this was visiting the Toronto Tea Festival this year and purchasing some lovely teas that just begged to be enjoyed with finger sandwiches and cream tea scones.

There were no bubbles at this tea either but instead we had White Tea Champagne and it's as good as you can imagine.

Tea Sparrow offers a $20 monthly subscription to excellent teas delivered right to your door. Four premium loose leaf teas, both herbal and caffeinated, arrive to your home ready for you to try and experience yourself. (Full disclosure, I am not a member and this is not a sponsored post, but my friend did become a member at this year's festival.)

Finger sandwiches were made; chicken with cranberries, cucumber and cream cheese, and egg salad. The classics.

I made scones (really easy recipe found here) and brought over a jar of my grandmother's Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.

Finally, desserts were bought from a local bakery and our afternoon tea was complete.

In true afternoon tea fashion, we had so much food leftover, even after stuffing our faces full. So good. When's the next?

As you can see, the clotted cream is missing from the set up, but really I think we did quite well for a last minute throw together tea party.

If you've never done an afternoon tea at home, I highly recommend trying it out with a few good friends. I enjoyed the preparation and displaying everything prettily on the plates before maowing down on all the deliciousness in a truly lady-like fashion.

What's your favourite bit about an afternoon tea?

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