Afternoon Tea is an art and should be an extraordinary experience one that you will cherish. Vancouver has some wonderful places for you to indulge in an Afternoon Tea experience. Each of the places is unique in what they offer along with the type of service and selection of sandwiches, pastries and desserts. I am on a journey around the city to find these extraordinary places.

Here is the sixth of many places that I have visited recently. Secret Garden Tea Co is located in the Kerrisdale neighborhood in Vancouver.

Inside the Tea Room

You will want to make sure that you make an advance reservation as they often fill up in advance, bring along a friend or two or three to join you in the experience.

I had their Afternoon Tea service for $25.95 per person. First off, I chose my tea of choice from their selection of teas, I chose the “Cammy Darjeeling” and my friend Rosie had the “Mango Tea”.

3-tiered tray

A three tiered plate arrived to the table, we worked our way from the bottom plate to the top, the bottom layer was filled with an assortment of petit sandwiches that included Tuna salad and capers in croissants, Chicken club sandwich and Egg salad pinwheels on white bread. The middle layer plate had fresh baked Apricot scones served with Devonshire cream and jam along with Pumpkin Chocolate Cream Cheese Loaf. The top layer plate featured a selection of sweets that included Lemon Curd Tarts, Brownies and Apple Caramel Cheesecake.

Scones in the center

Apple Caramel Cheesecake center

My thoughts –The service was very friendly, our server Robyn was wonderful and this made for a delightful afternoon tea experience. The Tea store was cozy and comfortable and was full of mostly women. From the assortment of sandwiches I liked the Tuna on Croissant, the scones were moist, delicious and a perfect size, we didn’t care for the lemon curd tarts or the brownies but we both loved the apple caramel cheesecake. The Teas are a secret as they wouldn’t tell me where they were from.

Style: English Tea Service

Attire: Casual

Time: Afternoon Tea Service is offered 12pm – 4pm Daily

Secret Garden Tea Co

5559 West Boulevard, Vancouver

For Reservations, please call 604-261-3070

Reservations can be made for: 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm, every day of the week, and cost $25.95 for adults and $16.95 for children (8 and under).

Stay tuned to part 7 of Afternoon Tea in Vancouver.

By: Richard Wolak

Afternoon Tea is an art and should be an extraordinary experience one that you will cherish. Vancouver has some wonderful places for you to indulge in an Afternoon Tea experience. Each of the places is unique in what they offer along with the type of service and selection of sandwiches, pastries and desserts. I am on a journey around the city to find these extraordinary places.

Here is the second of many places that I have visited recently. Adonia Tea is located in Kerrisdale.

Inside the Tea Salon

In their Tea Salon, Afternoon Tea is served daily and there are 2 different Tea Services to select from. You’ll want to make sure that you make an advance reservation as they often fill up, bring along a friend or two or three to join you in the experience.

Pots of Tea

My friends and I each had their Afternoon Tea service for $23 per person. First off, I chose my tea of choice from their vast tea selection, I chose the “Darjeeling Tea” and a pot of tea arrived to my table.

3-tiered tray

A three tiered plate arrived to the table and for each of us to share, I worked my way from the bottom plate to the top, the bottom layer was filled with an assortment of petit sandwiches that included Tuna, Egg, Cucumber and Turkey. The middle layer included more savouries, a Basil tomato puff, Lox sandwich, Antipasto with portabello mushroom. As we moved to the top layer we were then selecting from a variety of sweets that included a Lemon tart, Strawberry chocolate cupcake.

Selection of Desserts

The servers then brought us some of their scones with devenshire creme and jam to share along with fruit cups, and then some of their housemade desserts creme caramel, tiramisu and pannecota.

My thoughts –  Their wasn’t anything special about the service nor about the savouries or the sweets, except that there was a fair amount to eat for the money. The decor is old english and it is quaint, I just thought that it was ordinary all around.

The other Tea Service offered are is the Petit Afternoon Tea at $14 per person..

Style: English Tea Service

Attire: Casual

Time: Afternoon Tea Service is offered 10am – 6:30pm daily.

Adonia Tea

2057 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver

For reservations, please call 604-261-0049

Stay tuned to part 3 of Afternoon Tea in Vancouver.

By: Richard Wolak

2305 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver

Tel: 604-568-2948

Web: http://cafemuse.ca/

Twitter: @CAFEMUSEVAN

Advice: Ask for their password for the free wifi.

Pistachio Croissant

Matcha Latte

Café Mocha

Stylish and inspiring are the best words to describe this neighborhood café located in the heart of Kerrisdale. I love the large windows which provides great light inside this spacious café, and the comfy brown leather chairs, this is an aspiring place to work away on your laptop with the free wifi, do your homework, read a book or write a book. Changing exhibitions of art from talented artists adorn the walls. I hear they will have some live music and poetry nights in the near future.

I had the Pistachio Croissant ($3.75) filled with pistachio and topped with more crushed pistachio’s and the Café Mocha ($3.49). On my last visit I had the Matcha Latte ($3.79).

The friendly staff are ready to help you choose from the wide variety of hot and cold beverages including traditional Italian style espresso beverages. They have a large selection of French pastries from Cho Pain one of the best French bakeries in the city, you’ve got to try their almond croissants, chocolate almond croissants, apple strudel, and desserts that include tiramisu, crème brulee, chocolate mouse. For breakfast or snacking throughout the day, try the delicious Liege waffles (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla). At lunchtime they have a variety of different soups daily along with home made gourmet grilled Panini (all sandwiches come with a side salad). This is one of the nicest cafes in the neighborhood, make sure you visit soon.

The café also offers a variety of products including whole bean Umbria coffee, and their custom branded cool looking tumblers, and more.

Review by: Richard Wolak

2055 W. 41^st Avenue, Vancouver

Tel: 604-568-5022

Web: http://www.gaiabistro.ca/

Advice: Closed Sundays

Trio of tasting salads

Chicken Shwarma plate

I had heard about a restaurant serving Israelli cuisine and I had to visit. The décor is colourful in this Kerrisdale eatery specializing in Mediteranian & Israelli cuisine. I had intended to get my food to go, however after a few minutes, I quickly changed my mind and opted for a table for a delightful lunch which was delicious. Before my entrée arrived I was served with a complimentary trio of salads which were very tasty. I had the Chicken Shwarma plate (11.95) pomegranite marinated chicken with hummus, roasted potatoes, tabuleh, carrot salad and warm grilled pita and I loved it, the flavours were so tasty and it was so delicious. Everything on the menu looked great, and ever so tempting, I haven’t had Israelli cuisine like this since I last visited Israel. You can taste the flavours in the dishes here, fresh and inspiring. I then ordered the Luna Puff Pastry ($4) savoury pastry filled with feta, swiss and parmesan cheese and fresh herbs and ended up having this at home for dinner. There dishes are wholesome and made with organic ingredients whenever possible, other items that looked good and ones that I want to try is the Jerusalem-style Kugel, Imam Bialdi, and the Latkes. The desserts also looked amazing from the Pear tart to the Ricotta Lemon Cheesecake. Next time I am going back to try their special Saturday morning brunch!

Review by: Richard Wolak