Afternoon Tea at Fairmont Vancouver Airport

Fairmont Hotel at Vancouver International Airport

3111 Grant McConachie Way

Richmond

British Columbia, Canada

V7B 0A6

Tel: (604) 248-3281

Recently, there was a Groupon sale for Afternoon Tea for 2 for $54 at the Fairmont Hotel at the Vancouver Airport, so of course, Cera and Wish jumped on that deal. Normally, without promotion, the Afternoon tea set retails at $75 per person! The decor was modern, and elegant, as expected of a Fairmont Hotel. If we had a window seat, the experience would be even more awesome as we would be able to watch the planes lift off. Even without the window seats, the experience was super enjoyable due to the nice atmosphere and great service.

Apparently, it was EXTREMELY difficult to make reservations as the place is very popular. The Groupon deal also includes a free parking voucher which is a bonus for us since parking at the airport is so expensive! 

Top Tier: Dark Chocolate Truffle, Lemon Curd Tart.
Strawberry Macaron, and Carrot Cake  with Cream Cheese Mousse

Middle Tier: Sour Cherry and White Chocolate Scones
with Strawberry Jam and Devonshire Cream

Bottom Tier: Smoked Salmon Rillette, Beetroot Tart Ham,
Boursin, Mustard Pinwheel, Egg Salad Croissant, and
Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Wish's Tea: Japan Sencha Fukujyu. Cera ordered a winter special tea
but there was a mix up with her order so her tea isn't in the picture

Fairmont Vancouver Airport  Tea Menu

The Verdict:
The overall food quality and service was excellent (it better be for that price!). There was a slight mix up with Cera's tea order and the server kindly offered her a brand new pot of tea. The scones were hot and delicious and the sweets were very well crafted. All in all, everything was honestly quite delicious, and very enjoyable.

Although it is a nice place for afternoon tea, it is definitely one of the most expensive afternoon tea experiences in Vancouver. Also, don't expect a quiet, calm restaurant; the location is actually quite bustling as it is so packed!

Do we recommend this location?
DEPENDS. Do you have an extra $75 dollars (before tax and tip) to spare on afternoon tea? If so, then I suggest giving this place a try. However, if you're anything like us (cheapskates!), then perhaps hold off on coming here until another Groupon deal is available. Also, if Cera had to choose a place to splurge on Afternoon Tea, it would have to be The Urban Tea Merchant downtown!

Afternoon Tea at 1029 Cafe

Image Credit to - YELP.ca

 1029 Cafe

9231 Beckwith Road
Richmond, BC
V6X 1V7

When Cera's mom gave her a gift card for Afternoon Tea at a newly open cafe in central Richmond, we couldn't help it to try it out! The cafe is very modern and located in a very secluded area. The decor was super nice, however, the place was VERY empty!

Some sort of Herbal/Floral Tea. Not sure what tea exactly... Their special of the day.

The "three" tier of sweets and savories.. To be honest..
it's more like a two tier...

Top Tier: Cheesecake, Blueberry Mousse Cake and
Chocolate Mousse Cake

Middle Tier: Blueberry Mousse Cake and
Chocolate Mousse Cake, Mango Mousse Cake
and Green Tea Mousse Cake

Bottom Tier: Veggie Sandwiches

Mango Mousse Cake

Lavender/Blueberry Mousse Cake

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Green Tea Mousse Cake (notice how repetitive everything is?)

Cheese Cake

The Verdict
Since this is a mandarin - Chinese establishment, it was we had quite a difficult time communicating with the waitress. Wish didn't know how speak mandarin and Cera's mando skills are close to non-existent. LOL. Usually, when we go out for Afternoon tea, the server would introduce the menu items to us, but seeing as the server had limited English, we weren't able to get a comprehensive explanation . We actually guessed what we are eating and we came to similar conclusions! However, since the menu was really very simple, it wasn't too hard!

The main downside to this afternoon tea was the menu selection. Evidently, the menu was VERY basic, and almost all the sweets were mini mousse cakes. While we both enjoy mini mousse cakes, this much was a bit... well, much. We wish there was more variety in their Afternoon tea. The tea sandwiches were also mediocre. However, we also know that when we visited this restaurant, the Afternoon tea was still a brand new item on their menu (they usually serve cafe food, sandwiches, simple Chinese dishes and coffee). Hopefully, they have improved it by now!

Do we recommend this location?
NO, Not Really. For $27/per person, there are much better Afternoon Tea places to visit. In fact, more and more are popping up around the lower mainland that it is getting hard to keep up! However, if you're like us, and you want to try every Afternoon Tea place available, then please note that a reservation is required. One good thing about this establishment is that it is located right behind the Richmond Costco, so if you ever feel like afternoon tea after shopping, there is something available for you.

Afternoon Tea at Rose House

Rose House Vancouver
5687 Balsam Street
Vancouver, BC
V6M 4B5
Tel: (604) 620-3668
Email: vancouver@rosehouse.com

The reception area

Front entrance decor

Tea Showcase~

As you can see, the decor was rose themed

Display with different cute tea sets for sale

 

We both ordered the full Prince William Afternoon Tea set

Cera ordered the Rose Afternoon tea and Wish had the Royal Blend

Wish's tea with a packet of sugar

Bottom Tier: Savories
Deviled Egg
Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Sandwich
Tuna and Apple Sandwich
Prawn Cocktail
Mozzarella & Tomato on Toasted Baguette

Middle Tier
Raisin Scone with Devonshire cream and Rose Jam
Poppy seed Shortbread Cookie
Quiche

Top Tier: Sweets
Blueberry Cheesecake
Strawberry Puff Pastry
Strawberry Panna Cotta with Kiwi
Tea Jelly
Lemon Macaron

The Verdict:
We had a great experience at Rose House! The decor was elegant and the service was excellent. This may just be Cera and Wish's new favorite afternoon tea salon in Kerrisdale. The array of savories were well thought out, although the tuna sandwich could have used a bit more seasoning. The scones were fresh and hot and complimented the homemade rose jam very nicely. However, the sweets were our favorite part of this afternoon tea, especially the refreshing tea jelly and the strawberry Panna Cotta. They also offer a beautiful iced rose tea that we're definitely going to try next time!

For $27.95/person, Rose House in Kerrisdale is a DEFINITE must try! We rate it two thumbs up!

A Little Bit of History
Apparently the founder of the Rose House, Robert Huang, is a well known rose painter. You can find The Rose House in other places in the world such as London, New York, Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo!

Faubourg Paris
2155 West 41st
Kerrisdale, Vancouver
BC, V6M 1Z6
Phone: 604-266-2156
Website

It's been half a year since we went to afternoon tea. Since the weather was super nice, what's more exciting than getting afternoon tea on a sunny summer day? Today we went to Faubourg Paris. The retailer now has 3 locations throughout Vancouver and we chose to go to the original location in Kerrisdale Village. Cera went once and she said the quality of food was excellent, so we went there along with a friend of ours. 

Tea selection. The display was on the table and we get to choose the tea we want after we sit down
Wish really liked it because you can take your time to smell and decide. However, they had a relatively small tea selection, with only 7 choices.

There are two afternoon tea menus -pink and purple. The pink option is a full afternoon tea set.
As you can see, we get to choose 4 savories and 4 sweets.
This option comes with miniature scones and jams as well as a Soufflé.

..whereas the purple menu is only half of the afternoon tea set...

Macaron display at the front of the store

Cake display at the front of the store

Decor of the afternoon tea seating area, which is located in the back of the store.

Cera's tea - Marco Polo

Wish's tea - Verte Provence

Miniature scones with fruit jams.How cute are these mini jams?

Cera and Wish's tray (the one in the back is a friend's)

Top Tier - Sweets
Wish's Choice:
Strawberry Pepper Macaron
Tartlette au Citron
Opéra Café
Carameleized Almond Frangipane Slice

Cera's choice

Coconut Panna Cotta with Mango Gelée

Salted Caramel Macaron 
Miniature Tiramisu
Mousse au Chocolat

Bottom Tier
Wish's Choice
Canapé
Smoked Salmon Croissant
Chicken Sandwich
Mini Quiche

Cera's Choice
Canapé 
Verrine
Snmoked Salmon Crossant
Chicken Sandwich

Passion Fruit/ Lemon Soufflé - IT WAS SUPER SOUR!

The Verdict:
According to the online reviews, Faubourg rates really highly for French Style Afternoon Tea. While we mostly enjoyed our experience, there were a few things that we found slightly disappointing. Upon ordering our 4 choices of sweets, the waitress came back to let us know that two of the sweets that we wanted to try was sold out . Rather than a smoked salmon croissant, we received smoked salmon sandwiches. Also, the soufflé was SO SOUR to the point that Wish could not finish it. In fact, a good word to describe it would be SHOCKINGLY sour. Cera and other blogs received raspberry soufflés in the past, which was excellent. In addition, we normally enjoy our scones with devonshire/clotted cream and was disapointed to learn that the bakery did not have cream available, despite it being on the menu. Isn't cream a staple in afternoon tea?

Do we recommend Afternoon Tea at Faubourg Paris?
At $28.55 (tax included), Faubourg afternoon tea is very decently priced, especially considering it includes a freshly made soufflé. Nestled in centre of quaint Kerrisdale, this place is worth a try. Cera noted that while still good, the quality seemed to have declined slightly since her last visit. There is also free 2 hour parking behind the bakery, at the Kerrisdale Parkade. However, we hope you receive the raspberry soufflé instead of the passionfruit!

Kracie - Panda Cookie

How cute is this? We've been looking for this for ages and luckily, Wish was able to find it when she visited Japan!

Apparently different kits come with different panda expressions!

Mini spoon!

Making the chocolate~

SMELLS LIKE NUTELLA!

Into the bag it goes~~~

First we make the panda face and ears~

The rest of the face....

Slap the vanilla part on and pat it smooth and into the microwave it goes!

Panda cake! Although it looks like a bao bao instead...

The Verdict:
It smelled great! It was soft and moist but sadly, tasted somewhat bland. We should have tried to even out the white dough more because the dough actually rose to create a dome shape rather than a nice, flat cake. Our final result also turned out a bit creepy looking, but was fun and easy to make nonetheless.