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 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!

Afternoon Tea at L’Opéra Patisserie

L’Opéra Patisserie

153 - 5951 Minoru Blvd
Richmond BC, V6X 4B1
Phone: 604-270-2919
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Cera and Wish first heard about  L’Opéra Patisserie from a friend who is also an Afternoon Tea fanatic. One rainy day, we decided to visit the place just to see their menu. The bakery itself is quite small somewhat hard to spot amongst the busy streets of downtown Richmond. 

Pastries

The macarons

L'Opéra cake is their signature cake so we decided to try it along with a
Rose Macaron and a L'Opéra Special Macaron

Our little table by the fireplace - perfect for a cold rainy day!

Two months later, we made a reservation to have afternoon tea here.

Inside of the bakery. Super pretty decorations!

The decor of the treat tier - gold ribbon with a gold teapot charm

The tier of wonderful things :D

Top Tier - Savories

Bottom Tier - Sweets
Mini Tarte au Citron with Blueberries
Burnt Sugar Puffs
Raspberry Mille Feuille
Raspberry Caramel Basket

Apparently this salmon puff was new and had just been released the same day
we went to afternoon tea! The owner said it isn't on the menu yet!

It's a fluffy, buttery puff pasty filled with salmon.

Another savory...

Raspberry Caramel Basket. Super delicious even though on the menu says
it should have been strawberries. The caramel basket was such an interesting concept!

Mini Tarte au Citron

Burnt Sugar Puff

Raspberry Mille Feuille

.. and Wish's favorite - the Blueberry Macaron

WITH A BLUEBERRY INSIDE!!!!!

The owner also gave us some chocolate cookies to go!

Verdict

L'Opera has a rather small tea selection but the decadent sweets and savories made for that! The french style afternoon tea was unlike any that we've tried before and you can truly tell that a lot of thought and effort went into planning and creating their menu. What amazed us the most was that the owner was self taught! Wish really loved the macarons - they were soft and fluffy with a surprise berry hidden inside.

What Could Be Changed

The savories and sweets were really delicious, however, Wish felt that our tier had WAY too much raspberries. 

Do we recommend afternoon tea at Soirette? At $25 per person, L’Opéra Patisserie is definite must try!

*Edit*

As of 2014, Cera has informed us that Afternoon Tea at L’Opéra Patisserie has increased in price to $39. 
:( The menu seems to have significantly changed as well.