Adonia Tea House: Non-imaginary Afternoon Tea
Like most boys, I used to play with toy cars. I owned hundreds and my favorites were the Hot Wheels Color Shifters. These looked like the rest, but magically changed colors when heated & cooled! Radical! The girls back then didn’t like my cars; they were more interested in drinking imaginary tea with their imaginary friends. Boring.
I never understood the appeal of those tea parties. Still don’t.
But I have a secret. Promise not to tell my cars? (yes, they can hear/talk/feel) I love afternoon tea. I still don’t “get it”, but I can appreciate great food when I see/taste it and there are few things finer than afternoon tea.
Many places in Vancouver serve afternoon tea. I haven’t been to most, but I really like Adonia Kerrisdale Tea House located @ 2057 West 41st Avenue in Kits. The staff is friendly and they do all the little things (quaint decor, fine china, fancy music) that women people have come to expect.
Adonia’s afternoon tea is $23 per person (or $14 for a “mini afternoon tea”). It includes a pot of tea and a platter of food that includes cucumber, tuna, and smoked salmon sandwiches, cupcakes, biscuits, and other goodies. Adonia has a large selection of teas. I went with the a Mando Indica black tea (pictured above).
Food started off with cocktail shrimp. There were 4 of us so 1 each. A little strange to start with an item like this, but it was tasty.
Next up, my favorite: fresh scones! Again, only 1 each. I would’ve preferred an entire basket to share. The best scones I’ve ever had were in England. There, they serve them with jam and clotted cream. On this side of the Atlantic, they substitute the clotted cream with crème fraîche. Still great, but not the same.
The platter of sandwiches and goodies arrived next (the one pictured above is for 2 people). Quality over quantity here. The sandwiches may be small, for instance, but they are made to order with quality ingredients. It’s more filling than it looks too.
For dessert, cookies and panna cotta topped with fruit coulis. Delicious and, like the other goodies, not overly sweet.
All in all, a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. It’s not quite lunch. It’s not quite brunch. It’s… unique. And considering you’re getting multiple courses and tea, it’s fair-priced in my opinion. Recommended! (especially if you’ve never had afternoon tea before)
This is a lot more satisfying than sipping air from plastic cups. Now, if only they made Color Shifting tea cups – that’d be totally awesome. Vrooom!
Btw, “High Tea” != “Afternoon Tea”.
Google it to find out why.
So, does anybody have any afternoon tea favorites in Vancouver? I usually try to experience it when I travel so I don’t really know what Vancouver has to offer (besides Adonia).
There’s another right in the same area, Secret Garden Tea House.
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181601/restaurant/Kerrisdale/Secret-Garden-Tea-Room-Vancouver
Food does look good, and those shrimps are especially big.
Wow, a guy that likes afternoon tea, you’re totally my kind of guy.
I have heard good things about Adonia but have not had an opportunity to try it yet.
Hmm, maybe for my upcoming birthday?
The Fish House has an alright high tea, if memory serves.
But: if you ever get the chance, have high tea at the Pennisula in Hong Kong. They do that shit right.
My friends went to the afternoon tea at the Sutton Place hotel, they highly recommend it.
I can’t wait to try out an afternoon tea soon… everything looks so good.
Now that looks awesome. Yes, the shrimp cocktail is strange to start, but it looks really good. So does everything else. I normally don’t do afternoon tea, but I think I’ll start.
Thanks for the suggestions and comments all!
I think I’ll try Secret Garden Tea Room next time. I don’t do afternoon tea often so it might be a while… :)
The food at Secret Garden is good but I find service there a bit rude at times. I recently had tea at Bacchus (Wedgewood Hotel) and although the spread was simpler, the food was still tasty and service was excellent!
I enjoyed afternoon tea today with some friends to celebrate a belated birthday and am now stuffed. After a couple pots of tea and food, I think I’ll forgo dinner. I found the atmosphere very inviting and relaxing, unlike Secret Garden which can be a bit stuffy and hurried. We also saw other male customers enjoying tea.
My friends couldn’t finish all the food because they’ve been pigging out in Vegas, but I managed to eat everything, including the huge shrimp. I would return to try some of the a la carte items which looked yummy (crepes, fresh fruit teas, etc.) but I did find it odd that they didn’t know anything about tea. Our server advised us that all their tea comes from Germany, but I wasn’t aware of any tea plantations in that country. They did offer many types of tea relabelled in their name, but don’t expect any depth of knowledge as to the origins.
My darjeeling tea was ok, but I have tasted better at true tea cafes such as Shaktea and Steeps which oozes tea culture. Overall, definitely good value for the price.