Afternoon
tea conjures up images of flowers, frilly hats, and plate tiers holding
two-bite delights. Alas, it also reminds me of stuffy traditions, odd eating
times, and long periods of sitting. Hence, I was intrigued about the casual
weekday option at the Ritz Café ($28 per person) – noon reservations are
allowed, there’s no dress code, and you’re given a decent amount of food that
could work as a lunch without leaving you stuffed.
The tea
selection includes six Sloan Leaf options. While the Signature Black isn’t the
most aromatic, it’s a strong full-bodied tea, which I find is required to hold
up against all the sweets.
In lieu
of the tiered plate tower, a decorative holder arrives instead. While pretty to
look at, it’s difficult to use as you need to keep swiveling it to the side (on
a small packed table) to extract food. For anyone who’s clumsy, I’d approach
removing the middle items carefully.
I’m
always partial to the tea sandwiches. Ritz Café offers four with the afternoon
tea: a traditional cucumber and dill cream cheese that’s open faced and
incorporates strong dill flavours; smoked salmon with pickled onion stuff in a
croissant; a ham and cheddar in a bun that’s way too hard; and the best of the
bunch, a mustardy egg salad enhanced with celery seeds.
Of
course, it’s not tea without scones. While, I personally prefer one large one
to two small scones (so there’s more of the fluffy innards), Ritz’s scones were
warm and thankfully didn’t contain any fruit to allow the Devonshire cream and
selection of Graves preserves to flavour the biscuit.
To end
the meal off on a sweet note, a selection of desserts including a creamy lemon
cheese cake; a really chocolatey and overly sweet macaron; and a tasty
raspberry tart that had a light crispy shortbread crust.
For
anyone who enjoys afternoon tea amongst a casual atmosphere at an affordable
price point, the Ritz Café’s weekday menu is a great option to get your fix of
all the traditional aspects of tea, without the pomp and fuss.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 181 Wellington Street West
Address: 181 Wellington Street West
Website: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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