Fairmont Macdonald: High Tea
February 17, 2016
My friend and I have been planning to go to high tea for almost two years now. We finally got around to it this month at the Fairmont Macdonald Hotel. It took place at the Confederation Lounge, located in the hotel. It was my first-ever high tea experience! High tea originated from England back in the past. It’s usually tea accompanied by scones and finger foods, viewed as a light meal enjoyed during the day. The Fairmont offers two options for high tea: royal tea & tour and weekday high tea. Royal tea occurs on the weekends and includes a historic tour as well for $45. Weekday tea is available Monday to Wednesday without a tour or sparkling wine for $25.
I attended the weekday option. I’m assuming that it’s busier on weekends because when I went, it was nice and quiet. The lounge provided a very cozy environment while overlooking the river valley. Service was excellent and attentive, I felt like a queen! Reservations are required beforehand because as soon as we arrived, our table was already set up. The food came out within 5 minutes.
The menu changes quite often, almost monthly. Although everything is a finger food, it gets very filling in the end! The food is accompanied by hot tea, of course. There is a quite selection of tea to choose from with refills being constantly made through the afternoon.
There was a choice of 2 scones to start off with, classic and raspberry white chocolate. They were buttery and crumbly, which is how a scone should be. The scones came with Devonshire cream and mixed berry compote to be spread with.
For the savoury finger sandwiches, there were four different ones. The organic egg salad was served on brioche bread. It was one of the more lighter sandwiches. There was sundried tomato bruschetta on focaccia which was flavorful. The smoked salmon pinwheel was my favorite! Good thing each person got 2 portions. It was wrapped with cream cheese. It’s funny because normally I’m not a big salmon friend. The pinwheel was fresh and delicious though! Lastly, we had Moroccan spiced chicken salad croissant sandwiches. This one was the savoriest out of the four.
By the time my friend and I reached the dessert part, we were almost full! For dessert, we had cute lemon and strawberry tartlets. The crust was incredibly flaky. We also had red velvet madeleines and house made cheesecake.
Overall, I had a great high tea experience! I would certainly return for a second time. I recommend trying it out if you’ve never been to high tea or if you want to catch up with a few close friends. Don’t forget to make reservations and wear your favorite outfit!
Address: 10065 100th Street
