We walked in and it felt like we were transported to a different time. The wallpaper and decoration definitely screamed Victorian times. Every small table had matching fine China tea cups and the servers were all situated at the very back. Our table was close to the window and we were seated right away. We were told again that they closed in about an hour.
My sister and I decided to have Afternoon tea ($25) which includes small snacks and a pot of tea each. The price of their afternoon tea is consistent with ones around Vancouver.
They had an array of different types of tea to choose and it was hard to pick just one. When our server came over, we ordered the afternoon tea and she said we wouldn’t have time to finish it. Mind you, these sandwiches are tiny and my sister and I can eat quite a bit so…it was kinda strange that she would be turning down business. But I guess from the get-go they weren’t too pleased to be serving us since we came pretty late. Never the less, I don’t think it’s right to turn down business and she didn’t – she recommended we do the Mini-Afternoon tea ($15)instead.
I ordered the Hawaii Cocktail tea, which had mango, papaya and other delicious fruits. The way they served it was interesting as well, in a glass tempered tea pot and a matching glass bottom with a tea light in the middle, I guess to keep our tea warm.
My sister originally ordered something and she was told they didn’t have it anymore, so she ordered the Chai tea. She also enjoyed her tea.
When our mini tea snacks came, it was served on a two tiered platter. The server explained to us what our snacks were and went on her merry way. The top tier had two items. The first was a fruit tart with sliced grapes and strawberry with custard in a tart, I normally love this as dessert and it was refreshing. I found that the bottom crust broke apart too fast and was getting a little soggy.
The second sweet was the raspberry tart, the tart itself was buttery and dense but had very little flavour and was dry. The top part with the raspberry and whip was fine.
On our bottom tier were three savoury snacks. The first was turkey croissant with lettuce and tomato. I thought it was very flavourful and the croissant was still buttery and fresh – but these are so tiny, I felt like I was eating 1/10th of a croissant. The second snack was ham and cheese on white bread without the crusts. Strange how something so simple can be quite tasty.
Lastly, we had egg salad in cheese “buns”, they were about the size of a toonie. I normally don’t enjoy egg salad, but this one wasn’t so bad.
Food: 
The food wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t horrible. The savoury items were better than the sweets, and I’m sure the Afternoon tea variety is probably much better.
Ambiance: 
I kind of like the old world feel to this place. I like going to places that feel like I’ve gone back in time or haven’t aged a bit.
Service: 
Our server was fine, I think though there was a bit of a language barrier, because if I had been any one else, she might have come across rude/short. Especially for a place that’s competing with Secret Garden Tea company not too far away, this is probably an area they should work on. When my sister asked for her first choice of tea, the server abruptly said, “We don’t have that anymore.” and didn’t make any suggestions to something similar or apologize for it (which I personally think would be in good service to do). She was also hurrying us along, but I was willing to brush that off since we arrived about an hour before they were closing.
Value: 
High tea is something that is found in so many parts of our city from the downtown Vancouver, Yaletown, Kerrisdale and even in Richmond. You wouldn’t be hard pressed to find a place that had better tea and food service (maybe even hop across West boulevard/Arbutus to Secret Garden).
OVERALL: 
Here is the website: Adonia TeaHouse
