463 Belleville St.
12:30pm to 3:30pm seven days a week
$44.00 per person
Reservations required
250.380.4458 or http://www.hotelgrandpacific.com/dine1/west-coast-afternoon-tea1

THE EXPERIENCE
Buckle up, high tea peeps. This one is gonna be bumpy.

Afternoon tea is offered in the Hotel Grand Pacific’s restaurant. We knew it was a must on our high tea list and we’d heard good things. However, at the time of year we went, they were offering a special afternoon tea to celebrate Chinese New Year. That’s right. Chinese New Year High Tea.

We had a table by the window that offered a glimpse of a “water view”. As it is on the ground floor, it really just overlooks the entrance and road but hey, a window is a window. The room was your typical hotel restaurant: clean, somewhat characterless, high ceilings, benign. The server was pleasant but came to us too often. We would have liked to have been left to eat and chat a little more. 

While clearly High Tea and Chinese New Year can be merged, this experience made us uncertain if they should be merged. It was a little odd. There was no scone or sandwiches. We’re not traditionalists so we can roll with that. There were some delicious parts: the BBQ duck steamed bun, the lamb and water chestnut pie, the egg tart, and the truffles with ginger. Others were not so great: the rice pudding served cold that reminded Charlotte of British school dinners and the tapioca pearls. Angela will never forget Charlotte’s face as she tried to eat the tapioca pearls! It was the most hilarious attempt at describing slime while actively gagging that she’s ever witnessed. 

The stunning pomelo tea and crispy twist was a beautiful start.
The rest was a weird and wonderful ride.

We went away not feeling full as we would normally, partly because some of the tea was not good enough to finish but also because the portions were really small. At $44 per person, it was a bit of a hard sell. However, we have to give full props for the attempt as it was interesting and unique. 

We don’t really know what just happened but it was fun and we have chocolate money.

The Hotel Grand Pacific also serves a traditional West Coast afternoon tea. We will head back to sample that in October. Perhaps it will improve upon our fusion high tea experience. 

RATING
2/5 balls for this themed tea. An interesting idea if a bit tricky to execute.