1885 Oak Bay Ave.
11am to 4pm
*last seating is at 3:45pm and tea seatings are limited to a maximum of 90 minutes*
$75.00 for two people and $37.50 per extra person
Reservations required
250.595.8020 or https://www.whiteheather-tearoom.com/

THE EXPERIENCE
Whenever we tell people about our high tea adventures, the White Heather comes up. Many of our friends and colleagues have visited it and it is consistently in their top picks. Located in just outside downtown in Oak Bay village, it was opened by a lovely Scot in 2000.  

Simple. Cozy. Bright. 

This tea room is in a rather characterless building on Oak Bay Ave that is not unlike a strip mall. It is fairly snug inside and the tables are positioned close together. However, the windows are big and there is minimal clutter so the room feels bright and airy. Pro tip: we sat in the back in a corner, which offered some privacy. The service was quick and the place was busy, giving it a lively atmosphere. 

We have certain pacts that we follow when we eat high tea together. The main one is that we have to eat everything (or at least try everything as there may be items that we dislike……ahem……not many, though……we like food). We usually go for tea at lunch time and we eat a small or sometimes no breakfast to prepare for the challenge. We’ve never been quite as grateful for our approach as we were on this particular day! The tea was definitely good value for the volume of food we were given. It was a challenge but we did manage to eat it all. 

Look at these overflowing tiers!

We liked the fruit course, including the tinned peaches that we strangely enjoyed. Some kind of childhood nostalgia no doubt. Once again, the cream was just whipped cream. TBH, we have yet to be served actual clotted cream anywhere. WE KNOW. Don’t even get us started on this subject. Seriously. The lack of clotted cream is bordering on criminal at this point.

Coming off our Chinese New Year High Tea, the White Heather was a return to more expected flavours. That said, the tiers were overflowing and everything was fresh and delicious. Of particular note were the biscuits housing smoked salmon (even Angela ate it and she hates salmon!), the shortbread, and the currant scone. Oddly, for two folks they gave us one savoury and one sweet scone. Call us crazy but we wanted a bit of each.

This is a very traditional high tea. Don’t expect a lot of originality or fussy service. If you want a pleasant, bright spot to eat finger sandwiches and scones until you’re genuinely questioning your life choices, this is the place for you. It lives up to all the talk and then some.

RATING
This is the first tea where we have a solid disagreement. Charlotte gives White Heather 4/5 balls. Angela has listed it in her Top Picks and gives it 5/5 balls. What to do? Maybe a repeat visit is in order to sort this out…

and Angela says