Windsor Arms ~ Going High Tea

I know I'm a bit behind on my post since it's been a while that I posted my Outfit Post here for my "tea party"... and here's the actual Tea Party (aka High Tea) and here's how the story went.....Last time that I went for Afternoon tea with my girlfriends, Windsor Arms (our 1st choice) was fully booked although we try booking 3 weeks in advance and we end up going to the Royal York (in the Library Bar). So a few weeks ago, after reading my favorite foodie's post here I was once again craving to go high tea and my friend decided she will be joining us with her bf.... so here we go again, reservation, going back and forth since date wasn't available and mostly fully booked. We end up getting a reservation for 12:30 Sunday and needless to say, we went without breakfast or lunch and both of the boys were not full enough. I've always thought afternoon tea should be had after 2:00pm but heh, we can go shopping on Bloor afterward and there wasn't other choice except wait for another month =P

I have always consider High Tea to be a really really good treat since $38.00 per person is a SPLURGE for pastry and tea.Usally it's just all worth it since it make you feel like Royalty with the pretty flowery cups, saucers & tea pot and those dainty cute sandwiches.

And let's just say, I was not satisfied of what I got for that $38.00 at all... the service was horrible with a clumsy waiter and sort of RUSH since they want to get rid of you and have the table ready for the next reservation, the tea was not that good and with minimum tea per pot, food wasn't that tasty (except the scones).... Oh and I didn't get my "Purple Room" table and was only seated at the outside French style lobby tea room =(

All four of us ordered Full Tea instead of the Compete Tea which also include a glass of Sparkling wine.

No cute flowery tea cups, only plain boring white one.

Don't get me wrong, I normally like plain colors ones but high tea is one of the occasions that I don't mind going crazy girly flowery w/ every cup and tea pots clashing and not matching =P

There was barely any tea in the pot which make the tea very watery and forget about re-fill =(

My girlfriend ordered the Eve's Temptation and Starbucks Tazo Passion Tea actuallyl taste much better... 

I ordered the Passion and Envy and it was basically tasteless on it's own and honey need to be added...

 Chinese looking tea pot, for a moment I thought we went "dim sum"

Ok, we all got white cups but my friend's was dirty and this flowery one was the replacement.

The Tower

 We went from bottom to top.

Love the warm Goat Cheese tart and their Scones are just perfect, supper fluffy but as you bite into it, it's still super buttery yummy (^__^)

(last time that I had Brunch there, I ate 2 of them on top of everything else... oh btw I find the Brunch much worth the $$ compare to their High Tea)

The Sandwiches 

The tuna was a bit too dense and wish it had more cucumber or celery in it but it was spicy which give it a kick.

The chicken was a bit bland on it's own, should have added some veggies in it.

The Salmon and caviar was by far the best

 We got 4pcs of Petit Fours per 2 person.... should we be fighting over it?!?

I would expect to get more variety and at least one per person.... but after tasting the first one, I stop fighting over it... none of it was that good...sniff, sniff (T_T)

Strawberries and Whipped Cream

This would have been refreshing and a great way to end the afternoon tea but the strawberry was horrible, maybe not in season so it was tasteless and not sweet not even sour... 

Ok, if you can't find fresh strawberries, the least you could do is find another berry/fruits that was in season/better as simple as this (O_o)

And Ben got a dirty bowl, the 2nd time for this visit... first the cup, now the pot and that's really not acceptable for such a high-end place/hotel.

And after that we were given the bill, the waiter keep bringing extra settings to the empty small 2 seat table next to us... obviously preparing for us to leave and for him to reset the table (>__<)

And if you have a choice, please don't sit by the window during winter time.... the window are not well sealed at all and there was a constant breeze/chill

Verdict:

Windsor Arm's afternoon tea are too over-booked and didn't allow to sit for longer periods of time, good thing we went with the guys if just us girls we would really like to sit longer to chat 

(isn't chatting & gossiping what high tea is for ?!?)

I prefer my visit at Royal York here much better, the tea was really tasty and they keep asking if we need refills of hot water or if we needed more tea in it.... we got more than our share of Petit Fours (although not as refine looking) and even the fruits are fresh and presented much better.
The atmosphere was also more cozy and not as crowded as Windsor Arms 

(one down side, their scones are not as good as Windsor's)