#43 here comes little miss teapot
it’s quite unfortunate that you hardly see the sun in vancouver as it is raining very frequently. this calls for high tea to revitalize the body, soul and mind ! bella has been raving about tea merchant awhile back. we always have plans to go there with the other girls but to no avail. so on a fine day when essie and i were messaging each other, we decided to have tea together. essie suggested tea merchant and i really want to give it a shot since it’s so highly recommended !
the urban tea merchant
1070 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 2Y2
(604) 692-0071<
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FIRST VISIT
i was totally BLOWN AWAY when i first entered the shop section of tea merchant ! their tea pots are really unique and the sales associate were more than happy to take photos of us with the cute tea pots they had. the dining area of the tea merchant is really spacious. there are only a few table seatings, which portrays exclusiveness. comparing the severs at tea merchant to fairmont high tea place, the servers here are more professional, friendly and outspoken. unlike the one at fairmont, they bothered to explain the types of tea we wanted and the fondue set. they even allowed essie to try a few small samples cups of tea when she was waiting for me.
we were first served with a glass of chilled white tea topped with strawberries that tastes like ice wine. it was so refreshing and thus, essie and i made a toast for the lunar new year ! essie recommended me to have the chamann after tasting a sample of it. the scent and taste of vanilla in chamann is euphoric and sweet, which is to my favor. after sipping the tea, the vanilla of madagascar still lingers. this shows that vanilla is the primary flavor of the chamann while rooibos is the secondary flavor.
ratings: 4.5/5★
essie got thé du loup black tea, which i did not try but she likes the scent and taste of it. it has chocolate and hazelnut flavors and has been considered by many as a natural anti-depressant and warm source of stress reliefs.
there were 3 sepcial tea sets for the month:
1) petite afternoon tea (CAN$19/person – regular price: CAN$25)
2) tea and chocolate fondue (CAN$16/person – regular price: CAN$21)
3) sweetheart afternoon tea (CAN$48/person includes tea gift)
essie and i decided to have the tea and chocolate fondue set since we wanted to try something new and did not want to follow the norm of just having high tea. the fondue set consist of high quality pink marshmallows, green matcha cube-liked shortcakes, fresh strawberries and pineapples that can be dipped into the melted dark, rich belgian chocolate. i’m applauding the food on their level of quality and freshness !
ratings: 5/5★
i was surprised that though the place was so refined and the food was awesome, the bill came up to a total of only CAN$35.84 ! it is value for money indeed ! i can’t wait to try the afternoon tea set with bella, vivi, fine, annie & prisq in time to come !
[EDITED] UPDATED 21ST OF FEB 2011
i made a reservation for 6 for last friday but on the day itself, i changed it for 8 attendees as i thought more people were coming than expected. however, only 6 of us showed up for high tea and ci retty just dropped by so the server removed a table. they were really understanding and flexible though. though 4 of us were late for 5 minutes, the servers served us with a sample tea and did not rush us. the other 3 girls came and we took such a long time to decide on what to order but the server waited patiently once again. the server was also really attentive when bella and i wanted to snap shots of the way the glasses of white tea and many teapots were arranged. so she gave us time to take photos before actually serving us, how nice ! i really wanna give a huge thumbs up to them !!
we decided to order 3 sets of signature high tea for the 6 of us !
for starters
so in addition to the chilled white tea i previously mentioned about, we also had the strawberry sorbet with nicely chopped and fresh strawberries. the girls did not like the chilled white tea as they claim that it was too plain so they did not end up finishing it. as for the sorbet, all of us were raving about it ! even though my throat was SORE, i still managed to finish up the entire sorbet because it was THAT palatable !
every sip is a journey !
look at our cute little teapots !! it’s so different from the ones essie and i had !!
i was so tempted to get rooibos chamann again but since urban tea merchant has a vast numbers of teas, i decided on melange de galice since the server recommended that for sweet tea. it has an aroma of bourbon vanilla and taste like orchard peach. it was really good for that day itself as it was sunny and it taste just like teas served in the summer. also, the flavor was balanced with a light taste of vanilla and the flavor of the black tea was not too strong.
bella got the celebration tea that the server was raving about and it is rich in flavors of cream, vanilla and roasted hazelnuts. annie got the peche mignon, which is a green tea base that has aromas of orchard peaches, red passion fruit, wild strawberries and a touch of melon. vivi and fine got the coincidence vert. it is stated that the tea’s aroma is seductive and natural and it is of pure coincidence that it reminds you of another tea house. jennifer got the rose congou, which is naturally sweet as it is scented with exotic rose. all of us enjoyed our afternoon tea very much until we finished the entire teapot and jennifer even requested for more !
high tea lover girls !
so once the 3 signature high tea sets have been served to us, we decided to pray and begin our afternoon high tea cum brunch ! annie and i were sharing a set so we decided to work our way up the tiers since we always have savory first and sweet stuff later. we could not have one sample of each food as everything served in the set were unique so we either got half of the food or choose which food we wanted. the tuna and zucchini sandwiches (2nd pic) were typical and average. i got a bite of the smoked salmon sandwich and fell head over heels of it. the smoked salmon sandwich (3rd pic) is to die for ! it was topped with watercress, black pepper and cucumber and laid on red onion, cream cheese and capers. it is also annie’s favorite !! i got half of the petite prawn cocktail. (4th pic) the prawn is really fresh but since i only got a tiny bit of it, it is insufficient to give a review of it. there is a walnut canape that was filled with bleu cheese and caremel. bella did not like the taste of it but i found the taste unique and orgasmic !
up to the second tier, annie and i both love this tier a hell lot !! the chocolate truffles is thomas haas’ very own chocolate sparkle that i adore since 2006 ! we have a long history ^^ as for the quiche, it was rather dry but still fine. the scone was the highlight of that session. bella (especially), annie and i were raving about it all the time !! it is neither too sweet (like starbucks) or too plain (like many served in cafes).
i usually go to high tea for sweet stuff but this time, i really prefer all the savory mouth-watering sandwiches over the good looking sweets !! the pictures are seriously DECEIVING !! this is the worst high tea for the sweet shortcakes and such ever !! the heart-shaped chocolate had too much champagne dosage in it. the chocolate shortcake tasted really fattening and disgusting. the perisian macaroon did not taste authentic at all. it tasted like those sold in saint germain bakery ! bella also wanted to puke while consuming the chocolate shortcake and macaroon. annie ate the chervon strawberry and she felt delighted eating it !! for me, the fruits were the best from the top tier, peace out !
the bill
the bill came up to a total of CAN$191.28 so we paid a total of CAN$216. we had 3 tea gifts (1st picture) as well as it is compliments of the signature tea sets.
DUE TO THE REVISIT OF URBAN TEA MERCHANT, my ratings of taste has changed from 9.5/10 to 7/10
so my overall ratings has changed from 9.25/10★ to 8.63/10★. ratings of other factors remain !
[/EDITED]
PAYMENT METHODS: DEBIT/CREDIT/CASH
my overall ratings are as follows:
ambiance: 9/10
service: 10/10
food (taste & appearance): 9.5/10
value: 8.5/10
total: 9.25/10★
in conclusion, urban tea merchant has a great ambiance and exquisite desserts. i am already looking forward for my second visit here !
swisscheese*
