Last month my sister and I went to “Eldon House”:https://eldonhouse.ca/product/summer-tea-program/ to try out the summer afternoon tea program. We had been to the Christmas Tea last December and were curious to see how it compared.
It was a warm July afternoon and the rain stayed clear so we were able to enjoy our tea on the verandah of the historic house. In the last century the owners would have had a wonderful view over the River Thames but the trees have grown so large we had to be content with the view of the garden. The servers were dressed in period costume and told us to choose a table and they would be right over to take our tea order. We had booked and paid online a few days before but if you want to drop in when in town you can still have a light tea of scones, a dessert and tea for $15. We however were there for the full meal.
To start I tried the strawberry tea as I’m not a big tea drinker. The dainty crockery added to the old world charm. If I remember correctly, my cup and saucer were Ainsley. My sister had a regular tea, as in not fruit flavoured. As nice as the strawberry tea was I opted to try the mango tea later and it was very good. I usually find that fruit teas smell better than they taste but the mango, bright pink in colour, was very flavourful. All the teas were provided by the “Tea Haus”:https://theteahaus.com/ at Covent Garden.
The food, provided by “Petit Paris”:https://petit-paris.ca/ at Covent Garden, was just as delicious as the Christmas Tea we attended but without the Christmas theme. As we were going on to another event before going home and it was quite warm out we tried to eat the pastries that would not do well being left in the vehicle for a few hours; those with cream and custard went first. We took the rest home to eat after a late dinner.
At $26 per person, it is a nice treat to do on a summer afternoon that isn’t expensive. For the quality of food you get and bottomless tea pot it was money well spent.
The summer tea program runs from June 27 to August 25 every Tuesday through Sunday from 1:00-3:30 pm on the verandah and in the gardens of Eldon House.
