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| - Annona for high tea, a-no-thanks.
I busted out my fancy hat for high tea at Annona. I was with a large group and we had reservations for 2:30 in the afternoon.
Don't get me wrong, the service was courteous and attentive as expected
But enough small hiccups became frustrating.
They didn't have our table ready.
It's the afternoon and not busy at all, but we had to wait outside while they scrambled to get set-up for about 10 minutes.
Once we were seated, we were presented with the afternoon tea menu.
The high tea here is amongst the cheapest in the city but you're also not in a tearoom. ($26 regular tea service, sparkling tea service is $35 with Prosecco)
The menu has a selection of teas: Earl Grey, BC inspired piney teas, Jasmine and Green teas, I opted for the White Tip Darjeeling which they describe as the "champagne of black teas".
About 40 minutes after ordering, half of the group's tea arrived.
My tea was one of the last to arrive even though I ordered first.
Tea Attempt #1:
I poured my tea through the filter and it was full of tiny little bits too small for the filter. I asked for the pot to be replaced.
The two people sitting around me ordered the same tea at the same time and had no problem.
Tea Attempt #2
About 10 minutes later my teapot came back.
The lid still had tiny tea bits on it. Obviously the same unwashed pot.
I poured it through the filter, same problem! I don't think they changed the tea at all.
I called the manager over. He apologized and took the teapot away again.
Tea Attempt #3
The manager brings over a new teapot with tea.
I lift the lid and it's clean. I peer in at the leaves and they are the right size. He says the reason my other pot was bad was that the water was too cold (That's a horrible reason).
I think they just used the end of the package.
He started to pour my tea, it poured fine. I told him to stop pouring so the tea could steep.
How long does it take to get a cup of tea? An hour.
Food
====
The food arrived.
There aren't side tables, which is a nice-to-have for more space.
* The bread for the salmon and pumpernickel had been re-toasted and was cold and stale.
* The shrimp and cucumber bite was the best savory item
* There were a few other sandwich bites that weren't anything really exciting
Desserts
=======
They didn't change our plates. That really annoyed me.
The best part of the dessert was the clotted cream.
The desserts were served on a small 3-tier tower which was cute.
There are a few types of mini scones: Currant, orange, plain.
They were dry and had been sitting for a while. We ran out of jam.
They didn't check to see if we needed more and we had to ask.
The best tea pastry was the fruit custard tartlet.
There was a bite of carrot cake, chocolate cake.
The chocolate cake was very dry and made me sad.
Unfortunately, high tea here fell very short of my expectations.
I might be back for a regular meal, but definitely not for tea.
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