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| - I've been to the King Edward a couple of times for their afternoon tea and although it's not bad, it's not the greatest either.
We were seated in the Victoria restaurant, which is a rather dull dining space. When calling to book, ask if they are opening up the ballroom, as this is the nicest space to dine in. Make sure you're not in the lobby - it's drafty and cold in the winter and there's zero ambience because you're in a lobby!
The table setting is very lovely with beautiful porcelain cups and saucers, silver strainer and our waitress even matched our sandwich plates to our cups. When we taken to our table, I noticed that the glasses of water were already pre-poured. This struck me as a touch lazy since usually the server comes, introduces themselves, distributes menus and fills up the water. All of my friends commented that the seats were a bit low.
The tea selection only had a choice of 12 teas to choose from, all very standard and nothing particularly exciting. I hesitate to say "boring" since they are serving a traditional-style afternoon tea so this isn't the place to come if you're looking for something "adventurous" in terms of tea blends. A box of tea samples was presented to us to smell. Our table only ordered the King Edward blend (Ceylon black tea with jasmine and rose) and the Chai. The loose tea leaves were thrown in the pot and allowed to steep, but I don't think their water was hot enough for any of our black teas. All our teas came in identical white Wedgewood teapots that were so oddly finished and light that we thought they were plastic! The design of the teapots was dreadful as tea would pour out the top of the lid as well as through the spout.
All of us ordered the King's Tea, which is their standard Afternoon Tea. They have a lighter option as well as a Children's version as well.
The sandwiches were presented first and they were very tasty. There were 5 choices and all of them delicious. Then our server brought over a 3-tiered stand with scones and desserts. The scones were very good, though the texture of the raisin/currant scone was excellent! One of the tiny details I look for when I go out for High Tea is a separate utensil presented with the clotted cream or Devonshire cream for serving. Most places neglect this, but it makes the dining experience much nicer since you don't get cream all over the knife that you apply the fruit preserves with. I enjoyed all of the desserts, though none of them stood out as absolutely amazing.
I would have liked if there was something light to finish off with, like some fresh fruit scattered on the 3-tiered stand. There was a half a strawberry as a garnish, which had been sliced so that each guest could have 1/4 of a strawberry.
Overall the experience and setting were nice. This isn't my favourite place for Afternoon Tea in Toronto, but it's an acceptable venue if the Windsor Arms is fully booked and I want something more traditional than the Red Tea Box.
Please note that they don't accept debit, ONLY credit cards and cash. Washrooms are located outside of the restaurant (in the hotel lobby). There is step-free access from the street and cloak room is available. Tea starts at 2:30, and my group of 4 booked for 3:30pm. Don't plan on staying longer than 5:30 because the staff will give you subtle hints to leave (such as leaving the bill on the table, cleaning up tables next to you and setting up or tomorrow's breakfast!).
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