Afternoon Tea, The Prince of Wales, Niagara-on-the-Lake among the better ones in Canada

Last weekend, we were in Niagara-on-the-Lake to attend a couple of shows at the Shaw Festival and decided to take afternoon tea at The Prince of Wales Hotel on Sunday afternoon.We opted for the traditional afternoon tea, eschewing any bubbly or other additions.

The setting was great -- a table in a solarium-type room off The Drawing Room overlooking the sidewalk. Bone china, tablecloths, excellent parlour chairs, fancy 3-tiered serving tree etc. 

Tea: The tea menu is limited. There were only about a dozen choices, and lapsang souchong was not among them - nothing smoky at all. Nancy had the 'Heavenly Cream' tea which, we were told, is the best-seller at The Prince of Wales, and she quite enjoyed it. I chose the Masala Chai; it was a bit heavy on the cinnamon, but it was okay. They brew the tea in the kitchen using cloth bags, steeping it for five minutes. They then remove the tea leaves in the bags and dispense the tea into individual teapots. A tea cozy would have been nice. We were not offered replacements or warm-ups of our tea. Also, there were no spoons on the table for stirring the tea.

Food: there were two apiece of each of the sandwiches -- smoked salmon, cucumber; plus there was one apiece egg salad in croissant and a hummus tart. There was more smoked salmon than is on many of these types of sandwiches. The cucumbers were sliced a bit too thick. The egg salad was very standard, and the tarts were quite pleasant but unusual. There was only one scone for each of us, and we had no choice about which type we wanted; I ate the raisin scone, and Nancy had the plain one. The scones were a bit dry, and even though they were warm, they seemed reheated rather than fresh. Bonus: the clotted cream seemed authentic and was wonderful. Less-than-bonus: the butter seemed to have lemon zest in it, something I am not fond of.

The desserts were quite good: shortbread, meringue/macaroons, and a cupcake topped with fudge-frosting swirl and a cherry. Also there were blueberries and strawberry pieces throughout the display.

Overall the service was good. Not spectacular, but then I don't know that I've had spectacular service at any afternoon tea in North America (aside from the St. Regis) .... nothing to compare with most places in Mayfair.

Afternoon tea (no, it's not properly called 'high tea') at The Prince of Wales was a pleasant experience, as you can surmise from my ranking of the experience; it was among the best I've had in Canada. It was nice, and the setting really enhanced the experience.

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My previous reviews, ranked in order of preference:

      These three were superb. Highly recommended:

• The Four Seasons, London, England
• The St. Regis Hotel, Houston, Texas
• The Lanesborough, London, England
  

Those in this large middle group ranged from very good to just okay. I would consider returning to them, but those in the upper portion of the list were significantly better than those in the lower portion of this section:

• Claridge's, London, England
• The Dorchester, London, England
• The Ritz, London, England
• Brown's, London, England

           ----------

• Scolfe's Tea Room, Boreham Street, England (superb, but not really afternoon tea)
• The Pump Room, Bath, England (also superb, but not really afternoon tea)
•  The Windsor Arms, Toronto, Canada
• The Prince of Wales, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario (this review)
• The Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver, British Columbia
• Spartahouse Tea Room
• The Saskatchewan Hotel, Regina, Saskatchewan
• The Boathouse, Guelph, Canada
• The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, England 
• Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Canada

These next two were unacceptable:

• The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath, England
• The Queen's Hotel, Portsmouth, England

  * * * * 

The chronology of when I visited each place probably affected my ratings, so here's a chronological list:

1. The Four Seasons, London, England
2. The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath, England
3. The Pump Room, Bath, England (superb, but not really afternoon tea)
4. Claridge's, London, England
5. The Boathouse, Guelph, Canada
6. The St. Regis Hotel, Houston, Texas
7. The Queen's Hotel, Portsmouth, England
8. The Dorchester, London, England
9. Brown's, London, England
10. Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Canada
11. The Windsor Arms, Toronto, Canada
12. The Ritz, London, England
13. Scolfe's Tea Room, Boreham Street, England (again, not really afternoon tea)
14. The Lanesborough, London, England
15. The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, England
16. The Saskatchewan Hotel, Regina, Saskatchewan
17. The Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver, British Columbia
18. Sparta House Tea Room, Sparta, Ontario
19. The Prince of Wales, Niagara-on-the-Lake