Adonia Teahouse: Cute, Cozy, but Cramped

AMY: You'd think that after two not so satisfying experiences of afternoon tea (ahem, Faubourg, Meloty) we would stop trying. Well third time's a charm right? We decided to give afternoon tea one more go at Adonia Teahouse. The interior is cute and very lady-like, but our seating space was very tight. 

LULU: The last time I visited Adonia was years ago back in high school, but I remembered it to be a pleasant experience. That being said, I was excited to try the afternoon tea, now that I was old enough to enjoy it. The first thing that I noticed after sitting down was, boy is this place cramped! 

AMY: We went for the Afternoon Tea set option for $27 per person with your choice of tea. They have quite a few teas to choose from. I ended up having the Peach Green Tea because it had rose buds in it. The teapot sat upon this little warmer which was a nice touch but slightly space consuming. I liked the china very much as it satisfies my need for floral adornment during afternoon tea. 

LULU: I opted for the Pink Grapefruit tea but was a bit iffy about it at first, since there are papaya bits in it according to the menu. After conversing with the owner, she reassured me that it was a good choice and that if I didn't like it she would let me order a new tea at no additional cost. And indeed she was perfectly right about my tea being a good pick. The aroma of the tea wasn't as strong as Amy's, but the taste was fruity and not too sour at the same time. 

Shortly after our tea arrived, our food came on a three tiered stand with sweets on the top and savory on the bottom two. Before I go into how the bites tasted, did I mention that I loved the fact how the floral cutlery all matched?
Anyway, we didn't have anything to eat that morning, so we were pretty hungry. I went for what I thought was the safest first, which was the ham and cheese sandwich. To my surprise, it was delicious! I couldn't figure out why it tasted so good because it was just toast, some mayo, ham, and cheese. However, everything else I had after that couldn't live up to this sandwich. My second favourite was the spinach and bacon quiche. The crust was crispy and the filling was tasty and not too salty. The top tier was my least favorite. Sadly there wasn't anything on that plate that I enjoyed -- everything was overly sweet for me.



AMY: I never thought a ham and cheese sandwich could be so indulgent and satisfying until I took a bite out of Adonia's. It seems weird to be raving about such a simple sandwich but it was honestly the best out of the selections. The second runner up for me was the shrimp and potato salad. The egg salad and salmon sandwiches were quite bland.

I was excited to get the savoury treats out of the way so I could dig into the sweets. I almost wish I hadn't though because their sweets selection was a major disappointment. It's very clear that the desserts are outsourced simply by the look of them. The cakes and tarts were stale, albeit their fruit toppings being fresh. We both tasted a tiny portion of each dessert and left it at that.

LULU: When we thought that was it, another plate came. By this time, there was barely any space left on our table. I thought this plate looked a little random when placed with the rest of the stuff on the table. Being the panna cotta lover, I went for that first. I was quite disappointed, since the panna cotta didn't taste creamy enough. I have to say, it was nothing compared to what we had at Meloty. The mango mousse on the other hand turned things around. I'm not a fan of mousse but this was different -- not overly creamy or sweet but rather tangy and fresh perhaps due to the mango flavour.

AMY: The mango mousse was definitely the savior of the day. It was dense, smooth and creamy, with a strong fruity aroma that pleasantly lingers in your mouth. The scones, on the other hand, were mediocre. I quite enjoyed the panna cotta but that could just be because I've yet to experience amazing panna cotta.

The one thing I've learned from our afternoon tea quest is that there isn't a perfect set. Adonia offers a nice dainty place to enjoy some quality time along with some hot tea, but don't be expecting five-star cuisine.

LULU: Nothing beats some nice tea in a beautiful neighbourhood like Kerrisdale. However, do keep in mind the Adonia  is extremely popular so you'll have to call days in advance to make an appointment. Also, we had a time limit for a seating when we were there. You'd definitely want to plan your date to Adonia ahead of time!

More photos:


Taste: ★★★★☆
Environment: ★★★★☆
Service: ★★★★☆
Price: $$$

Adonia Tea House 

2057 West 41st Ave.

Vancouver, BC

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