Un Amour des Thés, Montréal, PQ

Visited: October, 2003
Meal: Afternoon tea. Type of tea: Loose leaf. Preparation: In a teapot.
Tea: Excellent.  Food: Excellent. Service: Excellent.  Appearance: Excellent.
Comments: I live in NDG. It was announced this summer that a second store of Un Amour des Thés was about to open. I attended last week. Wow. The terrace was still open (I needed a jacket however). Homemade scones were available. The owner, Stéphane, was not there at the time but his employee was very nice and knowledgeable. Could not believe the wide selection. Tried their rooibos and bought some oolong for home. Will come back for Xmas shopping.
Reviewer: Nancy T. Add your review

Visited: April, 2003
Meal: Retail shop only. Type of tea: Loose leaf. Preparation: In a teapot.
Tea: Excellent.  Food: Good. Service: Excellent.  Appearance: Excellent.
Comments: I stopped in this boutique on my way to the Outremont Theater next door. When you walk in, the smell is heavenly. This shop offers more than 150 varieties of tea. The ambiance and décor are great and inspired by European tea stores. There are a few tables to sit down and sip a cup of any of those varieties while listening to classical music. The tea is prepared by the owner, a very friendly former lawyer. I purchased South African Rooibos, Japanese Bancha, and China White Stars. They also sell jams and scones mixes, and more than two hundred models of teapots! 
Reviewer: A tea-ather fan Add your review  

L'Aromate, Montréal, PQ

Visited: May, 2000
Comments: Two locations: on Mont-Royal Street (very near Bleu Caramel) and on St-Catherine Street in Ogilvy store. They sell very fine olive oil, kitchen accessories, and teas. Two years ago I was told they were the only Mariage Frères distributor in Montréal, I also found RoT and Tazo tins at that time. Last Thursday the only teas available were their own, L'Aromate. They were expecting a Mariage order in about 3 weeks, but they still haven't received the one for Christmas yet!!! Better call before going...
Reviewer: K. Hardy  Add your review   

Bleu Caramel, Montréal, PQ

Visited: May, 2000
Comments: Last Thursday I invited a friend who loves sushi to try Bleu Caramel, the Japanese restaurant that offers tea hour between 2.30and 6pm. Easy to reach by foot from Métro Mont-Royal, corner of de la Roche. Very small, around 30 places. Dark blue, fountain, aquariums, books, appropriate music. Low tables, you have to take your shoes off before sitting down on cushions. (My friend having a hip prosthesis, we went to the counter and sit on cushioned tabourets, not the most comfortable ones.)
Warm welcome. We immediately got moistened towels in small wooden trays. Good choice of teas -- around 30 including herbal infusions. We chose Lung Ching, supposedly high in vitamins. Even though there is a long counter with jewels to sell and shelves supporting clay teapots and cups, and tea tins from which to buy loose teas, they used plastic compartmented boxes to keep their teabags!
We each had our own teapot, on a tray, with a little handless cup and a triangular tuile aux algues. No spoon to remove the bag. Lung Ching was weak at first but never became bitter. It was too light for my friend, a very new tea amateur. We had been offered a second infusion, with same results.
We were the only customers for most of the time we sit there, nearly two hours. The owner talked with us about more teas. In about three weeks: a web site, mail order, another restaurant to be opened soon... Bleu caramel is only 6 months old, I will return after summer to check how baby have grown :-). Full meal from 11.00am to 2.30pm. Tea hour from 2.30 to 6pm. Japanese specialties from 6 to 11pm. Low tables. About 30 teas, including herbal.
Reviewer: K. Hardy  Add your review

Café de Paris, Montréal, PQ

Visited: August, 2000
Meal: Afternoon tea. Type of tea: Teabags. Preparation: In a teapot.
Tea: Poor.  Food: Poor. Service: Poor.  Appearance: Poor.
Comments: 
Ritz-Carlton, Montréal
Jardin du Café de Paris, Thé à l’anglaise
Monday, August 28, 2000, 3.30pm.
In my search for tea rooms in Montreal, I always get Ritz-Carlton as one of the last places where one can experience a true English afternoon tea. So I decided to afford the myth on this surprisingly hot Monday of late summer, with my lovely daughter on the back-to-school eve.
I made a reservation in the morning, not really necessary as I counted five occupied tables on our arrival, only three more before our departure. No ducklings on the pond – I had read that new ones were brought in when they grow too old. This day, only pigeons walked around the tables. 
We were seated at the 42, as I heard “Darjeeling for the 42” once order was given. Second row from the garden, first from the service spot, so distance cannot explain why the scone was cold and the tea barely hot. My teapot was a regular white one (except for the dark spots – chocolate? – on the handle), three cups capacity I would say, with one teabag of Taylor of Harrogate Afternoon Darjeeling. Five minutes later, it was weak and already cooler than I like. I have to put the used tea bag in the ashtray (nobody inquired if we smoke) but I wouldn’t have liked the other style of teapot: rounder with a little saucer acting as lid and tea bag holder. I asked the next table customer how she managed to pour her tea and she answered that she lifted the saucer before pouring … we are far from the tea cozy, aren’t we?
The (stained) silver tower had been brought to the table as soon as the order had been given. On the upper glass plate sat the scone, as cold as the Devon cream rosette in a little glass bowl. Honey, marmalade, strawberry and raspberry jams in tiny little glass jars (from Austria) were already on the table when we arrived, along with the flowers, the half empty jug of milk, salt and pepper shakers, and bags of white and brown sugars and Égal [Equal]. On the middle glass plate were four squares of sandwiches, brown-white-brown-white plain bread. Smoked salmon. Cheese – perhaps gruyère but no taste, chicken (best before … yesterday???), and cucumber. 
I don’t eat cucumber but I have read that you peel it for sandwiches; well, it seemed to me that they actually used peelings to fill the sandwich.
On the bottom plate stand the sweets: six mini-pâtisseries françaises. Really mini. Not fresh. Not savoury. Not creamy.
Bill was brought soon after the teapot, but nobody ever came back to ask the usual “Everything’s ok?”. They were waiting for a wedding at five.
I met the myth. End of the myth.
Reviewer: Kristinn Hardy Add your review  

Cha Guan La Maison du Thé, Montreal, PQ

Visited: March, 2008.  Meal: Asian tea ceremony. Type of tea: Loose leaf. Served: In a teapot.
Tea: Excellent.  Food: Excellent. Service: Excellent.  Appearance: Excellent.
Comments: wow and wow again, very wonderfull place and very Zen, exellent service by the young owner in, a very well decorated asian style with regular tables and chairs and lower tables with floor cushions, exellent choice of tea pots and accessories, exellent choice of leaf tea's with very nice price's, a very relaxing experience and will recommend to all our friends, my daughther thinks also the owner his very cute, He his very noligable about tea's and very respectfull of his customers. exellent experience for us.
Would you go back? Yes, can't wait!
Reviewer: Richard De Stéphano very happy customer and tea lover  3/08  Add your review  

Maison de thé Cha Noir, Verdun, PQ

Visited: March, 2008.  Meal: Just a cuppa. Type of tea: Loose leaf. Served: In a teapot.
Tea: Excellent.  Food: Excellent. Service: Excellent.  Appearance: Excellent.
Comments: Exellent choice of teas, exellent ambiance and service and very noligable staff. also exellent price and a loyalty card.
Would you go back? Yes, can't wait!
Reviewer: Richard De Stéphano  3/08  Add your review 

Patisserie de la Gare, Montréal, PQ

Visited: June, 2000
Tea: Excellent.  Food: Excellent.  Service: Excellent.  Appearance: Excellent.
Comments: This pastry shop provides a wonderful selection of authentic French pastry. The atmosphere is relaxed (i.e., not at all stuffy or pretentious). The strawberry tarts are yummy (the filling seems to be almond-based rather than crème patissière), as were the éclairs, and the shop makes quite a nice espresso. They also sell top-notch chocolate (Belgian, Swiss, etc.) and have a good selection of cheeses and spreads. It is run by a Luxemburger who really knows his food!
Reviewer: zhunie@hotmail.com   Add your review

Visited: June, 2000
Tea: Excellent.  Food: Excellent.  Service: Good.  Appearance: Good.
Comments: Their specialty: excellent tea and outstanding fresh French pastry, made by a true French pastry chef. Also, fun to take back with you, fresh baked breads, and a broad selection of hard-to-find European chocolates and marzipan. Casual ambience, and only a few steps from the train station. Parking available in a lot around the corner.
Reviewer: espace@e-server.net   Add your review