Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Afternoon Tea at Butchart Gardens

The #1 goal of visiting Butchart Gardens last week was just this view.
It is Mrs. Butchart's private gardens as viewed from the restaurant
where we had afternoon tea.
Inside the garden room fully surrounded by windows
with views such as this.  It was a total delight.
Can you believe that teapot was just for me and I couldn't finish it.
I had their 100th Anniversary, "a light black tea blend of Darjeeling,
Black Hunan and gunpowder."
They offered to put the rest in a to-go cup when we left.
The first course was a berry trifle of vanilla sponge cake, chantilly cream,
and mixed berry compote.
The three tiered server for two people, beautiful!
Their signature candied ginger scones were freshly from the oven
served with strawberry jam, whipped vanilla Devon-style cream.
Then there was dessert.  We took this back to our B&B and
had it with our evening meal.
Chocolate brandy Napoleon, Orange poppy seed loaf, French macaron,
Battenberg cake, and Chocolate Irish cream truffle in the box.
Ohhhh, the savories are my favorite.
Locally smoked wild B.C. salmon with whole grain mustard cream cheese,
Egg salad with watercress, Maple glazed smoked ham salad on a cheddar scone,
Cowichan Valley chicken salad with curry and toasted cashews,
English cucumber with fresh ginger cream cheese,
House made sausage roll with German mustard, and
Roasted vegetable quiche.
Can you tell I have the menu right in front of me so I could tell you
exactly what was on the plate.
This, my live-in gardener and I decided had to be at the top of our list
of favorite places to have afternoon tea.
Reservations highly recommended.
Linking to Bernideen at http://blog.bernideens.com/

11 comments:

Bernideen Canfield said...

What lovely food - each one looks like a gourmet treat! Lovely place and love the pained windows.

Rosemary said...

This is such a beautiful place and equally elegant afternoon tea! So looking forward to a future visit here! Thanks for sharing.

La Tea Dah said...

An exceptional experience!

Mary said...

Such a fabulous tea Marilyn. Been to Butchart but didn't have tea - wow, I really missed out!

Today we toured all day - the WW2 beaches in Nomandy. Very impressive, sad too, but the beautiful sunshine made it all more lovely in a different way - and we had an awesome day.

Lorrie said...

It looks marvelous, Marilyn. Tea at the gardens will be on my list of things to do!
The savories look so good. And what a great view you had.

Jacqueline~Cabin and Cottage said...

What a delightful place to visit! The little treats look delicious. I would love an outing there. So nice to have a visit from you! Happy fall days!

Margie said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing. Butchart Gardens is now on my bucket list of afternoon tea experiences!

Jeanie said...

This is totally to die for! Everything looks delicious and so beautifully presented, and the gardens are just splendid! What a remarkable and special experience. I hope someday you can return for an encore!

Teresa said...

What a lovely tea! It made me so hungry I am preheating my oven now for a little cream tea. Perhaps someday, I will get to visit the gardens.

Tracy said...

Such a LOVELY place... and pretty presentation of the tea & treats. LOVE the sound of that candied ginger scone...mmm... And such wonderful sweet--look at those teeny macarons... and the Battenberg... I'm a savory too. Must have savory before a sweet! ;o) It's been a treat to catch up with your travels and all the tea sipped & supped! ((HUGS))

Annie Jeffries said...

I was here for an afternoon visit in 1998. Memorable, truly memorable.