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I FULFILLED MY DREAM OF HAVING A TEA-PARTY. IT WAS LEGIT.
Now that I got that out on the table, I can move along... LOL
For a joint birthday thing, my God-sister and I went to have high tea. Its something that we talked about doing but had never actually done. Until my sister found out about this cute little place in East Van, had gone with a friend, and had told me about it.
People who know me know that I'm cheap. And I had always been hesitant to go to high tea because of 1) the price and 2) the "uppity-ness" of it. People who know me also know that I'm not exactly the girliest girl on the planet. I have chipped nails and I wear XXL flannel mens sweaters. And when I can, my feet rejoice in the glory of my sister's maroon Doc Martens.
But another thing about me is that I would rather have food over many other things. Example-- I really don't own any pairs of jeans. I just steal them off my sibling. We were shopping one day and there was jeans for sale for like, $5, and I decided to save that money for Qoola. Of course. Because food is a good enough reason. So I really don't have much hope of buying pants for awhile... lool.
La Petite Culliere is located in the charming neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant. To be quite honest, I did not even know that that neighbourhood was called such, and I'm a 20 minute bus-ride away ... Ah, this is the sound of me breaking the walls of my ignorance down.
No but seriously... LOL. Oh my goodness, focus. FOCUS.
After adventuring through their very lovely website (lapetitecuillere.ca) I found out that their price for high tea was dead cheap. To be quite honest, it wasn't only the price that drew me in. Being an appreciator of aesthetics, their website did it for me.
When you first enter it, you are struck by a beautiful logo, consisting of only an image of a teaspoon. It's circular, with lace edging the sides, and the text is this antiquated type script that reminds me of something I feel I might find on the tickets of those boarding the Titanic. It's beautiful. Below this, you see a picture of the view from the store as of 1908. And I love old Vancouver. And there it was.
When you first enter it, you are struck by a beautiful logo, consisting of only an image of a teaspoon. It's circular, with lace edging the sides, and the text is this antiquated type script that reminds me of something I feel I might find on the tickets of those boarding the Titanic. It's beautiful. Below this, you see a picture of the view from the store as of 1908. And I love old Vancouver. And there it was.
Enough about their gorgeous website though...
I went on the 19th and it was a very crisp, chilly but thankfully bright morning. My God-sister lead me to the place, and I was surprised to find that it was tucked into this place that I passed quite often with my family on trips, but never noticed. The feel that their location adds to the magic of their tea house in the way that it's not there unless you want to see it. There's something mysterious and lovely about it, I can't really put my finger on it. It just reminds me so much of things I'd read in fairy tales as a kid, and mangas as a teen.
I entered and was really just ... perplexed, in the most positive sense of the word. I could easily see how the place could look like any other restaurant if it was bare-walled, like Vietnamese Pho shop, or a bubble tea place.
However, this was not so. There was all this old, bulky, charming wood furniture that, at times, looked mismatched. Don't get me wrong though-- this was an all-good kind of mismatched. There was a cupboard filled with English bone china right by the door. There were several tables spread across the floor, all with plush seats accompanying them. The place was so homey. It felt like a thrift shop too somehow, but not like a Goodwill-- like a thrift shop you might step into if you lived in 1908. (Although I am unsure if they had that going on then, haha.)
The table set-up was weird but very cute. There were lovely table-cloths, gold lamps, and the sugar bowl really stuck out for me because it had sugar cubes in them. And I don't remember ever actually having access to sugar cubes before. (Weird.) There were also cactuses and cows! This pleased me to no end. Someone had just mentioned these cows in my advertising class and most of the class had no idea what the hell she was talking about. BUT NOW I KNOW.
This is the description of all the lovely wicked dainty things I ate with attempted daintiness:
A selection of two miniature sweets, two finger sandwiches, one miniature scone, fruit preserves, and Devonshire cream.
I ordered their "Darling Darjeeling," (SO CUTE,) for my choice of tea. It was so
good, I don't remember what it tasted like. Part of me thinks I'm also
just saying that just to go back. I'm actually straining my brain,
sitting here at the keyboard, trying to remember what it tastes like. I
CAN'T. IT'S LIKE TRYING TO REMEMBER A DREAM. ITS FADING. WAH. I should go refresh my memor... Heh heh ;D
I had no idea what Devonshire cream was and I was asking my God-sister all the time about what to use for what. Which is kind of nuts now that I think back because it was just a bunch of spoons and forks and cream and jam. Yep, that's what anxiety mixed with learning looks like LOL.
I won't tell you more details about what the minature sweets and finger sandwiches actually were because I really think people should just go find out themselves. I suppose that that's probably really contradictory for a foodie blogpost, but I actually do feel like I'm enough of an advocate of this place that I should let it continue to hold its mystery. All you need to know is that I enjoyed every bit and I thought that the price was quite reasonable, considering that similar foods that you would try to buy at other bakeries and shops would probably add up to the same price as what they were giving you here. Not to mention that I got a good three cups of tea out of that. Which was very surprising.
And you know, I'll give you a hint on the food with the following pictures LOL
In terms of service, there were two young women who took care of us. And they really did take care of us. They came back multiple times to ask if we were doing alright, and the frequency was good enough that it wasn't too spanned out and it wasn't ever annoying. I believe that the tea house is run by an Asian family, which makes me feel even more enthusiastic about their cause. There is something heart-warming about independent, local businesses, but it was cool to see that there was a family involved with this. I think I might've seen a little brother in the kitchen ^_^! I'm a big fan.
Another thing that I found cool was that they were Asian. I don't mean to be racist of course, but high tea is something I more associate with the English. Tea ceremonies and green teas are the Asian connection I make. It was really nice to see that cross-over, and to see something that was a little more unconventional, in my eyes at least.
Another quirky thing about La Petite Cuillère is that their servers were dressed the part. And one was kind of younger and awkward, so I felt really at home because I'm so very awkward too LOL AWKWARD PEOPLE UNITE.
All in all, I think La Petite Culliere is a place I will be revisiting in my future, frequently. Everyone who is into tea should give it a try. I can't wait until the next time I go =)
Here are my ratings !
FOOD ♥♥♥♥♡ | SERVICE ♥♥♥♥♥
VALUE ♥♥♥♥♡ | AMBIANCE ♥♥♥♥♥
VALUE ♥♥♥♥♡ | AMBIANCE ♥♥♥♥♥
Now, to stop dreaming about Darling Darjeeling and to get on that homework... Drat = |
- Jen
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Hi Jen,
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