harvest room

bagged tea and tepid water - not fit for "royal tea". having been to other fairmont locations to enjoy afternoon tea i unfortunately have to say this was the worst of them all. given that edmonton is my home town and that this hotel is suppose to represent the best of what we can do here, i'd say it is really falling short and can very easily do better.

first though, the food, i must say was fantastic and fresh. for some the afternoon tea has become all about the food, and they won't be disappointed.

however, what is afternoon tea without proper tea service?? the room was very busy, (there is clearly a high demand for this type of event), which gave the servers a real struggle to keep up with serving everyone who was seated at one time, perhaps a staggered service would work better and make people feel less like cattle. second, bagged tea?? this was a real shock. at $39 per person, with the name tea in the title you had better have loose tea, proper hot water, and it should be served elegantly, not from a shoddy box. my first sip of tea was tepid, not anywhere near hot. usually you have to wait for your tea to cool down first. that process really ought to be worked out. a tea list would be helpful because i could barely read the names on the little tea bags from across the table, and the server really didn't have the time, nor cared to, read them all out.

i'm not sure what's happened to service these days but at one point it was extremely important at establishments like these that servers be groomed extremely well, and i would say that in other fine establishments in edmonton you do find top notch servers. i was left with the impression that these servers were undervalued/underpaid and really not properly trained? dirty vests and crumpled aprons do not make an event feel special at all, i've had better groomed servers at boston pizza.

the harvest room has so much potential but felt awkward and somehow empty, more like a diner really. if there was any music at all it was unnoticeable, so it really just became a loud din of voices. i'd certainly pay more if there was good music and atmosphere.

all in all, a lovely afternoon tea should be a departure from the everyday and a bit of a step into the past. it is a special price that is paid just for a pot of tea and a couple of bites and the expectation is a certain ambiance and special attention to the details. people love to dress up and make a special occasion of it, so they should be seated in surroundings worthy of that effort.

the tour was fun, and nice to learn a few tidbits along the way. however the tea was so slow to be served that we had to rush to finish, barely having time to pay the bill so that we could join the group. i had to go hunting for the bill as well, which is never really a good sign.

other meals of the day may be great, but this "royal tea" is not worthy of its title.

i always wanted to try harvest room and got to come here during my birthday this year. i love the romantic atmosphere and the opportunity to dress up nice for a dinner. the service was great and the servers were really friendly and accommodating. they first served as cute salad before the start of our meal. it was refreshing to start up our appetite.

dinner was amazing! sevice was fantastic, dew johnny was our sever and made excellent suggestions for the meal. would definitely come here again :)

i made reservations to take my daughter to the harvest room for her birthday. first of all, the valet staff were excellant. when we were finally allowed into the dinning room and seated, our waiter brought us bread and a sampler of bean salad. the bread was hard and very cold and the sampler did not wow us. my daughters lobster soup was not hot and there was very little lobster in it. my mushroom bisque was very thick and bland. regrettably the remainder of our meal was not much better. our water was attentive but  did not get drink orders right and becuase the donning room was slow, he was sent home early and told us the manager would look after us. he/she did not visit our table once after he left.

brought my friend here for his birthday for dinner as i had a groupon. i was kind of disappointed that we weren't able to order from there 3 course meal deal and had to pick from the main menu. we started off with a scallop appetizer (which i regret ordering) that only came with 1 scallop and 1 dumpling.. so if you're looking to share this the don't bother. i ordered the chicken which came with mash potatoes. perhaps because it was a wild  chicken there was a bit of a gamey taste to it ? my friend ordered the beef short rib that was tender to the bones. we ended it off with a matcha tiramisu that came with ice cream and toffee. overall dinner wasn't bad but i would only come back for the 3 course meal or if i had another groupon.

besides for the ambience of the harvest room everything else was quite forgettable. we had ordered a little bit of everything so that we may share it all together. first up was the lobster chowder the foie gras and the beef carpaccio. the foie gras was very plain , almost seemed like a butter spread with no special flavor, the beef carpaccio was nothing out of the ordinary, and the lobster chowder was probably the only memorable part of the appetizers. for our entrees we were looking forward to the tenderloin , lobster duo and the lamb shank. the tenderloin seemed a little bit too tender for our liking and the cumin sauce in the lamb shank absolutely threw our taste buds off because it did not go well with the other flavors of the entire meal. the lobster duo was not quite a complete disappointment, the sauce used in the risotto was very similar to the chowder, with small chunks of lobster and mushrooms. we had finished off with our desserts@ i believe we had the creme brulee and the matcha cake, and the dark chocolate dessert we found it all not worth its $13/serving. to sum it up the harvest room for what it cost to dine there was definitely not what we were anticipating.

great night and great food at the harvest grill. everything was perfectly cooked and tasted exquisite.
they brought us a variety of bread and honey lavender butter as well as a smoked duck amuse bouche.
we started with the lobster chowder. delicious and generous pieces of seafood. the scallop served with a broth. original and so good.
we had beef tenderloin and duo of lobster for our main courses. amazing.
the desserts were delightful. spice peach crème brulée and the chocolat fondant served with caramel popcorn. my god!!!
the chef created a really interesting and diverse menu. loved it.

i just had the opportunity to visit the harvest room and i personally loved it.  my husband brought me for our 20th anniversary and everything was top notch - service spectacular, food astonishing, view breathtaking.  afterwards, being at the hotel macdonald (which is one of the nicest hotels in edmonton), we enjoyed a room and each others company.

some friends and i came here for my birthday lunch last month. the service could have been a little more on point but all of the staff were very friendly and the food and view was amazing!!!

this review is almost a month overdue...hubby and i celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary here. it was a warm evening and we sat outside with a spectacular view. service was perfect. food amazing. we were even treated to an anniversary dessert and a glass of champagne before we left. we had the 3 course meal with the added suggested wine pairing...highly recommend this. we even started the evening with some fun cocktails. a delicious chicken amuse-bouche started our dinner. then hubby had beef carpaccio with pickled strawberries and i had the beetroot & soy marinated salmon with a light fennel and citrus mousse for our appetizers. our entrées were the alberta beef tenderloin & oxtail with herb gnocchi (hubby felt the gnocchi was more like potatoes...his only minor complaint) and slow roasted duck breast with an amazing rhubarb chutney. for dessert hubby had the trio of sorbet (raspberry, mango and lime) and i had the chef's crème brulee inspiration which was vanilla strawberry that night and served with mango sorbet. yes, it was expensive, but for a celebration you cannot beat this restaurant!

i love coming here for brunch, especially in the summer when you can sit on the balcony and overlook the beautiful river valley.  the food is nothing short of amazing.  no matter what you choose, you cannot go wrong.  personally, i love the french toast.

had a great weekend breakfast/brunch here. dining rooms is beautiful and the service is awesome. the view makes everything better too! some of my family members opted for the buffet and loved it. i went for the breakfast croissant and was pleasantly surprised. summers on their patio are awesome.

came here with my family for christmas eve dinner. the hotel was dressed up for christmas and it was really beautiful. our dinner was at 8pm and we were seated promptly.

our server was very professional and knew everything about the menu. there were three choices for the main dish, venison tenderloin, turkey, and prosciutto wrapped monk fish. this was a five course meal that started with a canapé of cheese covered grape and a small portion of cranberry jelly. it was a nice way to start the meal, really tasty. next was butternut squash soup which was really delicious. everyone loved this soup. in between soup and our main course was a little palette cleanser sorbet of passionfruit and blackberry. it was a nice light and citrus flavour. 

with six of us ordering dinner we saw each of the three dishes at our table all were prepared beautifully. i had the turkey and it was really delicious. it came with truffle mashed potatoes, stuffing, brussels sprouts, and carrots. though it was a traditional meal it was definitely prepared in a way that elevated it to a fine dining experience. the turkey was very nice and moist, flavourful dressing, truffle potatoes were delicious, carrots and brussels sprouts were cooked perfectly. 

desert was a dulce de leche cheese cake ice cream and a vanilla lavender bomb covered in chocolate. these two desserts were so rich that i couldn't make it through them after all the food from the previous four courses. they were both very good but i was stuffed!

really good experience overall. we all enjoyed our dinner very much!

tags: carpaccio, crab cake, creme brulee, fairmont hotel macdonald, foie gras, macfestive, sliders, the mac. the fairmont hotel macdonald has been an edmonton landmark since 1915.  lovingly referred to as “the mac”, the hotel macdonald has been a statement of luxury and a host to royalty, political leaders and entertainers alike.  the mac is rich in history and one of the very few places in edmonton to have a “high tea” experience.

the best view in edmonton from the patio. we went for a late breakfast and were greeted by the sweetest server who suggested mimosas right off the bat. i had the chai infused waffles which were delicious! so glad to find this gem after years of visiting edmonton. will definitely make this a tradition.