salon de thé cardinal tea room

salon de thé cardinal offers around 20 types of teas, from black to white tea, and classic to special blends. they also have some specials from times to times. i tried two of their teas, and would definitely recommend both. the first was irish breakfast, which is their strongest black tea. it’s perfect morning caffeine substitute for coffee! the other one is my personal favorite, early grey lavender. i love everything with lavender, and i was happy that the fragrant and the taste of the lavender are outstanding. the teas were steeped to perfection without any astringent aftertaste.

cardinal tea room is a newcomer to the scene. connected to sparrow, which has been serving brunch for a few years now, this 2 floor old-style gem has that laid back feel with ample natural lighting and a more relaxed ambiance for brunching. cardinal tea room has that british imperial style to it and, nothing says england like tea and cookies. the interior has two lovely floors flooded with natural light, bookshelves, a piano, a chalkboard, a steamer trunk and all those old style items that really make for quite the experience. there are two ways to get into cardinal tea room. the first is from the st laurent street entrance – just look for the big red door. the other is inside the sparrow and going up that staircase that has always been closed off. for years i always wondered where it went to (other than an atm machine). i use to call it a stairway to heaven, but now it actually goes somewhere useful – to your own little piece of heaven. food the menu is broken down into salty and swe

au salon de thé cardinal, c'est beau et c'est bon! :) vous serez charmés par l'ambiance des lieux! je n'avais jamais remarqué l'endroit sur la rue st-laurent! et bien sachez que le salon se trouve au 2e étage! voilà pourquoi l'endroit n'est pas visible de l'extérieur! bref, j'ai commandé une petite théière d'earl grey à la crème, un sandwich cheddar & chutney branston (quelle explosion de saveurs!) (ah et oui, j'adore le pain au lait), des oeufs mimosa en entrée et un carré au citron. tout était parfait! toutefois, coup de coeur pour le dessert. excellent pour les amateurs de desserts citronnés! je reviendrai, ça c'est sûr!

the good
super cute place that makes you feel in paris
wonderfully decorated and nicely lit.
service is also very amicable and they will do their best to accommodate you.
rose petal tisane was divine! and served at a perfect temperature (not scalding nor lukewarm)
english breakfast tea a good classic
hit chocolate very very good.
tea for two platter, very well constructed. cheddar and lardons muffins where the best on the platter.
cucumber sandwich a classic well executed as well as the ham and mustard sandwich.
lemon and chocolate bars were delicious, although the size looks small they are very rich so more than that would be too much.
scones are ok a bit on the dry side.

the bad
scones could be offered in other flavours rather and blueberries only.
the clotted cream is far from the real thing
the jam seemed to be commercial and not “homemade” and they only offered strawberry flavour.
the muffins are too small but they are espectacular so you will want to order more.

the ugly
parking
they dont take reservations
wait lines can be looonnnnng.
quite expensive

free time is somewhat of a luxury for my girlfriend and i. now…admittedly it is pretty much by choice as we like to keep ourselves busy but regardless, when we have some – especially on a gorgeous weekend like the one we had relatively recently – i quickly enter into date mode. we need to take advantage of the opportunity – and i need to win some brownie points with the lady of course! prior to being completely embarrassed by my performance on the skating rink down in the old port later that afternoon, i figured this was a great chance to go visit a place i had on my lists for a while now, the cardinal tea room.

i have looked into many different afternoon teas in montreal and every time i go back to the cardinal because it's the most affordable, least snob (no fois gras for me thank you) place you could go! their warm scones are great, their selection of tea interesting, and their decor absolutely amazing and inspiring! would 100% recommended it!

dans un décor évoquant les chics salons de thé britanniques, derrière la porte rouge cardinal du 5326 saint-laurent se cache un superbe repère pour les amateurs de thé, niché au juste au-dessus du sparrow. quelques instants à en admirer le cachet suffiront pour vous sentir tranquillement glisser vers le fuseau horaire de l’angleterre. qui a dit qu’un sandwich au concombre est fade? oh, vous n’avez encore rien goûté! magnifique salon de thé au 5326 saint-laurent ☕️ la paisibilité de l’endroit est inspirante. piano, porcelaine, lustre et portraits mystiques: l’ambiance du salon de thé cardinal nous transporte loin de montréal. le premier étage et sa mezzanine offrent des tables et divans ici et là, nous incitant à la discussion mais également aux moments personnels. le temps semble arrêté à une après-midi de la grande-bretagne des années 20 et on ne fait qu’une chose: s’en réjouir. tasse de porcelaine et théière rouge cardinal. de portraits anciens pour zieuteront tandis que vous vous imprégnerez de leur époque. la sélection de thé (noir anglais, noir de chine, vert, blanc et oolong) est à la hauteur du concept de l’endroit. une sélection de scones est disponible et également une appétissante variété de sandwichs: truite fumée, concombre et fromage à la crème, jambon fumée, cheddar et brainstorm, oeuf et cressons. le classique sandwich au concombre est savoureux, concocté avec du pain au lait maison. le service se fait au table, dans le calme et la courtoisie. sandwich au concombre et tartinade de fromage à la crème sur pain au lait. si, comme moi, vous auriez besoin d’une tasse de thé bien chaude pour vous faire digérer vos abus gastronomiques des fêtes, le salon de thé cardinal est l’adresse qu’il vous faut retenir. à noter! le salon de thé n’est pas ouvert tous les jours de la semaine. les heures d’ouverture sont les suivantes: jeudi, vendredi, samedi et dimanche de 11h à 19h salon de thé cardinal 5326, boul. saint-laurent (coin maguire) montréal té

there aren’t many places that do english tea in montreal, but the few places that do, do it extraordinarily well. i visited this place recently that doesn’t actually serve high tea, but does prove themselves as one of the premiere places to go for a spot of tea. i went to the cardinal tea room in the mile-end. located upstairs from the sparrow, the space looks like one of those newspaper stories of an old uninhabited building that was stuck in time and untouched for 80 years. i don’t know if that’s a compliment to the decorators, but the place is stunning; antiques and

prince george turned one last week. which conveniently coincided with my rendez-vous at le cardinal with r, my british import friend (who comes complete with the accent and the devotion to bbc4 documentaries). le cardinal, although a tea room at first glance, seduces with its aristocratic flavor reminiscent of a gentlemen’s club. with fox hunting journeys gracing the paintings on the walls and deep velvet couches scattered across the floor, the establishment invites its guests to spend long afternoons of escaping in the company of sir walter raleigh. longing for something quintessentially english, r opened the menu and immediately pointed to the cucumber sandwich. laugh all you want, the snack was quite a delight. well peppered and layered with a generous portion of cream cheese, it was but the opposite of bland. as for myself, i opted for the blueberry scone. a proud student of the school of fluffy moist dough, i was a bit disappointed by the rather cak-ey texture of the treat. but he

as weak as the tea.... let’s begin by saying that in a traditional english tearoom, you should never have to pay extra to have clotted cream with your scone. it is an absolute must and any tea room owner who really took pride in the experience they were offering would not dare to serve their scones with butter (unless requested). “cream tea” must be an item on the menu – it is what an english tea is all about. here it is on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cream_tea it really is not that complicated.

i’m afraid the service here was very slow, especially considering that most of the food simply needed to be thrown on a plate. one of our plates simply didn’t turn up and as we were leaving we were offered it “to go”. the sandwiches were poorly presented and more reminiscent of a packed lunch and the “ploughman’s plate” was far less exciting than it sounded and quite ungenerous for the price. don’t go here if you’re hungry.

the décor was fabulous, but if you want to experience a good english tea, or if you have been here and really enjoyed it, i now urge you to try somewhere else. i feel this place is for people who don’t know any better and it breaks my heart to think that there will be montrealers who will think that this is what a traditional english tea is all about. it gets so much better!