salon de thé cardinal tea room

cardinaltearoom 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. cardinaltearoom has that british imperial style to it and, nothing says england liketeaand 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 cardinaltearoom. 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

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 breakfastteaa 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 cardinaltearoom.

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 ofteainteresting, and their decor absolutely amazing and inspiring! would 100% recommended it!

there aren’t many places that do englishteain 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 cardinaltearoom 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 atearoom 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 anytearoom 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 englishteais 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 englishteais all about. it gets so much better!