I can finally check off Pâtisserie Für Elise off my to-go list! I’ve been hearing great reviews and delicious macarons about this adorable afternoon tea place for a while. Planning a hangout is not as easy as it was in school since real jobs eat all of our times, so I finally set up a girl’s date on a sunny evening here.
Pâtisserie Für Elise is located in a heritage home in Vancouver. I think this building is very fitting for a afternoon tea date; its very quaint and has a bit of ‘Alice in Wonderland” feeling.
I felt like I stepped inside a girl’s mind when I entered. Look at all the decor! So much details is put into this wonderland/nature/fairy theme.
The afternoon tea salon is upstairs, and downstairs is for purchasing pastries i.e cute cakes and MACARONS!
Similar to most afternoon teas, there is a set menu ($30) that each person orders and we all get to choose what flavour of tea we want. Patisserie Für Elise has quite a good selection teas such as lychee, rose, honey black tea (which I got,) jasmine, blueberry yogurt etc. Can we admire the adorable teapots and cups for a moment?! They’re so fancy and delicate, I almost wanted to stick my pinky up while sipping from the rim.
The afternoon tea seems to change; I checked back online and the menu is different than the one I had that day. We were started off with a blueberry panna cotta. Dessert first?! Yes please! I went on a day when the weather was in the high 20’s, so this was a refreshing welcome. Light, and creamy like an oyster, the panna cotta was not too sweet. There was blueberry compote on top that fused with the panna cotta once you poked it. Put a blueberry on a dessert and it just tastes so much better (imo- blueberry cheesecake, blueberry pound cake….blueberries on waffles…the list is endless!!!)
When our tier of afternoon tea food came, we were also given a tiny glass cup of salad with balsamic vinegar and a walnut. Mine literally had two leaves in it. This was a bit disappointing; I saw them making this with the packaged lettuce /spinach you can buy from Costco. It was hard to dig into the opening of the cup, so much for dainty eating! I felt like I was stabbing it over and over again to get that leaf.
Tada! So there is two tiers instead of three in this afternoon tea set. I don’t remember some of the savouries I ate, but the one that stuck out in my mind the most was the mini croissant with prosciutto. I didn’t think I’d be full but the mini sandwiches stuffs the appetite quite well! Some of the bread was a bit on the dry side, but our reservation was at the end of the day at 5:30pm, so maybe the bread isn’t as fresh as they first prepared it? I’ll let that pass since most of the insides were tasty. I wish there was a bit more meat than cucumbers and lettuce in them, though cause I’m a carnivore.
The desserts consisted of a mini für elise (which is a strawberry gelatin cake with strawberry inside?) honey madeline, lemon tart, chocolate cup with hazelnut, and a macaron (the flavours were pistachio, lavender, chocolate, and mango.) The desserts are a bit small compared to other afternoon teas I’ve had,but I was already full from the sandwiches so win-win!
The madeline cakes were dry and sandy, which was kind of disappointing since I love these cakes when they’re spongy and moist (Starbucks has really good ones if you want to try.) Either than that, the mini für elise and the macarons were a favourite of mine. The macarons had a soft texture with not too chewy. I saw that these are baked in house, so props for that! If your tastebuds have a flair for citrus notes, the lemon tart will satisfy those.
Overall, I was enchanted by the surroundings I was sitting in. I think the setting is important when it comes to high tea, there’s a difference between eating a scone under my yellow lightbulb at home compared to eating it like I’m in a fairytale. There were a few misses in the afternoon tea and the savouries overpowered the desserts for me on this one, but it was an enjoyable experience.
Follow Me, Tweet Me, Befriend Me!
{ Instagram ; Twitter; Facebook; BlogLovin‘}
