Love is in the air and I’ve been way too much in love with my new Playstation 4; a slight distraction at the moment. But. whether you’re single or in a relationship, we all got to eat on Valentine’s Day. This year TWG Tea Salon & Boutique is celebrating with a Valentine’s Day Menu that is infused with teas to reflect this season. I was invited to a tasting of it and I hope you fall in love with the photos.
One of the most fun parts of trying out seasonal menus at TWG Tea is which tea they focus on to complete the menu and have it centered around the theme. I had the Mon Amour Tea, a black tea blended with yellow blossoms and notes if quince (a fruit that I never had before but now I want to try it!) You can get it in a caviar tin; a cute way to surprise your favourite tea lover.
The Valentine’s Day Set Menu ($65) begins with a Bain de Roses Tea infused sparkling wine cocktail; though I’m no expert in the alcohol department, this was delicious as you can taste a very light floral aftertaste. On top of the cocktail, you also get a choice between a hot tea and an iced tea. The hot tea is Mon Amour Tea and the iced tea is the Love Me Tea, a green tea with lime blossoms and verbana. As it is still quite chilly in Vancouver, I opted for a hot cup of Mon Amour Tea (very satisfying with the dessert!)
The main course is pan-seared scallops complemented by a dashi broth infused with White Desire Tea, accompanied by steamed garden vegetables and White Desire Tea leaves, served with garlic Korean brown rice. The plating was beautiful, every leaf seemed to be strategically placed to look like a picture was blossoming on the plate. There are three succulent scallops and underneath is the Korean brown rice. If you aren’t used to having a broth on it, you can probably opt out as they pour it when they put your plate down. As an Asian, I’m used to having rice in soup all the time and I love how it keeps the scallops moist. For my personal preference, I like my rice with a semi burnt, crackly taste with soup – am I weird like that?!
I wasn’t full after the main course (maybe something guys might care about?) but that’s because the dessert is the cherry on the top: Bain de Roses Tea infused mousse and raspberry confit, served with scoop of Vanilla Bourbon Tea infused ice cream and fresh berries. You can really taste the individual teas of each portion of the dessert. Vanilla Bourbon is a red tea blended with TWG Tea Vanilla and you can really taste the difference between this and your regular vanilla ice cream. I spent ten minutes paparazzi-ing this beauty and the ice cream stayed frozen (and delicious.)
Funnily, I’ve been curious about cakes glazed like this for a while, as I’ve seen them on Instagram but never knew where to eat them. The Bain de Roses Tea infused mousse was also unlike any other mousse, because it’s not airy and whippy. It’s like a crossover between a cake and a mousse, but it’s not a mousse cake? It’s denser, not as sweet, and the concept is executed well. I don’t want to be one of those bloggers who are like I LOVE THIS FOOD but omfg, it was actually really good. In the centre of the mousse is the raspberry confit; I highly recommend dipping the ice cream with it too.
As Gordon Ramsay says, “Visually, it looks stunning.”
(Not a full blown food blogger, so pardon me if I’m not the best in description!!) In the new TWG Tea Salon & Boutique, all the macarons are displayed in a very chic trolley – might as well walkaway with some a box to end your night, right?
The Valentine’s Day Menu is available at TWG Tea Salon & Boutique until February 14th.
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