Lately, the stress eating has been real. I hope none of ya run into me in real life because dem face pudge is going to wave hello before my hand does!! I should be making 10,000 steps per day listen on my Fitbit but there’s been days where I’m less than 2000 steps. One of my more recent food adventures was at Notch8 Restaurant at Hotel Vancouver for their Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale Afternoon Tea.
If you’re not familiar with Brothers Grimm (cause I’m old and all,) but they were the original storytellers of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood etc. Quote me if I’m wrong, but I believe the original stories were a lot darker than the happy endings we see in the Disney movies. At the Notch8 Restaurant, the afternoon tea portion was transformed into a Brothers Grim fairytale setting and it was super neat and nicely set up!
At the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale Afternoon Tea ($59 per person,) you start with a basket of scones, super cute! This is Red Riding Hood’s basket! The scones were delicious and I saturated them with Devon cream.
Not going to lie, I was a bit grumpy that the cost was a bit high, but the presentation IS adorable. Look at the three tiers of wood used instead of a metal thingamabob. If I started chopping my own trees, can I make this and sell it for $$? Is Notch8 going to break them down and reuse it for the future? ARE THEY EVEN REAL WOOD? So many questions.
Unfortunately, the savoury items were a bit small in portions. It looks like they changed their menu though because I just checked on their site and it’s different than what I had when I ate this in March. And people’s Instagram photos of their version is different than mine! Not sure if I’m a bit miffed because I wasn’t full when I had this. According to the site; the savouries are:
- Earthy Black Truffle – Perigord, Leeks, Gruyere/Quiche <- definitely didn’t have this
- Savory Tree Stump – Braised Beef, Squash, Mascarpone, Blue Cheese <- don’t remember this either as I would’ve discarded at the sound of blue cheese
- Mossy Rocks – Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Panna Cotta, Nasturtium “Moss”
- Waterfowl Rillette – Smoked Duck Confit, Foie Gras, Wild Berry, Brioche
- Roasting a Hearty Meal Fireside – Flame Grilled Bratwurst, Pickled Cabbage, Mustard, Fried Onions, Artisan Bread
- A Clearing by the Lake – Trout, Caviar, Horseradish Aioli, Preserved Lemon, Nasturtium
- Preserved Meats – Charcuterie, Fig Jam, Pickled Onions, Radish, Cream Cheese, Anise DriedFruit Loaf
My favourite savoury was the candied smoked salmon (the little orange piece on the top of the wooden tier.) Too bad it was only slightly bigger than the size of my thumb nail, I could’ve popped like 10 of those in! There was a savoury panna cotta; it was weird that it was just a lump on the wood and we all had to stab/scoop it awkwardly with our forks. The sandwiches were pretty good; I wish they were bigger and more abundant!
I like the savoury items MUCH more than the sweet ones. This may be a sure tell sign that I am getting older.
- A Trail to the Cottage Built of Bread and Cakes – Sweet Bread and Cakes, Indulgent Sweets, Trail of Crumbs, Candied “Pebbles”, Dark Chocolate Cherry Mousse, Chocolate Twigs, Tuille Branches, Glazed Sour Cherries
- A Pumpkin Soon to Be a Carriage – Spiced Pumpkin, Graham Crumb, Spiced Cream Cheese Icing
- From Straw to Gold – Golden Bon Bons of Chocolate and Candies
- Naming of Rapunzel – Crystallized Flowers, Lavender Pavlova, Golden Custard
- The Red Apple – “The Poison” Apple, Brandy Red Apple Glaze, Cinnamon Apple Cake, Caramel
The pumpkin pie cheesecake was my favourite. I can’t wait until it’s fall for more pumpkin pie flavoured things. Everything else was a bit too sweet for my liking.
The details and creativity was top notch at Notch8 (did you see what I did there!). However, the food was alright for me, as I got hungry after an hour. We did have a few extra scones leftover so I had that to snack on. I’m glad they pack the cream in a little to-go container too though. Service could’ve been a bit bitter as we had to ask for hot water repeatedly. You’re paying for the experience and a nice Instagram photo, rather than being full. For me, I’m paying to hang out with my friends in a different ambiance and at least we had fun taking photos and thankfully they were patient with me for taking some more ‘blog worthy’ photos!
The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale Afternoon Tea is available until April 30.
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