Christmas Themed Afternoon Tea at Notch8 in Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

Part 2 of 4 Vancouver events and/or recipes I shared with Deborah Moore on AM1470 on December 26th, 2017

The themed tea sets at Fairmont Vancouver was ranked as #1 of Vancouver’s Best Holiday Attractions by USA Today.

A Festive Christmas Tea Date

It has been an incredibly busy holiday season so far (which year isn’t?) filled with baking, gift deliveries to loved ones and Christmas get-togethers. After making 900 cookies for gift giving, I was happy to sit down for a festive tea date with two lovely girlfriends at the Fairmont Hotel. The Notch8 Dining room is one of my favourite places to have tea because the private room is so cozy as it is shielded from the hustle and bustle of the larger dining space outside. You still get the luxury hotel service and amenities but in a more intimate boutique setting.

#1 of Vancouver’s Best Holiday Attractions

This was my fourth visit to the Fairmont for afternoon tea this year and it’s not hard to find a reason to come more often. The hotel offers different themed teas every season like Easter Tea on the Roof, Canada150 Celebration Tea, Evening Tipsy Tea to name a few. USA Today even ranked the themed tea experience #1 of Vancouver’s Best Holiday Attractions. This holiday season, the theme is a traditional Christmas and the room is decorated with pretty lights, stockings, mini Santa clothes and the like. The food veers towards the traditional side and you’ll see many classics that incorporates the use of wine soaked fruit and nuts.

It was another great tea date and my girlfriends really enjoyed my pick too. Wishing you a very festive holiday season as well.

XOXO,

Mimi

Take a small flight of stairs down to the “hidden” Notch8 private dining room where all the themed tea services take place.

Exclusive tea ware made for the Fairmont hotel. Napkins are folded into the shape of a Christmas tree.

Lot35 is the new upper tier tea collection from the supplier of Fairmont Hotel teas. There are 8 different tea selections to choose from.

From left: Pumpkin Spiced Panna Cotta; Ginger Bread Scone and Raisin Scone with currant compote and clotted cream.

LEFT: Rum and Eggnog Speculas Tart; Christmas Cake, Mince Meat Tartlet, Pistachio and Chocolate Battenberg Cake, Florentine Sqaures. TOP RIGHT: Ice Fishing Cured Trout, Smoked Arctic Char Caviar, Bottarga Creme Friache, Chive Blini; Pine Nut Snow Man made with goat cheese on Pomegranate Fig Walnut Crostini. BOTTOM RIGHT: Confit Quail, Spiced Pear, Hazelnut Pie; Chestnuts, Roasted Mushroom, Smoked Ham, Blue Cheese on Pumpernickel Loaf; Truffle, Wild Cranberry, Turkey Sandwich

The room looks small but it can also accommodate lager parties too.

OTHER NOTES:

Notable Points:
– Family friendly traditional Christmas treats that will delight the older generations.
– Festive and cozy dining area in the private room at Notch8
– Scones are always a highlight and they have special flavours each season.
– Alcoholic beverages can be ordered with your tea set.
– Fairmont themed teas are rated #1 Best Holiday Attractions in Vancouver by USA Today
– Luxury hotel service in an intimate boutique setting.

Ambience: Afternoon tea at Notch8 is held in the elegant and dimly-lit private dining room providing an intimate atmosphere for you and your guests to chat and indulge. There are different configurations of tables for various party sizes. All the tables have a good amount of spacing between them. The room layout is also conducive for large parties as well.

Scones: The scones are always a highlight at the Fairmont and they are offered in different flavours each season. This season, the two flavours are gingerbread and raisin served with a currant compote and clotted cream.

Savoury: There were two savoury items which really stood out and they were fittingly placed on their own tier. This was the cured trout blini and the pine nut snow man made with goat cheese. I also really enjoyed the confit quail pie which had a crumbly and buttery crust.

Sweets: The sweets veered on the traditional side with classic Christmas desserts that composed mostly of liqueur soaked fruit, citrus and nuts. Personally, I don’t like those flavours but I believe this dessert selection will be much appreciated by older family members who like traditional flavours.

Tea: Lot35 is the new upper tier tea collection from the supplier of Fairmont Hotel teas. There are 8 different tea selections to choose from.

3 black, 1 green, 2 fruit and 2 herbal

I always have cream with tea so I chose the Imperial Breakfast tea blend. It was soft and approachable for a black tea and tasted divine with the scones.

Tea Ware: Exclusive to the Fairmont teaware that is adorned with a single crown and flower motifs. Most of the savouries and sweets were brought out on traditional 3-tiered trays in white.

Service: Attentive and knowledgeable service. We were constantly checked on and the our server made sure that there were substitutions provided for certain items on the menu for one of my dining companions who was pregnant.

Other notes:

♥ Runs from November 29^th – January 2^nd (excluding Dec. 24. 25 & 31)
Daily sittings, 11am, 1pm & 3pm

Adults $65 (includes one pot of tea); Children $32.5 (ages 12 and under)
(not inclusive of tax & gratuities)

♥ The website is a bit of a maze. Here’s the direct link to the afternoon tea section which can be reserved online.

♥ Parking: No street parking directly outside the Hotel but available down the street on Hornby where there is also a pay parkade. There are over 20 parking spots reserved for Car2Go on the rooftop parkade at 777 Hornby which is right next to the hotel. Closest Skytrain station is Vancouver City Centre (on the Canada Line) which is 2 blocks away from the hotel.

♥ Address: 900 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6C 2W6

♥ TEL + 1 604 684 3131

♥ Contact: hvc.concierge@fairmont.com