High Tea At The Empress Hotel

On my recent trip to Victoria, I partook in the age-old British tradition of taking High Tea, a sumptious and delectable feast of miniature proportions. Everything was tiny except the pot of tea, but it was also very good.
Our first course was a refreshing bowl of strawberries and whipped cream, served prettily in glass bowls. The strawberries weren't particularly as sweet as the sun-ripe ones in my garden, but I guess I'm spoiled :)
A server came to serve our tea. He added milk to our tea cups first, then the sugar cubes, then the piping hot tea.
My tea was very good. It was fragrant and mild. I was pleased. Our High Tea delectables arrived on a 3 tier fine china plate tower.
At the bottom were fingerling sandwiches. All of them were very good. It was my first time eating a cucumber sandwich, and I quite liked it. There were carrot and ginger sandwiches, smoked salmon and cream cheese, and some kind of pate on crunchy toasted baguette.
In the middle were some of the yummiest scones I have ever eaten. They were really moist and rich, with fat yellow raisins in them. You cut them open and spread them with Empress Cream and strawberry jam. Yum!
On the top were tiny bite-sized desserts. Lemon tarts with strawberry, a chocolate cake draped in fudge, herbed short bread cookies, marble cake wrapped in marzipan, and indulgent chocolate truffles with a sour cherry in the middle.

I enjoyed the meal very much, and the server was kind enough to bring extras of whatever we liked best. I think it was the priciest lunch I have ever had, but I can't help but long for more of those delightful scones. They were really, really good!

Have a wonderful day!