For the Love of...: ...Fairmont Banff Springs Afternoon Tea (Rundle Lounge)

Overall - 9/10
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Food - 8/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10

We made our annual getaway to Banff after Christmas this year with our daughter in tow.  One thing that is worth trying at least once in Banff is the afternoon tea at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel in the Rundle Lounge.  Although it was pretty much out of the question this time around, we had the pleasure, pre-baby last spring.  Afternoon tea is really an experience that should be enjoyed at a leisurely pace, especially if you are able to reserve a window side table overlooking the mountains.

The experience begins with a server bringing out a cart of 12 different teas for you to choose from.  You are able to smell the teas and before making your choice.  At the time, I was pregnant so I opted for the herbal "Berry Berry" which was quite good.

 The set menu begins with a small selection of fresh berries.  To be honest, I was initially hoping for a little more than what was served but in hindsight the amount is probably just right in light of all the food that is to be consumed.

The best items on the menu in our opinion was the scones.  The savoury sun dried tomato and the sweet berry scones together with the Devonshire cream and strawberry jam really was quite amazing.  They were soft, light, flaky and everything you would want a scone to be.

After the scones, the beautifully arranged 3-tiered tray is brought out with the finger sandwiches and pastries.  

The sandwich selection included cucumber and avocado cream cheese, egg salad on a croissant, smoked salmon with Boursin cheese, beef pinwheel and chicken mango sandwich.  Overall the sandwiches were very mild in flavour and were very standard.  Although we did not expect anything overly creative, we were slightly disappointed by the offerings.  For example, we could not taste the mango in the chicken salad sandwich and or the avocado cream cheese in the cucumber sandwich, despite my hypersenstive palate. 

The top two tiers showcased the sweet pastries: madeline, berry mascarpone cheesecake, key lime meringue tart, macaroon and a chocolate dipped pecan brownie.  By the time we started on the pastries, we were starting to feel full.  Luckily we were able to box up the ones we could not finish and the server even asked us if there was anything else we wanted to take home (unfortunately the scones were not included in that offer).  Our favourites out of the selection was the chocolate dipped pecan brownie.