The Vanitea Room

The Vanitea Room is Ottawa's newest tea lounge and it is absolutely beautiful! In April, shortly after this tea room opened itself up to the public, I had the pleasure of sitting down for a pot of tea, lunch, and dessert with my partner. Let me tell you all about my first time at The Vanitea Room and you'll see why I speak so highly of it. If you are a tea lover, you have to add this this to your 2016 to do list!

On my way up the front steps of the brick building at 551 Somerset St W, I really didn't know what to expect. The moment I stepped foot in the tea room, the decor took my breath away. The owners Hind Mubarak and Chanel Nadeau have done an amazing job creating a enjoyable atmosphere that makes you feel like royalty while you sip on your cup of tea. 

                             

The first thing we ordered was a pot of tea each. We ordered a pot of loose leaf Jasmine tea and a pot of Oolong tea. My inner tea nerd is happy to note that the teas were steeped the recommended way by tea sommeliers. They were both deliciously flavourful and not bitter at all, a sign that the teas were steeped at the right temperature for the optimal amount of time. Needless to say, the tea didn't have the time to get cold because we sipped the tea like it was going out of style.  

Now comes the food! The menu has been designed to pair each entree with one of the Sloane teas. This brought back memories from my Food and Tea Pairing class at Algonquin college. Each pairing sounded delightful but since we had already ordered and drank most of our tea, we decided to let our stomachs choose the pairings for us. We ordered the avocado and egg on toast and a gourmet grilled cheese. As you can tell in the pictures below, the presentation is spot on and our taste buds were equally satisfied.

                    

We made sure to save a bit a room in our stomachs for dessert. We shared the cream puffs and I enjoyed a matcha latte. The puffs we're light and fluffy and it came with a side of glaze to sweeten them as desired. It was the best way to end the meal. As for the latte, this was easily one of the best matcha latte's I have ever had. If you are a fan of matcha, I highly recommend trying it. It was frothed just the right amount and the almond milk complimented the vegetative flavour of the matcha perfectly.

                      

Overall, we tip our hats off to The Vanitea Room team for creating a beautiful tea room filled with teas that are prepared by pros and food that will keep us coming back.