Review White Heather Tea Room - Victoria

All the food was delicious!! I've been to several other tea places but the food here is very tasty and filling. And the staff were very kind and friendly and let me try many kinds of tea. I would like to visit again on a special day. I had a wonderful time. Thank you very much!

Treat yourself to the ultimate high tea experience in Victoria! This place has it all - delicious treats, adorable antique cup and saucers that'll steal your heart, and guess what? It's even better than the famous Empress Hotel! From top-notch quality to a cozy atmosphere, this spot takes high tea to a whole new level of awesomeness.

Tasty food, nice place and friendly staff. We spent entire afternoon there. Definitely one of my best favorite tea rooms in Victoria.

White Heather Tea Room is definitely a must-go spot for afternoon tea. Their scones and creme brûlée are absolutely amazing. We tried two combos and they were both so tasty! The tea selection was laid out well on the menu and the layout was gorgeous with the floral patterns. Staff and food overall great! Would surely come back with friends another time:)

This is thanksgiving set and we have plenty of food and joy. Nice place to have a gathering with friends and family here. All the sandwiches are awesome I really like the tiramisu as well

It's a nice restaurant for a date or hanging out with friends. Your choice of tea (with refillable hot water) is served with an additional food option. My favorite is the Signature Mucke tea, with three levels of food (attached photo). Reservations are recommended, since the space is not big and there is usually an important number of customers.

We love the white heather! We come for every Christmas and birthday, and it is always such a special experience. Service, food, and tea is excellent - we don’t go anywhere else for high tea in Victoria!

My first high tea and it was scrumptious. I went with a group of six friends and I highly recommend reserving your spot as the second sitting was full when we got there. Friendly service and amazing food, we all even took some home as the portions are generous. The pastry chef owner is a true artist. Passionate about her craft and excited to try new things, it was a delight to meet her. My favourite selections were the melt-in-your-mouth Earl Grey shortbread and the mysterious savory canapé with a crisp base, warm cheese filling, and slivered almond top. You will leave full and happy.

I picked up the “Signature Muckle Tea at Home” for a birthday treat and I couldn’t be happier with it! Everything included was delightful and delicious. It was beautifully presented and packaged. I love having the option of a high-quality tea at home; a perfect treat! Highly recommend! Thank you White Heather!

We went for High Tea at White Heather today and it was fantastic!! Our server Sloan was very helpful and informative on teas and treats. The room is elegant with white table cloth service and real English bone China. Stand outs: the ham pinwheel sandwich, the chicken salad in a scone, the cucumber sandwich and the baked goods all wonderful! Plus they had my favourite tea - Borengajuli Estate Assam!!! So perfect!!

Very rude server spoiled what should have been a lovely experience. When my companion was served her "wee tea", the sandwiches were described to her by the server, my friend commented that she doesn't eat ham. (There was no description that we saw before ordering, no one asked for dietary restrictions, nor did my friend say anything before she was served. It could be argued that any/all of these should have happened but it is the server's reaction that was impolite.) When my friend commented that she didn't eat ham (in a neutral tone), the server actually chastised her and said that she should have said something before the tea was ordered and now the sandwich (tiny tea sandwich) would have to be thrown out. The server, Elli, took the plate and returned it with a replacement sandwich and put it down without a word. After that, we were left alone for the entire time, never asked how we liked the food or offered more hot water. We were there for about an hour eating, chatting and drinking our cold tea. Elli did manage to bring herself over to get our bill, still without asking how things were and say a thank you when she dropped off the bill...a bit late to turn things around for a tip. Needless to say no tip. Such condescension in a server is rather childish and not what you would expect in a quality establishment. Wouldn't take anyone there to be treated like a misbehaving child. The food is ok, but nothing to get excited about.

Went to the White Heather Tea Room on Oak Bay Avenue yesterday. What a lovely place! Super lovely and friendly staff. Had the Wee Small Tea and it was more than enough for a lunch - egg rolled sandwich, ham rolled sandwich, chicken on a warm cheese scone, shortbread, carrot mango cake and a slice of butter tart. Tea was the Balmoral blend, which I absolutely loved - black with a touch of Earl Grey and Jasmine. Gary had a delicious quiche and coffee. Couldn’t eat all my sweets so asked for them packed to go. They tucked in an extra Balmoral tea bag so I could have a nice cuppa with my sweets......AND, they give Gary a take-away shortbread! So loved our whole experience and would highly recommend the White Heather Tea Room to anyone wanting to spoil themselves with a special experience.

My friend and I were doing a girls getaway adventure and I knew we needed to do High tea during our time in Victoria. I looked at reviews and it was so clear that you were the BEST!! I loved reading all the reviews about the food and experience and booked with you right away! I am pregnant and even though I wrote down our appointment time- I somehow convinced myself that our appointment was at 1pm- not 12:30. So when we walked in- late- unintentionally- I felt awful and was nervous but they were so GRACIOUS- kind and accommodated us any way. We felt VERY lucky! We had a wonderful server Elli and she along with the others made the experience that much more perfect! We ordered the Big Muckle for the two of us- I had the Queen Mary English Breakfast tea and my friend- who doesnt like tea tried their Mad Hatter tea- she loved it!! Then they brought us fruit and the three tiered platter!! It was beautiful and so fun- but then we started to eat and we couldn't believe how delicious every treat was!! Another thing that won me over was that they brought out a sandwich I could enjoy because Im not able to eat smoked salmon while pregnant! I was so surprised that they took that extra step for me- what a blessing!! We would both go back again for sure and I plan to come back with my little girl for high tea!! What a special experience- amazing service- delicious and delectable food and a "tea-rrific" high tea!! Thank you so much for starting our trip off so perfectly! Oh and we also left with a full stomach and lots of treats to take home!! We loved every bit of this! Thank you!!

My Granddaughters brought their Mother and myself (Nana) to the White Heather Tea Room to celebrate an early Mother's day. It was a total surprise! We enjoyed the Muckel as well as some delicious teas. Our server was very kind, and attended to all our needs as well as explaining what we were having, and how it would be served. We had such a lovely afternoon with the girls, taking pictures to remember this special time. Our server was even gracious enough to take a moment to snap a few of us all together. This was a wonderful experience and will be memory to be cherished always.

Fabulous tea selection and throughly enjoyed our 3 selections. Served us even though there was a mixup with our reservations and the server was great with our young children! Lovely food, except the ham & egg sandwiches were a little dull, they needed a little more spark to them.

Another delightful Christmas Tea with family. Carrie put aside a special package for our great-niece who was sick and had to miss the festivities. It’s personal touches like this and the great food that make this an awesome place.

Wonderful tea room! Definitely recommend going if you are in Victoria/Oak Bay Area.

First we thought of The Empress but someone said White Heather Tea Room is good too. We did give it a try and we loved it! Wide tea sellection, friendly staffs and yummy food and pastries. What else you could have asked for more❤️ Highly recommended and will definitely come back again in this coming Summer. Please make a reservation before you go. I wouldn't recommend for the party over 6❤️

The scones were all right.. they were over heated in the microwave and served with whipping cream mixed with cream cheese, jam and lemon curd.. I was disappointed in the cream.. it seems you have to travel to the UK to have a proper cream tea with clotted cream..

Wow! We had the Big Muckle Giant Tea for Two and had to take most of the desserts home, we were so stuffed. The food was delicious and the service was great. Jeanne, you were wonderful! Recommend the place highly!

We love this place!! Even better than anything we can find in Vancouver. Great food, great service, can't ask for more!

Great high tea at a lovely quaint tea room. Wonderful experience! Would go again

Lovely tea room with excellent service and delicious food. (The only thing I would suggest is that the owners mute the phone.)

This was my first tea party and I will say I didn't think it would be my thing and I LOVED it! Delicious, happy and so much fun. Excellent customer service.

This is the best of many high tea places in Victoria - Big Muckle - awesome!!

It's a quaint and small but has a warm welcoming feel to it. We were greeted promptly at the door and the servers were very friendly and took their time to explain all the sweet and savory dainties to us. <br/><br/>We had the giant tea for two and it comes with the 3-tier afternoon tea trays. Everything on the plates were delicious, from the mini quiches to the finger sandwiches to the lemon custard tarts. I'd recommend this place to my friends.

It's a cute spot for tea but neither the food nor tea is anything worth going out of your way for. Don't get me wrong, the food is good but nothing a decent home cook can make themselves. It's tad expensive too. It's probably worth a one time visit but I wouldn't go back myself.

Lovely, sweet little nook with delicious things to nibble on.  Wonderful homemade savoury and sweet options, and plenty of leftovers too!!  The three of us (two of whom were pregnant at the time) ordered a Big Muckle and a Not So Wee Tea and we were stuffed.  A quaint and yummy experience.

White Heather Tea Room 1885 Oak Bay Ave. Oak Bay , BC (250) 595-8020 J: Ed and I were returning to one of my favourite municipalities, Oak Bay, and in this municipality is one of the jewels of the many locally owned businesses, the White Heather Tea Room. I wanted Ed to experience their service, the food and the atmosphere of what had wowed me before. I stopped for tea with sandwiches and pastries last year. And though I didn’t review the place, I couldn’t say one bad thing against this establishment. With Ed in tow, I thought it deserved scrutinizing under the eyes of the Two Hungry Blokes. E:  Quite often, I’d ask James, “So why don’t you move there” His reply is a long-winded excuse of one thing or another, but after all was said, I could not argue otherwise. But for the White Heather, there’s a crack or two at the seams which I could notice. What’s up with the canned mushrooms that were used in my eggs sconewich? For such a prestigious place, shouldn’t this place get most of its ingredients from the garden? J: Usually money for me is the main factor. It’s not cheap to rent in Oak Bay and besides, how would I leave my new home in Oak Bay to work in Langford by 3:30am. There are no buses running at that early hour. It’s a pipe dream and dreams are the only thing that keep me going on most days. I ordered an Eggs Panini and — for good measure — two scones. I thought the price was a little much (even with the tea) until they brought a tray of butter, jam, clotted cream and lemon meringue to the table. E: When considering the way James acted when the scones arrived, I guess he got ‘sconed’ to death so he can die a happy man. I passed on trying the quick bread since it was coming as my oddball sandwich. I liked it, but to find canned products used here irritated me. When this place has conjures forth images of products from a simple garden located somewhere near, I expect fresh products throughout. At least their strawberry was perfectly ripe and the side dressings of

Welcoming And Delicious. We have been having breakfasts, lunches and teas at the White Heather for several years now, it is our favourite restauraunt in Oak Bay for these meals. We have always had excellent service and very good food here. We watch for the periodic special meals such as the Christmas Tea. There are not many places left in Victoria which serve a high quality English high tea, but the White Heather is one. If you are going to have high tea here, bring your appetite! It's very popular so I would recommend a reservation, especially for lunch.

Awesome place for tea. We come here weekly and every visit is a delight!

For Shame!. I used to be a regular customer, I will never go back. I used to send many people here for tea, NEVER AGAIN! The White Heather Tea Room used to be great, but not anymore!<br/><br/>We went in for breakfast a while ago (a few months), we arrived a few minutes before opening and were the first people there. Everyone else who came after us was served first. We had to wait twenty minutes for coffee and tea while we watched other people come in, sit down and be served beverages and food while we were waiting... WITHOUT EXPLANATION! When we complained we were told that these people had pre-ordered and that is why we didn't get our food until forty minutes after we had arrived and every other single person in the restaurant had been served before us! One of our party left in tears she was so angry. FOR SHAME! <br/><br/>As a chef and who knows how hard the industry is, I do not say this lightly – I hope this business fails! I wish I had the power to stop every tourist and customer from coming here. I wanted to stand outside with signs protesting this place like the vegetableists protested foie gras at Fuel Restaurant in Vancouver. This once great establishment has fallen. I am glad I waited and I didn't write this while I was still angry.<br/><br/>I talked to the former owner (a personal friend) about what happened to The White Heather, she was mortified. We will never return under the current ownership. Don't spend your money here. Go to the James Bay Tea Room (I have heard the new owners are doing a smashing job), or to the Empress, or to any of Victoria's plethora of coffee shops or just stay home and have a cuppa in your PJ's – it's better than coming here.

What a fabulous treat! Lovely service from friendly Staff with excellent recommendations on tea Selections & a beautiful <br/>presented array of delectab Sandwiches & pastries. My friend had food allergies which were accomodated With delicious ease. What to gem! Can't wait for my next visit.

Bring your Girlfriends. Every few months I meet up with my girlfriends for a tea. I always luck out and share a Big Muckle with one of them and I am in heaven for a whole hour. Lemon curd, cream and homemade jam are superb over a warm scone. On the service, I would recommend someone coming around with hot water to refill your personal tea pot. Minimum amount is applicable to everyone, so don't bring friends that are going to nibble off your plate.

Excellent!. Came for afternoon tea with my grandmother and we ordered the GIANT tea service. It was fabulous. Everything was fresh and very tasty. The scones were gently warmed, the sandwiches delightful and the desserts were divine. The service was so friendly and attentive. I thought this would just be a place to bring my grandma but I will be back soon with or without her!

Fabulous food. My wife had been after for years to join her at the Tea Room. Finally I relented and tagged along. The food was out of this world and now I'm a big fan and look forward to going at least once a month.

A must go. I had walked past the james bay tea room awhile ago, and had planned to take my mum there for high tea. When we got there we were so disturbed by the service/cleanliness/food that we decided to leave before ordering. Then we went to the empress because it was the only other place I knew of and found out it would be over 150 dollars for the two of us after all was said and done with very little food for the money, beautiful room.. but when I went in quickly to ask some questions the woman at the front treated me as though I could not afford it or something so I decided my money would be better spent elsewhere. So I asked my roommate to look online, and she stumbled accross this place..so we decided to check it out. We got the "big muckle" which was about 57 dollars after tax for BOTH of us. Which I think is VERY reasonable for a high tea. I am SO glad we did not settle, and decided to check this place out. You definately get your moneys worth. I called ahead of time before we drove out there to make sure we could get a table, when we got there the table was already made up for us and it was a table beside the window with a nice view. The service was remarkable, our waitress seemed to genuinely love what she was doing..and seemed to be very proud of what they offer. It completely turned the day around. She even brought out a sampler of the teas they had to offer so we could smell them and decide what we would like which was very nice. When we recieved our meal she explained everything she brought out with enthusiam. It looked incredible, and freshly made, and tasted as good as it looked. It had fresh lemon curd, and raspberry jam and two different kinds of scones which were to die for. We were served promptly, and with incredible service. Customer service is a lost art nowadays and very hard to find. My mum was tickled pink from the whole experience, (she almost cried) which was a huge change from the ealier experience which almost ruined the entire afternoon. I would definately recommend this place to anyone that like amazing service, great atmosphere, and incredible homemade fresh food..at an affordable price. I would advise you don't eat anything before going though, because it is extreeeemmmeelllyyy filling for two people. Very impressed.

Ah...How Sweet It Was. Fresh homemade cranberry scones with sweet tangy lemon curd, whipped cream, raspberry jam reminiscent of Granny's savoured in the autumn by the hearth in the Scottish highlands. Piping hot, freshly brewed coffee served in beautiful English porcelain. Sparkling cutlery, spotless white linens peaceful music. Ah...How Sweet It Is.

Service So Rude You'll Never Return. On a recent visit there were 3 customers; a 20-something, a 50-something and an elderly lady over 90. The 2 younger people ordered lunch and tea and the older lady only wished something light, such as tea and a scone. The total order exceeded $50. The female server announced in a rude manner that the minimum charge was $8.95 per seat. When it was pointed out to her that such a minimum was under $25 total for 3, and the 3 had ordered over $50 worth of food, she haughtily replied "I don't make the rules". She clealy indicated that the rule was each person must order at least $8.95, regardless that the others ordered several times the "minimum". While the food is reasonably good, it is not outstanding and certainly not good enough to endure abuse such as this. This is a "tearoom" after al - people frequently go to a tearoom for tea and a light snack, and sometimes for tea only. If a place bills itself as a tearoom, then it should act like one. Why go to this place and endure attitude? There are plenty of places in Victoria that welcome business from the older tea crowd. We won't go again and neither should anyone else.

Mmm... crumpets! This is a total must for tourists.

Hands down the best in town. Love this place! I've heard the other items on the menue are really tasty but everytime I go I can't resist either the Wee Tea or the Not So Wee Tea. In either case there's leftovers to take home. Whenever the in-laws or my parents would come to visit I'd make sure to take them for 'tea'. Hubby would tease us but when I insisted he come with his folks on one occassion he realized what he'd been missing all these years ... now he comes every time :)<br/><br/>Love the little sandwiches ... minced ham is my favourite, but they're all good, with a pot of Mad Hatter ... I'm in heaven.<br/><br/>Reservations are necessary, they're so busy, but you can get items to go to enjoy at home.

Went to the White heather tea room today for the mothers day special with the family. Food and tea was good and had somthing for everyone but we were shocked when the bill came, turns out the muckles were 32.95$ per person we ordered two thinking we could split them between our group of 6 at the price of 35.95 a muckle not per person. My sister has gone to the tea room a few times and thought that was the case aswell. On the menu it listed what was in the muckles and the price leading us to believe it was per muckle so 300$ later (including a large tip as the service was amazing (15%)) were all feeling somewhat sick to out stomachs after paying that much for pastries and finger sandwhiches. Would try again to see about prices but wouldn't return on any special occaision ever again due to the price and lack of clarity.

Quaint, but you get what you pay for. This tea room is quite small and fills up quickly, so make sure you have a reservation!<br/><br/>I only go on special occasions, but usually around Christmas they have a "Christmas Tea" which is basically a selection of sandwiches and sweets that are a bit different from their "wee tea" or the "not so wee tea" and are priced a bit better. The food generally gets changed from time to time, depending on what is in season I would assume, but each time it tastes great.<br/><br/>A few things I remember having that I really enjoyed (keep in mind everything is bite sized):<br/>dates filled with marzipan<br/>curry chicken on toast<br/>quiche<br/>chicken-apple scone sandwich thing<br/><br/>The Mad Hatter tea is also very good.<br/><br/>The scones are warmed and they usually have two to choose from each day. You also get the usual devonshire cream, lemon spread, and raspberry jam to go with your scones. The difference from other tea plaes is the quality here is very high and it is difficult to imagine any room for improvement.

One of Victorias best quality restaurants. This tea room is extremely popular - and for good reason. Everything is fresh and delicious. The staff are super friendly and professional and the atmosphere is calm and relaxing.<br/><br/>We had the famous "Big Muckle" which was alot more food than we were expecting despite having seen pictures before. It is $40ish for two, and consists of a huge three platter high tea and your choice of teas. Everything is fresh baked in house the same day, so the deserts, sandwiches and pastries are always changing. Anyways, everything was awesome, the quality and care taken in making it was obvious.<br/><br/>I can't emphasize how awesome this place is .... highly recommended!! I can't wait to go back. Also - absolutely make a reservation, we went on a Tuesday afternoon in April and it was packed.

I had a great time. The environment was sunny and cheery, elegant but not too formal. The only other afternoon (high) tea I’ve had was back in 2011 at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai :) Reassuringly, a local couple beside us said that this is the “best afternoon tea spot in Victoria,” beating out the pricy Fairmont Empress experience. I would definitely come back to this cute tea spot!!

Our three-tiered stand filled with delightful goodies.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the food more than makes up for what the tea room lacks in decor. Not that the place is unpleasant – far from it, in fact – but it is definitely not as fancy as, say, the Empress Hotel or the Butchart Gardens. The room is quit

If you don't mind traveling a wee bit out of the downtown core of Victoria, I promise you won't be disappointed when you come for afternoon tea at White Heather Tea Room . The atmosphere is relaxing and peaceful, the way you want to feel when you sip away at your tea. The service is pleasant and professional, without having the snooty feel you might get at some tea rooms. Coming here feels like when I used to arrive at my Gramma's house and she would always have tons of freshly made squares, scones or yummy goodies ready to eat. Inside White Heather Tea Room Just one word of caution if you're coming here for afternoon tea. Make sure you haven't eaten recently and aren't planning on eating for a while after as you will be full, if not stuffed once you leave! The portion sizes are plenty big and everything tastes so yummy you will find yourself not wanting to push your plate away. If you're not as hungry, you can choose to go for "The Wee Tea" ($14.95) , but I

The teapots and teacups were adorable and oh-so pretty. The place had an incredibly warm and inviting feeling, and the lovely ladies serving you just made the experience even better.