The Roof at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver | Disappointing
C and I love high tea and especially at Griffin in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for their amazing scones with Devon shire cream. A few girls decided we need to meet up and to try The Roof Bar in Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The Griffin is closed for good and all the food that used to be on the ground floor was moved to The Roof Bar. The first impression once you walk in is how spacious and brightly lit the room is. But 2nd impression is how dated the place looks with all the carpet. Sorry I didn't go crazy on pictures. This is what happens when a group of girls gather...chatting starts immediately! Anyway, here is the link to the menu. For $49/person before tax and gratuity, I expected exceptional service and food from Fairmount hotel! It is new that the high tea included 3 items that are not from the usual tier: mixed berries yogurt panna cotta, creamed asparagus tartlet and chicken and apple sausage roll. [caption id="attachment_4423" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Yogurt Panna Cotta[/caption] The yogurt panna cotta was delicious! It was smooth, creamy and refreshing! It definitely stimulated and cleansed my palate for the high tea food I anticipated! Everybody at the table enjoyed this very much. After we finished that, the server came with big plate of the creamed asparagus tartlet and sausage roll. She used a silver thong to put each item onto the guests' plates. I guess the tartlet is super delicate, it was hard to pick it up and place it onto the plate without some crumbling. It wasn't a problem to me! The tartlet's crust was tasty and buttery hence it crumbled easily however, I am not a fan of the creamed asparagus. I think a different filling would've been much better. The sausage roll...where is the apple? It is more accurate to just call it chicken sausage roll. Maybe the apple is grated and embedded into the chicken sausage but I definitely did not taste any sweetness or chunks of apple. [caption id="attachment_4424" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Asparagus Tart & Chicken Sausage Roll[/caption] At this point it is where the first service failure occurred. One of my friends discovered a hair within the creamed asparagus filling. The server was informed, she apologized and took the plate away with the promise that she will return and replace the items. She never returned. My friend's sausage roll was not eaten either so she missed out on these 2 items. The manager returned and apologized about the hair in the food, but that's it. When the food arrived, the server still had not returned and we had to ask her to get a plate! So here is the usual impressive looking tower of food in the 3 tiers! [caption id="attachment_4425" align="aligncenter" width="576"] Bring on the food![/caption] The only food item that still impressed me was the scones. The warm butter scone and orange & apricot scone are just divine to me! They are ever so soft and just melt in your mouth, making me all warm and fuzzy inside. Simply put some Devonshire clotted cream and it is perfection! I am glad to know now they offer take out of these babies! I can envision me buying lots of scone to bring back to C who equally loves them! It is $18 for half a dozen and $36 for a dozen. After 2 scones, I could already stop there BUT MUST PUSH ON! ;p [caption id="attachment_4427" align="aligncenter" width="576"] The scones are the only highlight of the meal[/caption] Too bad the savory finger sandwiches weren't worth pushing through. The 4 sandwiches were:
cold smoked wild salmon, organic egg salad in Russian Rye topped with carvier
curried free range chicken, Branston pickle in caraway roll
Maple glazed ham & gouda, dijonnaise in cracked wheat bread
English cucumber & upland peppercress on buttermilk loaf
My favourite finger sandwich used to be the cucumber and it is disappointing to see how the size shrunk!!!! Also, what peppercress? Did not see or taste that at all unless peppercress is a tomato slice...I think the peppercress is more evident in the curried chicken roll. The curried chicken roll isn't bad but it isn't outstanding either same with the ham and cheese sandwich. I think it is too much to mix salmon with the egg salad sandwich. I didn't like the combination as it taste too many things happening all at once. Not impressed at all by the savory sandwiches... The dietician in our group asked me if it is worth the calories to eat the sweets/pastries after I have sampled most of them. My answer is no it isn't. The items on this tier are:
Cassis macaroon
Lemon curd & charred meringue
chocolate venetta
fruit tartlets (apparently it is lemon or pumpkin)
signature tea truffle
This is also where ew found the 2nd fail. Because we have 6 people, we have 2 towers of the high tea set. One set came without any truffles at all! We had to ask them what happened. Another waitress brought out the truffles that are still very very cold...probably straight out of the fridge. Service definitely not as highly regard as I expected. The cassis macaron...there isn't any blackcurrant taste of the cassis. It tasted like pure almond flour with sugar. The texture is not light and crispy as I like; it is more soft and chewy. The 2nd wave of disappointment is the lemon curd & charred meringue. Lemon curd tart is one of my favourite desserts and topped off with crispy meringue seems like the perfect combination! Too bad the shell is slightly moist/soggy and that my lemon curd looks more like pumpkin filling as it is orange in color. Same moisture issue with the shell of the tartlet. After all the disappointment, I gave up on the chocolate venetta and truffles. For the reputation of Fairmont Vancouver and our past experiences, The Roof is a complete let down because of the food and the service. Food was not impressive and well done as before. Service isn't superb at all. I don't think I will return for high tea here anymore.  Â
