finger food such a tease...I was still hungry:(

Afternoon tea.

When I hear those words I think of little old grannies sitting around wearing big hats sipping tea.

Well that wasn't the case here at the Library Bar.

I bought a voucher for afternoon tea at the Fairmont Royal York inside the Library Bar.

When I called to make reservations, the earliest seating available was one month later. Wonder if it was because of the deal or was it really that good? Well it wasn't that great to me.

I was seated next to the guitarist which was quite nice. He even played a song by Black Eyed Peas "Gotta Feelin". Pretty cool so guess it wasn't such a granny place after all. The crowd sure wasn't what I had expected. I was picturing a silent room with people whispering quietly to one another. Instead the room was filled with laughter and loud chatter.

I don't really drink tea too much so wasn't sure what tea to order. I ended up getting some orange flavored one which was ok.

My friend got some sort of apple spice tea which tasted much more better than mine. I guess I like the fruity teas more. Also her teapot was way bigger than mine or maybe it was an illusion since it was just taller while mine was short and round. Nope hers was definitely bigger.

Our waiter was extremely friendly and very informative. Every dish he arrived with he provided a detailed description of what each of the dishes were.

To start off here was the crumpet with strawberries. I think the crumpet tasted like the packaged ones but the bad part was it was almost cold. I don't know if that's how it's suppose to be served but it was not that great. I only finished it because I was starving.

Next, the finger sandwiches.

Here was the P.E.I lobster and mango salad with tomato carpaccio, celery cress and saffron brandy aioli. Behind it was the smoked turkey breast with white cheddar cheese, sliced cucumber, bing cherry and Niagara ice wine preserve. I really like the lobster sandwich. It was refreshing and tasty. As for the turkey sandwich I honestly don't remember how it tasted. Guess it wasn't that great since it just wasn't memorable at all.

Here was the champagne goat cheese, baby watercress and strawberry sandwich. Well it wasn't really a sandwich since it wasn't sandwiched between 2 slices of bread. The goat cheese struck me pretty hard. It was overpowering.

Here was the Nova Scotia smoked salmon, red onion, arugula cress and dill caper creme fraiche sandwich. It was yummy.

Finally onto desserts.

There were a bunch of these stands of desserts sitting on the bar table out in the open the entire time I was there. It was not very comforting seeing our waiter grabbing one stand and bringing it over to our table. Guess the desserts weren't freshly made. Or maybe it was made in the morning? Then again after eating it I'm pretty sure it wasn't made the day of. Or even the week of.

Here was their house baked royal york cranberry scones with harmony dairies organic cream and preserves. Do you see any preserves? I just realized now we never got any preserves:( The scones were dry and difficult to swallow. Not very happy here.

Here were the pastry swans with chantilly cream and strawberry tarts. The pastry swans tasted like the cream puffs you would get in a grocery store. Not impressed but it did look pretty. As for the strawberry tarts for some reason it tasted salty to me. Yes SALTY. I don't know why but it just did. Also not in a tasty way either.

Here was the royal york honey and dark chocolate madeleines. The texture was mushy. I did not like this at all. My friend didn't even touched hers since she didn't find it appealing at all.

Here was the most decent dessert out of the bunch, the lemon financiers topped with raspberry. I'm still not sure what exactly it was but it was definitely edible compared to the previous desserts. I personally don't like lemon flavor but I did not mind it here at all. It was delicious.

This was my first afternoon tea experience. I'm just so glad I didn't pay full price for this. So happy I got a voucher. The finger sandwiches were mediocre and the majority of the desserts were not appetizing. I hear Windsor Arms is a better choice for afternoon tea so I might give that a try one day.

But for now after this experience I'm gonna stick with places that serve me regular size food rather than finger food.

I was still hungry after this and especially having to return to work I wasn't too pleased at all.

TOTAL BILL $40 per person...ONCE IS ENOUGH!!!

Library Bar @ The Fairmont Royal York

100 Front Street West

(across from Union Station)

416-368-2511