It was the final week of the Claude Monet Secret Garden exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I had no idea why it took me so long to finally check it out, but I made it! CC and I planned a fancy girls’ day out.
Claude Monet at Vancouver Art Gallery
I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit, witnessing the evolution of Monet’s work. In addition to the Water Lilies, my favourite pieces were Taking a Walk Near Argenteuill, Wisteria, and Weeping Willow.
A pleasant surprise was Stephen Shore‘s photo exhibit in conversation with the Monet’s exhibit.
Shore documented Monet’s home in Giverny, the inspiration behind many of Monet’s work. Brilliant setup.
After a stroll through the art gallery, we continued with our plan to have afternoon tea at the Bacchus Restaurant at the Wedgewood Hotel. It’s in the lounge area, with a TV screen playing sports in the background. A bit out of place, but I loved the big, comfy chairs we were in.
Afternoon Tea at Wedgewood Hotel
Instead of just reading the description of the various tea options, our server brought over a tea box so we got to be all hands on, taking a sniff of all the fragrant teas available from The Tealeaves Co.
In the end, I chose the Pear Tree Green Tea. It was stronger than I expected but the flavour was quite light and you can definitely taste the pear. It’s better to have it on its own than adding milk. On the other hand, CC picked the Lavender Earl Grey and it was best enjoyed with a bit of cream and sugar. Lavender is a tricky flavour/scent to incorporate. Thankfully the lavender note in this tea was prominent, yet it didn’t give you this almost soapy, artificial flavour/scent. It was very good.
As for our 3-tier savoury and sweet bites, it had a great selection of items:
Finger sandwiches
- House-Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Roulade
- Organic Egg, Mayonnaise, Chives, English Mustard
- Hand-Peeled Baby Shrimp, Fennel Mayonnaise
- Baby English Cucumber, Cream Cheese
- Tandoori Chicken
The classics (smoked salmon, egg salad and cucumber sandwiches) were done well, but no surprises there. On the other hand I really enjoyed the Baby Shrimp and Tandoori Chicken. They were full of flavours. The baby shrimps had good texture, and the tandoori chicken had a good amount of spices.
Pastries & Sweets
- Lemon Chiffon & White Chocolate Ganache
- Freshly-Made Macarons
- Seasonal Fruit Tartlet
- Mini Bakewell Tart
- Chocolate Éclair
The tart/tartlet pastry was really nice. Flaky and buttery. The lemon chiffon cake surprisingly had a good amount of citrus and lemony tartness to it. The chocolate macaron had a nice chewy texture and was chocolaty.
Savoury Cakes
- Freshly-Baked Scones
- Warm Toasted Crumpets
The baked goods were nice. The scone had good crumbs and the crumpet was crispy and chewy.
Overall I was very impressed with the food quality. Did I mention it’s only $39 per person? Consider it’s downtown, right on Hornby Street, $39 is a steal! [Editor’s note: The price has since been increased to $45.] And the food portion was decent so we were quite stuffed in the end.
Final Thoughts
While you are spending your day downtown and looking for some sophistication in your itinerary, the Wedgewood Hotel is definitely the place to be. Weekend afternoon tea for $39 [Editor’s note: The price has since been increased to $45.] is certainly reasonable for a downtown hotel, and you won’t be disappointed by the quality of food and service you receive. I just may take my mom there next!
Bacchus Restaurant and Lounge – Wedgewood Hotel
845 Hornby Street, Vancouver
604-608-5319
wedgewoodhotel.com
VanFoodies.com 
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