Tea at The Empress

Tea at the Empress is an experience of gentility. From the China tea pots to the last dainty petit fors, you will bask in refinement.

Great service and a very unique experience. Would recommend!

Great overall experience! Perfect for a girls get together!

Terrific. Traditional tea service with plenty of food for a lunch.

Food was delicious and service was great. We had a lovely view and the area is beautiful.

A peaceful break from the world turmoil. Truly delicious.

It was a nice experience but the price is too high.

I haven't been to tea at the empress for a couple of years, but it seems like the price has increased substantially. As much as I enjoy the experience I think I'll be trying somewhere else, the food, tea and experience is not worth $80. $40, sure, $65 was pushing it.

Positives, the food is good, tea is excellent, service is fantastic and very accommodating to my 4 year old first Princess Tea.

This was our fourth time we had tea at The Empress and it was very enjoyable. The selection of food was very good, especially the scones which were among the very best we have ever had! Highly recommended!

It has always been a dream of mine to have tea at the Empress. It did not disappoint. The tea and food was amazing. My only issue was being seated right next to the grand piano so it was hard to have a conversation while he was playing. Also, you are paying for the experience. The service was amazing.

If you want to try something chic, why not ?!
Although it wasn't that excellent than I expect...

A great all-time classic, tea time at the empress is a must-do when you visit the city of victoria.

Exceeded every expectation I had. Would recommend.

Expected more from the sandwiches given the cost. Very heavy carb meal. The scone and desserts were really good. But overall it was an overpriced dessert. Sugar carb load. The service although friendly, felt like we could have been at a ricky’s breakfast run by seniors for seniors. They would need more training to make it feel like a really special “service” experience. I was underwhelmed and wouldn’t do it again or even recommend it to others.

Tea at the Empress is a wonderful experience. I highly recommend enjoying this delightful high tea.

Relaxing environment, a must do when visiting Victoria. Great bucket list

I’ve been to high tea here before a couple years ago and I definitely remember having more of a food service for the price. I was dining alone and got one small 3-tier tray and one pot of tea for $85. Seems a little steep compared to other high teas I’ve had at the ritz in London, etc. I guess they either changed the service or last time our server was just extra nice and brought us more food?! I’m not sure.
But the Rose tea is fabulous and my server Janet was great .

Highly over rated and at $85 per person very overpriced. Strawberry jam was so thin it just ran off the scone, clotted cream was not the genuine product , very disappointed. Savory items were dry, having no doubt been sitting out for a while. As a special treat for a friend it was not successful. Would not recommend.

Service was amazing, food was fun and interesting. It’s not a weekly outing, but I’d go again in a few years for an event.

Beautiful! Lovely setting. Amazing food. Excellent service.

The Empress High Tea is a lovely experience for a special occasion. While the service was impeccable and the ambiance perfect for a relaxing afternoon, the food was average and we felt the cost far exceeded the value. If you’re looking for the experience this is for you, but if you just want a tasty high tea, there are more cost conscious options out there.

Fabulous time!

My little girl dream came true!
Having tea in the Empress.. where royalty has stayed and had tea. It was amazing.
They accommodated my food allergies no problem!

Enjoyed a relaxing afternoon tea with my granddaughter at The Empress. Great food, very good tea and a very good server.

An excellent experience for us all. Service was impeccable and we were treated like royalty. The food was divine and the tea was outstanding.

Lovely atmosphere, live pianist playing in the background, great service and yummy food. There was even a Prince and Princess option for my little ones. They enjoyed getting dressed up and being like the adults!

Tea @ The Empress was one of the first things on our trip to Victoria. We loved the whole thing. Food was awesome and environment was gorgeous

A special occasion venue for sure. You wouldn't pay this kind of money for a mid-afternoon cup of tea if it weren't. The room is super elegant and the live piano music just lovely. However, with hard surfaces all around, people enjoying conversation, tea cups clanking, it is really noisy. The 3 tiers of tasty morsels were amazingly flavourful, fresh and beautifully created. Unusual additions of lavender to the biscuits or a dusting of herbs on the rolled sandwich, multi-layered mousse in tiny chocolate cups just made it so special. The waitress took her time arriving initially and although friendly, was more like a cafeteria waitress than a high-end service provider. We had to ask for cream and sugar well after it became apparent she was not returning with it. No doubt, after years of doing this every day, this was not a special occasion for her but it was for us. I was celebrating my 65th birthday with my daughter and grand daughter after imagining such a time for decades. Decades. It would have been perfect if the waitress had made some attempt to make us feel special and our visit to 'her' tea room appreciated by her and everyone there. And no gift of a box of tea either...So, it was lovely, dreamy and enjoyable but the human factor a bit of a let-down.

Kind of disappointed in the delay of being seated with a reservation time. It took 20 minutes to be seated because the server cleared a table for 2 vs a table for 4, giving up a table of 4 that was behind us assuming our party was smaller.

If the price was 20$ cheaper I wouldn’t find reason to complain.. for 85$ you better be making those chocolate shells for your pastries and the clotted cream. Underwhelmed.

Lovely area and the service was brilliant.

Tea was excellent but the food felt in lacking and didn’t fully justify the $85 per person price tag.

The staff were amazing and very accommodating to the vegan dietary restrictions we had. The food was brought out and presented neatly and we were given an explanation on what each item contained. They were very helpful in selecting teas for our taste and telling us the perfect steeping time. Over all fantastic experience and I would recommend going if you have the chance. They can accommodate almost every dietary restriction.

Love the building and the people. Excellent tea. Food below average.

Fabulous
Expérience merveilleuse pour les sens dans un emplacement princier !

Go for the tea, stay for the live piano. Beautiful.

Les choix de thé sont des mélanges spéciaux différents et délicieux. Serveuse très attentionnée et disponible. Nous avons adoré notre expérience

We took our Mom there for her 80th birthday. The staff was fantastic - they really made her day special.

It was a pricey experience. The tables are quite outdated, we expected it to be a little more historical and fancy. The server was not super attentive, but over all it was delicious and we enjoyed the experience.

It was completely lovely and the staff were so nice (even though I was an hour late for my reservation due to a mix-up on my part)

We had a lovely time. Since I cannot consume caffeine p, I was especially pleased that you had a choice of decaf tea. I was disappointed that there were no white tablecloths nor placemats.

Well worth it and highly recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!