As a huge fan of afternoon tea, I decided it was time to expose my nieces to the experience.
So after a morning of shopping me, my tea buddy and my nieces (18 and 12) dressed up a bit (no jeans or runners) and took the 40 minute drive from Toronto to Alton (really close to Caledon, ON).
The road getting to the Inn was pretty well marked and we found the Inn, but then couldn't really figure out where to park as the signage on the facility property was lacking. We parked in a big lot and took a walk. The grounds are quite beautiful. There is a nice garden and gazebo area (great place for wedding photos) right beside a cool waterfall. Looks like this place may have originally been a mill.
If you are going for tea, it is recommended that you make a reservation as seating is almost always limited at all locations. So, I made the reservation weeks ago. As there is a fish and whole egg issue in the group, I asked the hostess to let the kitchen know prior to our arrival so that there wouldn't be any issues when we arrived. I was assured that the special request was no problem. The day before our visit, I called again just to confirm.
We were a bit early for our sitting (as most teas are served at set times), so after our tour of the grounds we went to the restaurant and figured we would sit and have a cold drink to wait for our reservation.
So, we got to the restaurant and stood at the podium for several minutes and no one came over. We walked away to find someone. After some searching, the waitress came over and seemed very frazzled. It looked as if she was the hostess and the only waitress in the moderately busy restaurant.
She told us that we cannot wait in the dining room, but if we go over to the lounge someone would come take a drink order. We went and sat... and sat... and sat. About 20 minutes in, a manager came over and asked us if anyone was looking after us. We of course said not yet and then someone came over right away. The kids ordered water, I ordered club soda and my friend ordered a glass of wine. About 10 minutes later (it may have actually been longer) they brought over the water, a gingerale and the wrong kind of wine. We sent the wine back, I decided not to complain about the gingerale (that was supposed to be club soda) and my friend just got a pop.
We had our drinks for a few moments, and then they seated us. The first thing we had to do once seated was pick our tea. I selected one called Margaret's Hope (a spicy black tea), my friend got a black tea as well, and both the girls picked a Citrus Sunshine herbal tea. Although the selection of teas was VERY small, they were nice teas. The pots were very small (could have partially filled one regular coffee cup). We did have to ask for milk and sugar several minutes after our tea arrived as the server forgot to bring it.
About 15 minutes after our food came, two three-tiered trays... with fish and egg salad sandwiches. I am not kidding. So I reminded our server about the fish egg issue I had mentioned with our reservation. She apologized and took the trays back to the kitchen. About 15 minutes later, she brought the trays back without the sandwich plate at the bottom and suggested we start with the scones and desserts.
There is a 'way' to enjoy my afternoon tea. First the sandwiches, then the scones with jam and devonshire cream followed by the pastries. Since the sandwiches were coming later, we had to, without a word of complaint, start with scones.
They were thin, dry and square. The first one was chocolate chip (a first for me at tea) and the second was plain. Disappointing. They served one tiny jar of jam for two people and a small amount of the devonshire cream. We had to ask for more. When my niece opened her little jam jar, it was all moldy on top. We didn't bother saying anything at this point, we just put it to the side.
Our sandwiches arrived. There were three kinds. Roast beef (super chewy) with way too much mustard and thick slices of cheese. The second was a cucumber, onion and cream cheese and the third was deli turkey slices. They were small, the bread was dry and the flavour was disappointing.
The desserts didn't fare much better. It looked like store bought mini tart shells with two cherries from cherry pie filling. However, they did look interesting because they had these little blue gelatin balls on the top, but they were tasteless. The other dessert was a dry banana mini-muffin and finally a tiny triangle brownie. I have to admit, the brownie was pretty good.
Once we were done, the server came over and asked if we wanted more water for our tiny tea pots. We declined as we were ready to run, I mean leave.
We waited a few minutes for our bill and the server came over to apologize for all the problems (my guess is she saw the moldy jam jar) and gave us our tea at no charge and asked us to give them a second chance and visit again. We were very surprised they offered the whole kit and kaboodle for free - we didn't complain even once and were willing to pay for it... but one doesn't look a gift horse in the mouth. We left a nice tip for the server as it wasn't her fault.
Would I give this one a second chance? Nope. I get an issue or two, not every day is perfect, but this location had way too many problems, so it does not make my recommended location list.
Millcroft Inn Website
LOCATION: In the countryside, beautiful grounds
AMBIANCE: Nice, slightly rustic / worn, but clean
TABLE: Standard dining room table (there is a nice sunroom that would be great for tea)
SERVICE: Not bad once we were seated for tea - horrible reception
FOOD: Not good (except the brownie)
TEA: Disappointing selection, but nice flavour
PRICE: $19.00 (or free if your jam is moldy)
RATING: 1 cup
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