Tea At The White House

“‘restaurant error at the expense of the customer’”
Reviewed 23 January 2012
It is disappointing to discover that customer relationship is clearly not a priority at once one of our favorite restaurants in waterdown. Customer relationship is not to be taken lightly and at the very least the customer should not incur extra costs at the expense of a restaurant error.

The purpose of the visit this time was to buy a gift and a gift certificate for a milestone birthday.
Unbaked scones (6) included instruction for baking, as provided by the manager.
The issue was that the instruction to bake the scones was not appropriate to this particular product i.e. it was totally unclear and very confusing and just plain wrong.
An attempt to immediately reach the manager on the phone at the restaurant for clarification was almost impossible since unanswered phone calls went to voicemail --- time was of the essence.
The baking instruction included the addition of butter and whip cream etc and oven temp and baking duration and yield (what? 6 scones to 12? what?) --- to be completely clear, it should really only indicate ingredients and oven temp and baking duration --- hence botched scones, unusable scones !!!
At last … phone call was finally answered and basically the manager implicated that the restaurant is not at fault, the customer is.
After another 40 minute drive and at the expense of the customer, the manager happily sold more unbaked scones to replace botched scones. The right thing to do should have been providing them free of charge to compensate for the restaurant error.
But, here's a shocker: during the second visit the manager implied that this was not a first. HINT!!! the restaurant seems to be the common theme here i.e. customer is right and the restaurant should have replaced botched scones free of charge and more importantly, the baking instruction need to change (no brainer) so that it is appropriate to the product being sold.

As a result, this experience definitely left a bad taste and sadly changed our view of the restaurant greatly i.e. we would be hard pressed now in recommending the place to friends/family (we did have people coming from toronto to dine here ... now ... not so much … )

My family is from England, and I thought it would be nice to take my grandmother out for a traditional cup of tea. The atmosphere at the White House is very warm. The presentation of the tea service was exceptional, and my grandmother thouroughly enjoyed the experience. She had the high tea, while I chose the mediteranean tart which came with a salad. I also ordered the homemade carrot cake, which was mouthwatering. The waitress was very patient, and enjoyed the stories that my grandmother reminisced about during her days in England. Wonderful!

Very quaint, excellent presentation and tasty but pricey for the amount.
Very rude hostess. A complete lack of customer service. If it was my business she would be gone. The waitress that took over had a lovely British accent and was most attentive. The website states the staff chats with each customer. Not the hostess!! I would repeat for a special occasion but hopefully not with the same hostess.

Everytime my friend and I make a date to meet for lunch, it is always at the White House. We wouldn't think of going anywhere else. We love the ambiance, the quaintness, always found the food to be wonderful and the presentation is what it's all about. Sure it's small...but that's all part of the magic of this little place. If it got any bigger, if would just become another eatery. I've never had any parking problems but as well as the lot, you can park on the street.
We always make a reservation because it is so busy, that way we are never disappointed. We are always there about 2 hours....never are we hurried out the door, never received any "will you hurry up" glances from the staff. Have always found them friendly and very accomodating.

Absolutely the best tea house I have been to. Everything is fresh and delightful. Extra scones available at no extra cost. A great selection of sandwiches includes, cucumber, salmon mouse, asparagus wrap, egg salad. They will try and accomodate every request and need. Space is tight but once you get your first sip of tea, you quickly forget. Even my nine year old picky eater loves it!

Lovely. I have visited a few Tea Houses and they all have their special qualities. This particular Tea House I have frequented several times as I delight in how they take care in the presentation of their fare. Our server was very knowledgeable and a delight. I do wish they had more room and less noise but if you can get past that, which it is apparent that most people can because they are very busy, then you will have a wonderful old english experience. The owner is very, very generous with her attention to her customer's satisfaction so if something is displeasing speak up. High Tea is always wonderful and the crepe was just enough so that I didn't feel overstuffed and it was delicious! The ramekin of squash brulee was a real treat! The price of High Tea is comparable to other Tea Houses located in the surrounding area. I gave them an 8 because of the lack of space and the noise and you hope someone didn't take up two parking spaces with their car at the free parking lot around the back but other than that I definitely recommend trying this Tea House.

Reservations were secured well in advance but there was still a wait to be seated. Tea room was very loud, crowded. Limited menu and the tiered sandwich luncheon was a disappointment - egg salad, tuna salad - you can get this anywhere...so, we ordered the salmon which was overcooked but had a tasty sauce. Server did not talk up the shop at all, no recommendations made for tea etc. Scones were ok, nothing special though. The desert was a real let down, presentation was lacking and 'crumble' was actually just cereal!!! Unfortunately, it appears that the space the tea shop has is simply not enough for the customers it currently has - parking was a nightmare! Concept is there but execution needs a great deal of improvement for a return visit to be considered and pricing should be reviewed for quality of 'goods'.

Visitors from South Africa, they loved it.
A bit pricey but well worth the visit, should be in tourist brochures.

My friend and I were totally overwhelmed with the delightful atmosphere, charming service and amazing quality and elegance of the high tea. We took even photos before indulging in the cacophony of sensual and savory delights. The plates were arranged well and had so many different types of fruit, we even had to ask our server to identify some of the (e.g., champagne grapes, dragon fruits). The different fruit were the eye-candy!! The scones had a wonderful sugar crust and flaky lightness. The sandwiches were o.k. As a vegetarian, I'd hoped for a better choice than just cucumber. The pastries were really a tempation to eat all of them. We had to ask for a container to take the uneaten sweets home. We purchased teas to take home as well. When I asked my friend if she would rather go to see "Cats" at the theatre or to return to the White House for her birthday gift from me, she immediately said she wanted to come back to the White House for tea. We were so happy to have found the White House. Why anyone would say they would not return again is beyond me.

Presentation and the scones were excellent, however the cost of $22.95 per person for the High Tea which included only egg salad and cucumber sandwiches with fruit and a tray of six small squares that were very sweet along with two scones was way overpriced. I took my sister there for the High Tea on the advise of friends and was extremely disappointed in the quality of the food and service.