REVIEW | DEQ at the Ritz Carlton - afternoon tea with beautiful presentation & delightful treats

After a long & busy week, all I want to do is indulge in yummy food, whether it be savoury or sweet.  What better way to satisfy both those cravings than an afternoon tea filled with scones, tarts, sandwiches and some mindless chitchat?

This past Saturday (a rainy & gloomy one at that), I headed over to DEQ at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto with one of my friends for an afternoon of pure culinary indulgence.

Located in the heart of the business district, the Ritz is very accessible.  The Deq Lounge & Terrace is located at the rear end of the Ritz Carlton with floor to ceiling windows, a center bar, and a cozy fireplace.  We were seated facing the windows, which was nice.  If it hadn't been for the rain, I would have opted to sit outside in their beautifully furnished terrace.

We both chose to go with the Blush Tea ($55), which comes with an assortment of savoury & sweet delights, selection of fine organic tea, and a glass of Henry Pelham's Cuvée Catharine.

The selection of organic tea comes in a gorgeous box with 12 wonderful choices.  I chose the non-caffeinated organic vanilla and my friend went for the non-caffeinated berry.  The first row shows the non-caffeinated, 2nd row is the lightly caffeinated and the bottom row is the most caffeinated tea.

Next came the savoury delectables, and talk about a grand entrance!  I've never seen a presentation like this at afternoon tea and we were definitely impressed. And yes, they tasted as good as they looked.  My favourite was the smoked salmon on croissant and the quiche - truly delicious!

Eggs Florentine Quiche

Egg Salad & Cucumber sliders

Raisin Scones

Smoked Salmon sandwich on Croissant

After our choices of savoury delights, we received the sweets - 6 different kinds each that were, again, presented very beautifully.  They were bite sized, but each of them so pretty.  They gave the the right amount of sugar rush that I needed.

Berry Custard Tart
Opera Gateau
Lemon MeringueTart
Caramel Choux
Chocolate Cherry Madeleine
Sable Breton

Overall, the Afternoon Tea service at the Deq Ritz Carlton wow-ed us with presentation and attentive service.  Evey thing was delightful to say the least and really cheered me up on such a rainy & gloomy day!