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James Bay Tea Room & Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
12 reviews for James Bay Tea Room & Restaurant
12 reviews in English
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Review from Team F.
10/8/2010
Nothing special in terms of their tea service...and horribly distracting 70s music that reminds me of why so little of my music collection harkens from that era.
Interesting collection of pictures and artwork highlighting the Brit royal family. -
Review from sara m.
Vancouver, BC
2/7/2012
one star for the authentic looking tea room....
will add more later--too upset to write. complete disaster. contender for an episode of Kitchen Nightmares....Highway robbery.... -
Review from Susan L.
12/20/2011
Very disappointed. The food was packaged, not fresh. Very expensive.
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Review from Elaine K.
6/16/2011
Wow. My first 1-star rating. There was nothing truly redeeming about this place. Our hotel recommended this tea room since we weren't able to go to the downtown core due to time constraints. As soon as we walked in, we immediately knew it was a tourist trap -- the location (it's located right across from the legislature grounds)...the blue table cloths... tacky British trinkets and memorabilia littered around the restaurant were all a bit much for my taste. I decided I'd keep an open mind.
Waitress was friendly enough but she somehow managed to spill the entire cup of cream for my coffee while she was taking our order. It was quickly cleared away but our new table cloth still managed to have cream all over it. Ok, no biggie but strike 1. We finally get our food (me with eggs benny and boy with pot pie). The cutlery is dirty with some crusted over food on the fork. Strike 2. Food was pretty mediocre. Eggs benny were soggy and way too saucy for my liking. Pot pie was too salty. The killer is that the price of our food was comparable to the breakfast at our 4-star hotel!! Strike 3.
With all the amazing breakfast joints in Victoria, I will certainly not be returning here. -
Review from Kristen S.
Langley, BC
1/23/2012
Truly horrible food. I decided to stop for their "light tea". Based on the reviews I read after discovering how bad it was I am glad I didn't pay the even bigger bucks for the regular high tea meal. They only have one tea option included in the price, anything else has an upcharge. The tea included 2 scones that had obviously been warmed up in the microwave (chewy and damp on the bottom). Two packages of strawberry jam (how hard is it to buy a jar of decent jam and put some in a small bowl!) and a bowl in the middle with whipped cream. The crumpets were meh and dosed with butter. The sweets included a lemon tart and a small piece of nanaimo bar, obviously both store bought (thank goodness after the horrible scone!). The only redeeming aspect was the free wifi, but not worth it!
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Review from Terry L.
Victoria, BC
3/22/2012
I live here. Don't go. One star is one too many but you can't give none.
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Review from Shannon N.
11/16/2008
An absolute disappointment for "high tea". It came all on one plate and clearly the chef didn't care about it. Egg salad and tuna salad sandwiches didn't taste good (and yes, they had the crust - c'mon). One toasted crumpet, a small scone, tiny quiche, another tiny sweet and slice of orange. In the middle of the plate was a huge bowl of whipped cream, accompanied by a prepackaged bit of jam. And only the house tea was included - an additional charge for any other tea. For almost $20 total.
Save yourself the money and go somewhere else. We had a great time at the White Heather Tea Room. -
Review from Ashleigh W.
Victoria, BC
11/26/2009
If you're into the royals, check it out - they've got just about a million bits of memorabilia around the dining room.
The food is okay, but overpriced and small portions - especially when compared to breakfast at other places in Victoria.
Avoid it unless you're famished. -
Review from Antonia W.
Toronto, ON
7/12/2010
I took my friend from Toronto here to have the high tea experience and somebody had recommended it to me so I was pretty excited to try it out. For $20, it's definitely a lot cheaper than the Empress high tea down the street.
BOY, is it squishy in there... like sardines! You're literally sitting with your back against somebody else.. or somebody's chair in between you and your tea mates. They put the tables really close to each other, I guess to get as many customers as they can, but it's a bit silly.
They have a lot of stuff up on their walls and near the ceiling to keep you looking around while you're waiting for your high tea tray to come out. So it finally came out and underwhelmed is all I can say for the tray offerings. The quiches were tiny and seemed like those ones you buy in the frozen section. Crumpets are cheap and boring. The scone was pretty small.... at least the devonshire cream and jam went well with it.
There are so many high tea options in Victoria, I'd say give this a pass. Go to the Empress if you've got cash to blow, it is pretty fantastic. -
Review from Michael B.
11/12/2010
I enjoyed this cozy little spot. Lots of English tchotchkes on the walls. Tea was good, breakfast was also very good. I had eggs and multigrain toast. Not very hard to mess up, and they did a good job of it. I will go back. Service could be a bit slow, but what do you expect with one waitress?
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Review from Brad M.
6/4/2010
Good service, reasonable price, traditional tea room environment, my wife enjoyed.
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Review from Laina T.
3/15/2009
I agree with Shannon N, the James Bay Tea Room was a complete disappointment for tea.
We headed here based on a recommendation by a co-worker and I had high hopes. I mean really, how can you go wrong with tea? This place just didn't get it all right.
The menu says they get their very own blend of tea imported from England, but that doesn't mean it's good. It wasn't bad, but I have had better tea.
After browsing the menu, I almost changed my mind and went with a lunch offering, but I thought "hey, I'll get both tuna and egg salad with tea!". While the little sandwiches were good (and I probably would have better enjoyed just the tuna sandwich lunch), the rest of the food included in my tea was just not that good. The quiche thing was bleh. The one skinny slice of orange looked more like a garnish. The crumpet was extremely dry and the scone was bland. The pre-packaged jam further took away from the tea experience. Everything was served on one plate, looking like pieces you've added to your plate when going through a buffet.
However, the service was good and the restaurant itself is quaint and fun. The walls are loaded with pictures of the royal family which are fun to look at.
The place was packed, so either a lot of people were there for the first time like we were, or I'm in the minority with my thoughts on the James Bay Tea Room. My husband did enjoy his breakfast and I'm not opposed to coming back here, I just won't be taking tea here again.
