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The Red Tea Box
Categories: Food Coffee & Tea Food Tea Rooms Restaurants Asian Fusion Coffee & Tea, Tea Rooms, Asian Fusion [Edit]
696 Queen Street WestToronto, ON M6J 1E7
Neighbourhoods: Niagara, West Queen West, Trinity Bellwoods
(416) 203-8882
- Hours:
Mon, Wed-Thu 10 am - 6 pm
Fri-Sat 10 am - 7 pm
Sun 12 pm - 5 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
10 reviews for The Red Tea Box
10 reviews in English
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Review from Natalie B.
Toronto, ON
2/11/2012
This is one of my havens in Toronto. I have been many times over the years with special people who I know would love it as much as I do (namely my mother, my little cousin and some best friends). The conversations I've had and the time I've spent here has been memorable. It is a very calm place that also feels magical.
There is a front room, a back coach house and outdoor garden patio in between the two. Everything (from the cantaloupe-infused table water to the seasonal soup sampler to the eye-pleasing + delicious tea cakes) is delightful!
The combination of intriguing tastes + smells, eclectic culinary influences, whimsical surroundings and enchanting presentation + style deem this place a true gem in both my head and heart! -
Review from Avitania B.
Toronto, ON
12/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
So lovely! Last Sunday, gorgeous Yelp babes Nicole H, Jamie F and I met here to check out Red Tea Box's high tea offerings. The cafe was emptier than I'd expected for a Sunday around 12:30, but perhaps the drizzly weather was to blame.
We were whisked to the back tea room, which was decorated Victorian-style with a definite Asian flair. I loved all the little details, from the peacock-printed cake plates, to the comfy velveteen lounge couches. Service was pretty good, and they did all they could to accomodate friend's vegan diet.
I ordered the Mad Hatter bento, which included an amazingly delicious curried chicken salad, chicken wellingtons (good, if slightly limp), and a selection of sweets: a spongy scone, truffly brownie, and a red velvet w/ caramel cake (very dry and slightly tough)
Loved the selection of teas, and the staff was patient and knowledgeable about the food selection. Price is a bit steep, but a decent value for all the food, high quality tea, and adorable atmosphere. Great place to bring friends for a catch-up over tea. I'd definitely come back. -
Review from J J.
Scarborough, ON
2/9/2012
I was suspicious having read numerous reviews online that mentioned less than stellar visits and rude staff members.
HOW WRONG THEY WERE.
From the moment we came in we were greeted warmly by our server. She took us to the back where we enjoyed the cozy, eclectic room - menus were brought. We orders soup and sandwiches, followed by a pot of tea and two desserts. The food was great - great vegetarian options and the tea pot was more than enough for two people. The desserts - wow. Sweet, and once again - we probably could have gotten away with one as they are rich, delicious and made for sharing (my opinion)
The service from start to finish was attentive and friendly. It was our first visit but we will visit again and I hope the negative reviews on here do not deter other newbies. -
Review from Sara K. P.
Toronto, ON
6/22/2011
This is a little foolish, but I'm Yelping Red Tea Box solely based on one beverage... the insanely refreshing sparkling lemonade with mint.
A little background... I'm a former glucose/fructose addict with a 3 cans of Orange Crush soda per day habit. That stuff was like cheap Meth bought from some guy named Daryl living in a trailer in the Ozarks compared to Red Tea Box's AMAZING Lemonade, the "Cocaine of Lemonade" I'll call it. Also I was brought here by a lovely friend as a reprieve while playing hookey from work so arguably any day off work counts as refreshing.
In all seriousness though it's a charming little nook of a place outfitted like your Nana's livingroom, featuring eclectic yet delish lunch items ( Middle Eastern style bento box anyone?)
What's more who wouldn't enjoy looking at the adorable array of technicolor fondant cakes (which always looked like Play-doh to me?)
All-in-all this place really cheered me up when I was having a shitty week, so I say Red Tea Box is a really capital place for noshing & superb lemonade.Listed in: La Dolce Vita
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Review from Thu N.
North York, ON
2/6/2011
This is definitely a special little place that I never would've thought to eat at except if other people planned it. The house/restaurant is split up into the front which sells sweets, a few tables and the kitchen. You take a path out to the back of the property and walk into literally the mad hatter's tea house. The decorations, tables, chairs setting were so cute and of course the boy in our group of 4 girls felt out of place :)
Everything seemed to take a long time, which is nice for conversations but not nice for appointments. The staff was all very friendly but they just never showed up very often to check on the back to take our orders or the bill. The food also came out very slowly, at its own pace which was not okay with my empty stomach.
The lavender earl grey tea that we shared was delicious!! There wasn't much choice on a saturday morning on what to order since the other lunch boxes were only available after 2pm. I ordered the daily bento box special which was fish, bok choy, rice, and a bit of salmon - I liked the flavouring of the rice but nothing else seemed special, just made me hungrier afterwards :) A friend got a soup and sandwich which seemed a lot more substantial and delicious than what I ordered.
So for actual food and service, I'd give this place 1-2 stars. I think if I wanted to meet someone for tea and conversations this cutesy place would be a 3-4 star. So I'll leave it up to you! -
Review from Anon O.
Toronto, ON
7/25/2011
i hate to write a bad review but i am going to be honest. i love tea and when i saw this place reviewed in NOW magazine a few years ago I jumped at the chance to visit. first off, the decor is fantastic! it reminds me of a caravan and what a tea shop truly should look like, something whimsical and magical. the teas themselves were nothing special. you can get the same tea at either tealish or david's tea for half the price. i ended up getting a lavender earl grey which i still have to this day. it's not bad, it's just boring.
as for the cakes - well, maybe i've just had a bad experience but i had purchased three different kinds for a dinner party i was having in the evening. all three looked amazing and decadent but when myself and my dinner guests got to the actual tasting we were severely disappointed. the cakes had a thick, THICK layer of icing that tasted extremely buttery (gross!) and the inside cake part was hard and stale. these cakes were not in the freezer but certainly tasted like they were. after scooping off the thick layer of icing, the middle was fairly small which was a great big downer. i don't remember what i paid per cake but i know it was expensive, for my money i could have gotten a whole bunch of supermarket cupcakes that probably would have tasted better. sorry :(
the staff here was a mix bag. one girl was extremely friendly but not very helpful, i had asked questions about the teas and got very simple responses. i was hoping she would be more educated on the product selling. as for another salesperson or cook, i don't even know, she was extremely rude and short with me when i asked about the ingredients in the cakes. it sucks that i had such a bad experience with this place, maybe it's changed since i've been there. i MIGHT give it another go for ONE cake and see but i've been scared and definitely prefer to get my tea products elsewhere.Listed in: FOOD & DRINK
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Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
11/12/2010 2 photos
The Red Tea Box, what a pleasant surprise!!
Since I did not order the food in the restaurant, I will be writing this review based on the perspective of Red Tea Box as a retail store and a cake shop.
I have to say it is one of the cutest teashops I been to. The selections of tea are great and love that they have all of them in jars so you can really smell them all if you choose to before making the decisions.
OMG! Those cute fondant cakes! They look so amazing and pretty... just like a piece of art. The details are so amazing. I already know a few of my sweet crazy friends would have love to eat one of those! Me personally thinks fondant is too too sweet for my taste and I will appreciate the cakes as a piece of art or an photographic items!
Great place to go if you are shopping for gifts too. You will find some quite unique items for your hard to pleased love ones!
If you in the area, definitely dropby and browse around, you won't be disappointed!Listed in: Loose Leaf Teas!
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Review from Heather M.
6/11/2010
Great food at this restaurant - very delicately made and beautiful presentation. Yummy too! Portion sizes are very small and it is a tad pricey, if I recall correctly a "bento" was around $22. They also have great desserts here too, that are unique and delicious (i.e. chilli chocolate ganache)
I love the atmosphere of the coach house at the back of the restaurant, it's peaceful and perfect to catch up with friends you haven't seen in a long time.
Wait staff here can be variable. I've had some nice ones, and some that were somewhat angry to have customers.
Beware the lock in the bathroom, it can be confusing. -
Review from Jonas B.
Toronto, ON
1/18/2010
The food is always delightful. The presentation is always interesting.
And yet we never feel at ease when visiting the Red Tea Box...
The seating is horribly uncomfortable. Low tables with busted antique swivel chairs are lovely to look at, but cause a serious back ache. The attitude and approach to service is also unfortunate as it often comes with an air of pretentiousness. And tea for $11 per pot is over priced in my estimation.
Difficult to remember and inflexible serving hours are the last source of frustration. Tea Bento served Monday to Saturday after 2pm, but 12pm-3:30pm on Sunday. Lunch Bento served Monday to Saturday 11am-2:30pm. I am writing these hours down so we can remember them, because despite the overly precious atmosphere, we return again and again for the food. -
Review from Connie T.
Toronto, ON
11/13/2008 1 photo
I want to like Red Tea Box more than I do.
I don't know about paying $17 for a bento box that leaves you with a grumbling stomach. Talk about dainty chow for the delicate soul. However, the food is good: lemongrass poached veggies, tumeric rice, cod cakes with amazing chutney, cardamom & masala chai, curried salmon, dragonfruit, and the raise-the-roof sweet pea hummus... Slurpalicious.
BUT... drum roll, please. Though it's a unique resto with a quaint seating arrangement in the back, it had kind of a "shh, this is a library!" aspect to it that ruined my experience and made me feel like I should've been sent to the kids table.
Nice place, but not the most comfortable or value-rich eateries in the city. Maybe best to stick with an afternoon tea outing here.
