Notch8: Pop-art inspired themed afternoon tea
Notch8 Restaurant & Bar is located inside the downtown Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and is a restaurant/bar with a train theme (it has some steampunk elements). They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner but I recently visited for my friend’s birthday to try their themed afternoon tea.
Notch8 changes up their themed afternoon tea every few months. Since May, their theme is pop-art inspired (think Andy Warhol – lots of funky colours, comic book style, etc.). The themed afternoon tea is $74 per adult and $40 per child.
Here is how my experience went!
The vibe
The afternoon tea is held in a separate room (kind of like a basement- there are no windows). They usually decorate this entire room to match the theme, so as you can see the entire space is decked out in fun colours and they even have comic-inspired cushions. I found the space to be very fun and exciting.
We are a table of 5 so we got quite a large table in the corner. Half of it has booth seating with a lighted shelf background, the other half had dark chairs. The table was set up with fake blue flowers, plates and teacups with lots of colourful designs and a menu that looks like an art canvas.
I felt pretty comfortable sitting in the booth. The cushion actually really helped with my lower back support. My only gripe is that it is kind of dark in this room with overhead lighting.
Pop-art inspired afternoon tea ($74 per person)
The food items are set but they do accommodate dietary restrictions. Each person can select a tea of their choice.
I chose the bahama blue tea because the menu said it would be blue and I felt that was very fitting for this colourful afternoon tea. But knowing it is literally the colour blue, I also kind of knew it wouldn’t taste that good ๐. The colour was more light purple actually, and it tasted sweet and fruity (do not mix it with any cream or milk). My other friends chose the English breakfast, lavender earl grey and the orange pekoe.
Bottom tray: scones
Starting off with the bottom plate (you are supposed to eat from bottom to top), we have the scones. Each person gets 2 scones – a sultana scone and a classic buttermilk scone, served with some chantilly cream and strawberry preserve.
I ate the sultana scone and I really liked it – it had good density and was flaky. It went really well with the cream and strawberry preserve as well. A pretty large scone! I actually couldn’t finish the second buttermilk scone and had to pack it for home.
Second tray: savoury
On the middle plate, we have 5 different savoury items. I am a savoury girl so this is usually the part I love the most in afternoon tea.
Tomato “soup”
I like to follow the order of what the menu lists, so I start off with eating the tomato “soup”, which is actually a little orange tart. Inside it is filled with a tomato soup – infused type of filling, and there is also a little piece of shrimp inside.
I thought the tart was a cool idea because I was really imagining a small bowl of tomato soup (I love tomato soup ๐ฅฐ). The tart had some good structural integrity to it and the orange filling did taste kind of like tomato soup but I felt it was a little bit cold.
Camouflage
Second, we have a ravioli fritto (think of it liked a deep fried ravioli), filled with mushroom duxelles and parmesan on top. The ravioli was also colourful, but i found the ravioli skin to be a bit thick and dry. The mushroom filling on the inside was ok but it also didn’t have a strong mushroom taste. The combination of parmesan and mushroom was good though.
Everything burger
This slider features a pretty large meatball with some aged cheddar and red onion jam. The 3 elements taste good together and I especially like the red onion jam – yummy! The meatball also has good flavour and wasn’t dry.
Pumpkin
Fourth, we have a puff pastry with a miso glazed pumpkin on top, some herb crumbs and balsamic pearls. I initially mistook the balsamic pearls for tobiko or fish eggs.
This item was ok, not super memorable for me. There was little pumpkin actually in it (it is just a layer of pumpkin on top, the rest is puff pastry). The balsamic pearls were cool but there wasn’t a big burst of flavour from it.
The flower
Lastly, we have a soft finger sandwich with a smoked ham hock terrine, some apricots and edible flowers. Out of all the savoury items, this one was my favourite because of the smokiness and flavour of the ham hock terrine. The sweetness from the apricot also made it well balanced.
Top tray: sweets
Moving onto the 3rd course – sweets!
I would like you all first to know that by now, we are all pretty full. I ended up packing most of the sweets for home, but I will include my thoughts in this review of after I ate it at home.
Banana eclair
I found the presentation of the elcairs to be kind of funny. It just looked a little bit like a turd when they are placed in a pile on top of each other ๐ฉ.
I am not a fan of banana or banana flavours, but the eclair didn’t taste the way I expected. It was light and fluffy, kind of like that Japanese banana cake you can find in department stores/duty free stores in Japan.
Opera rock
This is a slice of opera cake with joconde sponge, dark chocolate, hazelnut cream and a graffiti glaze. The layers of the cake are done pretty well like a classic opera cake, but I did find the overall taste to be too sweet for me.
Blank canvas
Out of all the desserts, this one was probably the most fun. The “blank canvas” is a slice of white chocolate cheesecake, and you actually use paint brushes to paint on it while dipping your brush in mango or raspberry “paint”, filled inside chocolate petal cups.
The cheesecake itself tasted like a pretty normal cheesecake (the white chocolate didn’t make it too sweet). Most of my friends did enjoy the cheesecake. The “paint” doesn’t really add much to the flavour.
Lips
A simple chocolate truffle in the shape of lips – soft on the inside.
Tall meringue
This sweet had a really cute look to it due to the height of the torched swiss meringue, which is pink. It tastes kind of like a marshmallow. Underneath, there is lemon curd and a short crust. This is sour and together with the meringue, it’s supposed to create a balance.
I usually like lemon meringue sweets, but I found this one to be a little off. Some parts I found too sour and other parts I found too sweet, even though I ate it together.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I am hovering between 2-3 stars for Notch8’s pop-art inspired afternoon tea.
Out of the 12 food items included in the afternoon tea, I liked maybe 4-5 items, which is not even 50% of the menu. The items I liked were the 2 scones, everything burger, pork hock terrine sandwich, and the cheesecake. Everything else was just ok or average, or slightly below average to my taste and preferences.
With a price point of $74 per person, it is considered on the more pricey/higher end of afternoon tea. Therefore I expected to like more of the food items than I actually did.
The theme of the afternoon tea is fun and cool, so I guess part of the price you pay for is that atmosphere with all the decorations and the theme, vs. just a regular afternoon tea set.
Service was good and they even brought out a complimentary slice of cake for the birthday girl, although the birthday girl said the cake was hard and cold ๐ .
I’m not sure if I would return for another afternoon tea at Notch8, since it didn’t feel that worth it to me. But perhaps depending on future themes and a different menu, I may be inclined.
Recommended: For similar or lower price points, you can check out my review of other afternoon high teas: Neverland Tea Salon in Kitsilano (now $55 per person), Butter Baked Goods in Kitsilano (now $60 per person), and H Tasting Lounge in downtown Vancouver (now $72 per person).
Sincerely, Loewe