Very clean and elegant place located inside Holt Renfrew. Food is great and service is superb.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
FWWG
The Chef does an excellent job creating an interesting varied menu. The food is cooked well. The server was very pleasant. Decor and cloth napkins are a big part of the ambience. Thanks.
Audrey
We absolutely loved our Lunar New Year Afternoon Tea. The service was thoughtful and consistent, and we felt very taken care. The tea itself was stunning and left no room for improvement. Generous portion sizes and all items were well crafted with a lot of care put into each one. We also enjoyed the red envelopes that were included!
LouiseA
We ate here for the Lunar New Years Afternoon Tea, and it was well-worth the price. There were 3 tiers of specialties, all with Asian flavors and presentations. The expertise to make some of these treats, especially the Jade Chocolate Dragon, was amazing.
Lindsey Dia
Took refuge at the cafe as the shopping this weekend was just crazy.It's been years I've been back at the cafe.Great service! Thank you Crissy!Potato Fries- thin cut and very well done.Yam Fries- highlight! must order, caramelise to perfectionIce coffee; Friend had this and said it was great.Espresso Martini- Tasted ok, half the glass was foam so it was half a drink.The misses:Brewed coffee, tepid temperature, weak and tons of grounds that I couldn't finish. Didn't want to order coffee with tons of milk, and assumed the Americano would be weak. Brew is a no go.Oysters; We had about 20, and half of the oysters had so much shell, lost of brine and just thin/skinny. Not worth it, considering it's oyster season atm. The bottle are cute with the sauces however I only use lemon, and I prefer fresh lemons.Had dinner post snack, so wasn't able to order the salads and sandwiches.I'm not sure what to think of Holts Cafe.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Yam Fries
Diana Picher
I ordered the salmon salad which was a huge disappointment. It contained a large pile of arugula in the center with 3 thin slices of lox around the edge and maybe a tablespoon of salmon, a few sad halved cherry tomatoes and a small amount of dressing. I didn't even eat 1/2 of it and I did make a comment/complaint to our server who did nothing. I would not expect a comped meal but maybe a free dessert or discount . For 23$ I would expect more from that cafe.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
Oliver Ma
They claimed the croissants are freshly made, but disappointedly they were hard like rocks.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
MiamiMartha
It's a surprisingly cozy space, despite the simple decor. Great food, kind and knowledgeable staff. It was nice that it wasn't super loud, nor were the tables too close together. The perfect combination of lively and yet still private!
Jessica Cajapin
I would not recommend the cafe itself because of its service, but also went for the Jo Malone afternoon tea and wasn't satisfied.The good: I quite enjoyed the savoury high tea items and they definitely were something different and nice to eat. The scones were also baked very nicely. And only the marshmallow of the desserts was absolutely delicious.The bad: For the price I paid I felt like the desserts were lacking but the service was the worst. The entire experience took 2.5 hours and felt like there was a lot of waiting around as well as having to flag down the server to pay. It took 45 mins to even get our tea after sitting down. We were a bit early for our reservation but told we were not allowed to sit till our designated time slot, which is fine if I didn't have to wait around so long for everything else. Servers weren't welcoming, barely checked back and everything felt extremely slow. I would have expected top tier service but felt I could get better elsewhere at a more affordable price.The Jo Malone gift was pretty basic, wasn't expecting much but again, you're paying quite a bit for not much in return.I noticed others really having to wave down servers for help and payment too and it just put a damper on my overall experience as a whole.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Gregory Munson
We’ve had afternoon high tea here three times over the past year. The first two were 5-star affairs that kept us coming back. This one was just a bit off, though still fun. Apparently a social media influencer has posted about the Jo Malone-branded tea service being offered now, leading to a surge in bookings. This surge resulted in a far busier tea room (with one table asked to vacate their table at the end of their allotted time) and a slight decline in food quality (including scones inexplicably cut in half, allowing the cut ends to dry out). A special shout-out to our server Lisa who provided amazing service despite the busy room.
We came for the Jo Malone tea experience and found it to be okay. The Jo Malone pairing and gift bag was simply a perfume sample and a Holt Renfrew shopping bag. The afternoon tea itself was, again, just okay. Some sandwiches were too salty and some of the desserts too sweet, though the macaron texture was perfect and we enjoyed our teas (Holts Blend and Oolong Cream). Will not be back, unfortunately.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
DL16
Food was great. Atmosphere was great too. Service was great except that the servers were so overwhelmed with the amount of tables seated. It would be nice if extra staff on the floor to help us with topping our water and checking in with us from time to time.
CindyW
We had the Jo Malone high tea set and were quite disappointed. The panna cotta had not set properly and the consistency was like yogurt. The other desserts were too sweet. The scones and savoury sandwiches were alright. It took them over 40 minutes to get the high set out to us (just two of us). I probably will not go back to Holts Cafe.
Rosenna T
Had possibly the worst high tea experience. This review is strictly for whoever manages staffing at the cafe. I know it’s not the waitresses’ fault and the waitresses did the best they could.Major staffing issue:My reservation was at 1:30pm, I wasn’t able to get seated until 2:00pm. We sat and waited for another 45 mins until our tea and food came.Food:Food wasn’t bad but:1.) watery Panna Cotta… it looks like they didn’t that have enough time for it to set2.) the menu said, chicken sandwich on brioche buns and truffle egg sandwich but they switched the buns. It just feels like whoever was making the food, didn’t know what they were doing3.) scones were caky4.) macaron was soggyBait and switch advertisement:This tea was advertised as Jo Malone x Holts Cafe and customers who participated at the tea were promised a personalized perfume experience. That absolutely did not happen. The staff at the Jo Malone gave us a lotion sample and sent us off.For $65 per person, I expected more.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Tea Selection
Jessica
We did the holiday afternoon tea. Service was excellent. Food was OK and overpriced. We had to send the truffle egg salad sandwiches back because they were missing the egg salad. Portions were too small. The menu looked delicious so we were excited to try this while shopping the store. I think the regular lunch menu would have been a better choice.
Very clean and elegant place located inside Holt Renfrew. Food is great and service is superb.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Chef does an excellent job creating an interesting varied menu. The food is cooked well. The server was very pleasant. Decor and cloth napkins are a big part of the ambience. Thanks.
We absolutely loved our Lunar New Year Afternoon Tea. The service was thoughtful and consistent, and we felt very taken care. The tea itself was stunning and left no room for improvement. Generous portion sizes and all items were well crafted with a lot of care put into each one. We also enjoyed the red envelopes that were included!
We ate here for the Lunar New Years Afternoon Tea, and it was well-worth the price. There were 3 tiers of specialties, all with Asian flavors and presentations. The expertise to make some of these treats, especially the Jade Chocolate Dragon, was amazing.
Took refuge at the cafe as the shopping this weekend was just crazy.It's been years I've been back at the cafe.Great service! Thank you Crissy!Potato Fries- thin cut and very well done.Yam Fries- highlight! must order, caramelise to perfectionIce coffee; Friend had this and said it was great.Espresso Martini- Tasted ok, half the glass was foam so it was half a drink.The misses:Brewed coffee, tepid temperature, weak and tons of grounds that I couldn't finish. Didn't want to order coffee with tons of milk, and assumed the Americano would be weak. Brew is a no go.Oysters; We had about 20, and half of the oysters had so much shell, lost of brine and just thin/skinny. Not worth it, considering it's oyster season atm. The bottle are cute with the sauces however I only use lemon, and I prefer fresh lemons.Had dinner post snack, so wasn't able to order the salads and sandwiches.I'm not sure what to think of Holts Cafe.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Yam Fries
I ordered the salmon salad which was a huge disappointment. It contained a large pile of arugula in the center with 3 thin slices of lox around the edge and maybe a tablespoon of salmon, a few sad halved cherry tomatoes and a small amount of dressing. I didn't even eat 1/2 of it and I did make a comment/complaint to our server who did nothing. I would not expect a comped meal but maybe a free dessert or discount . For 23$ I would expect more from that cafe.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
They claimed the croissants are freshly made, but disappointedly they were hard like rocks.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
It's a surprisingly cozy space, despite the simple decor. Great food, kind and knowledgeable staff. It was nice that it wasn't super loud, nor were the tables too close together. The perfect combination of lively and yet still private!
I would not recommend the cafe itself because of its service, but also went for the Jo Malone afternoon tea and wasn't satisfied.The good: I quite enjoyed the savoury high tea items and they definitely were something different and nice to eat. The scones were also baked very nicely. And only the marshmallow of the desserts was absolutely delicious.The bad: For the price I paid I felt like the desserts were lacking but the service was the worst. The entire experience took 2.5 hours and felt like there was a lot of waiting around as well as having to flag down the server to pay. It took 45 mins to even get our tea after sitting down. We were a bit early for our reservation but told we were not allowed to sit till our designated time slot, which is fine if I didn't have to wait around so long for everything else. Servers weren't welcoming, barely checked back and everything felt extremely slow. I would have expected top tier service but felt I could get better elsewhere at a more affordable price.The Jo Malone gift was pretty basic, wasn't expecting much but again, you're paying quite a bit for not much in return.I noticed others really having to wave down servers for help and payment too and it just put a damper on my overall experience as a whole.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
We’ve had afternoon high tea here three times over the past year. The first two were 5-star affairs that kept us coming back. This one was just a bit off, though still fun. Apparently a social media influencer has posted about the Jo Malone-branded tea service being offered now, leading to a surge in bookings. This surge resulted in a far busier tea room (with one table asked to vacate their table at the end of their allotted time) and a slight decline in food quality (including scones inexplicably cut in half, allowing the cut ends to dry out). A special shout-out to our server Lisa who provided amazing service despite the busy room.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tea Selection
Restaurantji Recommends
We came for the Jo Malone tea experience and found it to be okay. The Jo Malone pairing and gift bag was simply a perfume sample and a Holt Renfrew shopping bag. The afternoon tea itself was, again, just okay. Some sandwiches were too salty and some of the desserts too sweet, though the macaron texture was perfect and we enjoyed our teas (Holts Blend and Oolong Cream). Will not be back, unfortunately.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Food was great. Atmosphere was great too. Service was great except that the servers were so overwhelmed with the amount of tables seated. It would be nice if extra staff on the floor to help us with topping our water and checking in with us from time to time.
We had the Jo Malone high tea set and were quite disappointed. The panna cotta had not set properly and the consistency was like yogurt. The other desserts were too sweet. The scones and savoury sandwiches were alright. It took them over 40 minutes to get the high set out to us (just two of us). I probably will not go back to Holts Cafe.
Had possibly the worst high tea experience. This review is strictly for whoever manages staffing at the cafe. I know it’s not the waitresses’ fault and the waitresses did the best they could.Major staffing issue:My reservation was at 1:30pm, I wasn’t able to get seated until 2:00pm. We sat and waited for another 45 mins until our tea and food came.Food:Food wasn’t bad but:1.) watery Panna Cotta… it looks like they didn’t that have enough time for it to set2.) the menu said, chicken sandwich on brioche buns and truffle egg sandwich but they switched the buns. It just feels like whoever was making the food, didn’t know what they were doing3.) scones were caky4.) macaron was soggyBait and switch advertisement:This tea was advertised as Jo Malone x Holts Cafe and customers who participated at the tea were promised a personalized perfume experience. That absolutely did not happen. The staff at the Jo Malone gave us a lotion sample and sent us off.For $65 per person, I expected more.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Tea Selection
We did the holiday afternoon tea. Service was excellent. Food was OK and overpriced. We had to send the truffle egg salad sandwiches back because they were missing the egg salad. Portions were too small. The menu looked delicious so we were excited to try this while shopping the store. I think the regular lunch menu would have been a better choice.