Shangri La Toronto Nutcracker Afternoon Tea Updated : December 2022
We continue to love our Shangri La Nutcracker Afternoon tea even a decade later! While this article was written in 2013 initially, I also want to share my most recent 2022 experience with Akira and Apollo. It’s hard to believe that they’re 11 and 9 years old now and while they may annoy me more often than not, they do appreciate the finer things in life and I give them credit for asking me to take them for this Toronto afternoon tea experience. This year’s Nutcracker afternoon tea was amazing and honestly, my favourite afternoon tea experience to date in the city!
2022 Pricing : $98 per person for adults and $45 for kids 12 and under (kids menu also has a portion of the proceeds being donated to Make a Wish foundation)
Nutcracker afternoon tea is available from December 1st to December 30th on Thursdays to Sundays.
I absolutely loved the bubbling presentation for this Toronto afternoon tea and the ability to add on a glass of champagne! They even offered the kids a mocktail! You can enjoy a leisurely catch up with friends or family here as you sip tea (the Jasmine is amazing – be sure to do a short steep), nibble on delicious bites and sip your drinks- all while being serenaded by a pianist.
2013 experience : Know that everything I wrote in 2013 is still true today with the exception of menu (it’s constantly evolving)!
Remember our stay at the Shangri-La? Well I got a chance to check out the Lobby Lounge’s new Nutcracker High Tea with baby boy and we had a most refined tea session with Food Spun. I absolutely love that Shangri-La Toronto continues to wow us with each visit. I’m still dreaming about my visit to BOSK (by the way they have some awesome Christmas and New Year dining options if you’re looking!).
The mood was set as we cozied up by the fireplace for a girly chat about life, Toronto’s food scene and our families. The Lobby Lounge is becoming one of my favourite spots in the city to escape…when you’re there you can easily forget the hustle and bustle of the city and instead you’re serenaded by a pianist on the handcrafted Fazioli piano. The Nutcracker High Tea service was accompanied by a live performances from award winning pianist Thompson Egbo-Egbo and baby boy slept blissfully till the very end when we came out to be mesmerized by the fire.
We were welcomed with a pot of tea and I chose the Apple Crumble which smelled exactly like that! It was also a gorgeous rosy pink that had me clicking away! Given that they have over 75 teas in their library there’s no shortage of one that would suit your palate. We then sat back and spent the relaxing afternoon catching up and hardly noticed the time slip by when our hostess graciously swung by with the high tea offerings.
In front of us was a tiered selection of finger sandwiches. My favourite was the honey baked ham with caramelized onion on whole wheat bread but I also enjoyed the roasted turkey with cranberry preserve on herb country bread and the smoked salmon with herb boursin cheese on granary bread. I liked that the sandwich selection wasn’t just the boring the egg salad and cucumber offerings you see everywhere (though they did have those as well since those are classic). We were also served a selection of tea cakes and scones with devonshire cream, house-made berry jam and citrus marmalade. I thoroughly enjoyed the black current scones and berry jam.
So what’s the deal with the Nutcracker aspect you ask? Well Chef Damon Campbell and his team of patisseries have been inspired by the Nutcracker ballet which is why the dessert tray has the “Spanish Dance” chocolate truffle, the “Arabian Dance” coffee opera cake and the “Dance of the Reed Flutes” Danish marzipan cake.
The high tea selection in North America is definitely different from high teas in Asia ( it’s pretty much a huge meal in South Asia) but I’m starting to really enjoy the afternoon nibbles with girlfriends over high tea. In fact I may just have to test out the other high teas in the city! How about you? Do you high tea often?
