Faubourg (Afternoon Tea) - Vancouver, BC

I know Mr. Piglet isn't going to like it but because I've been wanting to try this place for MONTHS we're going to go for lunch but I'm not telling him what for...  Hee hee!

We pull up to the curb and Mr. Piglet asks what we're here for.  My response?  Baked goods and afternoon tea.  What's afternoon tea?  I tell him it's baked goods.  Technically, I'm not lying since Faubourg is a French cafe and patisserie but he doesn't know it involves finger foods, women in hats and frilly lace.

It's quite nice but very busy in the front area and there are a tonne of baked goods calling my name but I block them out of my view and head to the tea room.  Well, it's not a room, more like a corner with many tables crammed in.  No doubt beautiful but I might as well start eating the food from the table next to us as we're basically sitting at the same table.  The server hands us the menus and tells us that sharing a tea setting will cost an extra $5 and it is not enough food for the two of us if we're looking for a filling meal.  Mr. Piglet's mind is boggled by the price of a high tea sitting and the serving sizes - it's  not meant to be a gut-busting meal but he's very certain he won't be full enough afterwards so I tell him to order off the cafe menu while I settle for tea for one.

 

Beef Bourguignon - $15.95

The mashed potatoes are mashed potatoes and the bread is crispy on the outside while soft on the inside but both of these sides are not anything new and/or interesting.  The beef is tender and there's plenty of it but I think the overall dish is much too salty - if I couldn't eat it with the mashed potatoes or bread, I wouldn't be able to eat it at all.  I only have a spoonful and that's enough for me but Mr. Piglet likes it fine.   In fact, he devours the whole dish in mere minutes.  I feel like I'm missing out on the whole high tea ambiance as he wolfs food down like that....

Pink Afternoon Tea - $25.50

OOOoooohhhhh!  It looks beautiful but yes, Mr. Piglet was correct in assuming that it wouldn't be enough of a meal for himself.  Tiny finger foods that are so beautiful, I don't even want to eat them.  They should be put into a glass case and displayed at the VAG.

Smoked salmon and wasabi cream sandwich - not something new.  You get this flavor combination at almost any Japanese restaurant and the bread is so compressed (so it can be rolled into a nice pinwheel) that it becomes chewy and too dense.  I would've rather this been a normal sandwich with normal bread, which is not as visually appealing but would've had a better texture.

Cucumber, roast beef and coriander cream sandwich - on the more disappointing side.  There is very little flavoring and I didn't even know there was coriander cream in it.  I know these finger foods are supposed to be light but come on!  The roast beef is faint and I taste the cucumber more than anything else.  What a waste of roast beef...

Chicken, apple, country ranch dressing sandwich - the best of the bunch.  It had great flavors and a nice crunch from the apple and celery but again, this is not something new.  I've probably made this sandwich at least a dozen times at home.  To give it a nice twist, they could've added another element of flavor like curry to spice it up a bit.

Blackberry Souffle - divine.  Light, warm and had a nice crunch from the sugar.  Mr. Piglet agrees that we'd order this one again.  I would call this one my favorite as it is the most surprising of all the pastries and had a very robust blackberry flavor.  It reminded me of summer, a season so sorely missed...

Mini Lemon Tart - both Hungry Piglets really enjoyed it.  Nice dense cookie crust, the lemon custard was light in texture but not in taste - the tartness really refreshes the palate.  Again, there's a nice contrast with the addition of the white sugar pieces on the outside to give that nice crunch to the custard and to add sweet notes to that sour flavor.  

Mini Opera - lovely and executed quite well here.  The chocolate ganache has a stronger bitter flavor, the top layer of passionfruit gelee is quite robust so the sponge cake is somewhat lost here but I still enjoyed it for the flavors I did detect.  Passionfruit and chocolate go so well together!

Chocolate Mousse - I have a soft spot for mousses so it's no surprise that I really enjoyed this cup of happiness. Light chocolate mousse offset with cool whipped cream on top.  I struggled to stop myself so Mr. Piglet could give it a try as well.  The portions are so tiny that after two small bites, there's barely any left for him!  *sigh*  I wish I had some now...

Raspberry tart/cookie? - it's a cookie with a raspberry in it.  It's good and the cookie is light but there's nothing much more to it.

Lime Basil Macaron - crunchy exterior, light interior and really original flavor pairing.  I loved the texture of this little delicate pastry but Mr. Piglet and I are undecided about the taste.  We finally agree that it's "ok".

Scone with Raspberry Jam and Cream - the scone has a crunchy exterior and slightly dense interior.  The scone is a scone, nothing exciting, the jam came from a jar and the cream was just cream.  This was nice but that's about it.  We've definitely had better scones elsewhere and for the price, a little homemade jam would've gone a long way.

I loved that the teapot came with a cosy to keep the tea warm for the duration of our meal.  I don't think it would've mattered what tea we chose since they would've all been wonderful and matched well with the finger foods.  All of the items we tried ranged from ok to delicious and nothing we tried was even remotely close to terrible.  Would the Hungry Piglets come back for high tea?  Sure, but only if we had heavy wallets and something special to celebrate - it'd be ridiculous to have $60+ light lunches all of the time.  Faubourg is a treat, not a daily haunt for us but we would come back for a light snack/dessert in the future.  Bon appetite!

Pros:

• Beautiful desserts
• Tea items had good flavors
• Reservations accepted
• Cafe and patisserie selections also available
• Tea selection was small but the flavors were good

Cons:

• Pricey!  We haven't had such an expensive lunch in a long time...
• Beautiful setting but the tea area is TINY - we're seated at a very small table (which I think was meant for 1) and the other tables are very close by
• Service was spotty - hot and cold attitude from the server
• Street pay parking (but if you wander out a few blocks, there's some free parking available as well)