As a lover of afternoon tea, I was eager to try out Little White House Salon Cafe, a Parisian cafe and pastry shop. They have two locations in the Lower Mainland: one in Abbotsford and one in Langley. In Abbotsford, their cafe is in the heart of historic Downtown Abbotsford. I had come to know about them because they were promoted by Tourism Abbotsford on Instagram. So when I was in Abbotsford a while back for the Fraser Valley Food Show, I made plans to visit their cafe.
Rustic & Charming
First of all, I thought their all white-colour, vintage, countryhouse theme was rather charming. It seemed like the kind of place which would be great for a girlfriend gathering or to bring your grand-mother for tea.
The interior is rather spacious and is part-cafe part clothing store. There were quite a few pastel-coloured clothing pieces for sale. Very fitting with the theme.
What I Tried
I had reviewed the Little White House & Co. menu online prior and had seen that they offer an afternoon for one for $22. While I have tried quite a few afternoon tea places, I have never done so alone. So, I decided to try a new dining experience – that is, afternoon tea on my own. Furthermore, the price of $22 seemed reasonable for afternoon tea. However, if you want to order individual afternoon tea items, you can do so. They have a sweet petits menu online with items priced between $1 – $2.
It was an hour before closing and I was the only customer. I sat at a table for two with a glass surface.
I went with Earl Grey for my tea. My afternoon tea had the standard three-tiers of sweets and savouries.
The top layer consisted of a vanilla cupcake, sweet-heart shortbread cookie, and a lavender chocolate macaron. The sweets were good overall although I thought the cupcake presentation could be improved by not using a food sampling cup. The macaron was on point with a meringue-like texture with an eggshell-like outer crust. The shortbread was buttery and flaky. The cupcake was probably the least interesting of the three.
The middle layer had a raison scone, raspberry preserve, devonshire cream, candied almonds and a cookie. The scone was good but nothing amazing. It was a bit more dense and less fluffy on the inside for me to rave about it.
The last tier had the savouries: open-faced creamcheese sandwich with cucumber and tomatoes, a quiche, mini tart, and a croissant sandwich. Satisfying savouries but nothing too memorable.
Overall Impression
Although I didn’t have an “wow” moments during my visit, I thought the afternoon tea items were overall better than average. For the price of $22, I thought that the afternoon tea set was reasonable. I quite enjoyed the decor and atmosphere which enhanced the experience. Rating: 3.5/5
Website: http://littlewhitehouseco.com/