Today we were at the launch of Fairmont Hotel Vancouver’s newest rotating high tea theme. From September 25th to November 9th 2025 you are welcomed to their hidden book shelf space, rebranded as the “Haunted Cellar” combining the elegance that they are known for with the eeriness of the season.
The ceiling is overgrown with dried moss, the shelves storage for books, bottles, and birds. The occasional brass chalice and skull added to the macabre theme.
Today’s showcase gave us a look of what we could expect from the three tiered tea tower for two, with the ability to try it all buffet style. As a result the food was cold and not as expected, so take my review with a grain of salt. This was not all as intended, and your tea experience would be served warm and made/assembled to order.
Somewhat surprising, I liked all the desserts more than the savoury bites. Although this is warranted given Halloween’s connotation with candy and sweets. I really appreciated how each element was given its own spooky name to add to the collective whimsy of the Halloween theme.
Starting with Fairmont’s favourite scones in both their Classic Buttermilk served with mascarpone tea cream and the seasonal Bloodberry. The latter looked like an abscess with blood oozing from it, but here the “blood” was an apple strawberry jam. This was only the tip of the eerie iceberg and they really leaned into the devilish decorating with this one.
The Raven was a turkey katsu sandwich topped with red pepper hummus and black sesame. I get the bird connection, but could have used more black sesame for the colour connotation. I liked the crispy katsu and the fragrant sesame, but found the hummus unnecessary. Although tasty with vegetables or pita, here it was confusing. I thought it overpowered the sandwich and felt out of place. The shredded Nori below would have been a more complimentary topping and befitting of the “Raven” name.
The Hocus Pocus was salmon rillette, crème fraiche, salmon roe, and chives. The black threads sprinkled over did add an air of creepy. I would have preferred the salmon smoked, as that would have been more complimentary to the combined flavour and textural profile of the cream, roe, and chives. The mashed salmon here felt too dense for the light sandwich bread. It was chalky and salty, with the fish roe only exemplifying both of those characteristics.
The Halloweenie was a fun one. A sausage round instead of a roll, splattered over with beet ketchup for a more sinister looking treat. This was basically an elevated two bite hotdog with ketchup.
The Fig Reaper was a great pun for a fall inspired fig tart. This was my favourite of the savoury bites with rich brie, fragrant rosemary, and sweetened caramelized onion.
The Dark Tide was a one bite potato chip topped with tuna tartare, pine nut, and black magic aioli. Sadly, by the time we got to this the cracker had oxidized and softened. The tuna was lovely and light and I got some crunch from the pine nuts, but I couldn’t figure out what the “black magic aioli” was supposed to be.
In hindsight, I thought it a miss to not have a devilled egg, whereas most of their other seasonal high tea towers do. Maybe it was too obvious?
As I mentioned earlier, all the sweet elements were even more delightful and fun. Each fully embracing the theme and mischievously delicious.
I See You is a chocolate crinkle cookie with a white chocolate eyeball that looks back at you as you eat it. Moist and chewy, more cocoa that sugar this was a great one with tea.
Bewitched was a mini cupcake meant to mimic a witch’s hat. Similar to the chip above, the black cone grew soggy quick, just as well, as it added nothing to the flavour and was more for presentation. The caramel pecan cupcake as is was nice, but not as exciting as the other bites.
Midnight Burial was the fan favourite. A milk chocolate mousse topped to look like a grave with its own cookie tombstone. You dug up scoops of bitter chocolate brownie, dark soil, and a cherry preserve. Each element came harmoniously together in a spoonful.
The Sweet Darkness well represented the hue of this macaron with black currant ganache. Sweet and slightly bitter, it was well balanced.
The Scarlet Slice was another favourite. A classic NY cheesecake stabbed by a shard of sugar glass that had raspberry fluid gel oozing out of its centre.
In its totality this was an amazing set. Incredibly creative and playful, this well visually represented the haunted theme. I did find majority of the bites on the salty side, however when paired with one of their fall teas, this would dull some of that. They had pumpkin spice, apple ginger, maple pecan, and/or masala chai.
They also have speciality cocktails created to pair with the set, although we sadly didn’t get to try any of them for me to report on them here.
Be sure to celebrate the season with my favourite of all their tea services to date. Available Wednesday to Sunday with seatings at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. $75 per adult, $40 per child (ages 12 and under). Worth mentioning is that if you have a young child attending they have a Children’s Tea that includes kid-friendly finger sandwiches, cookies, scones, etc.
Notch 8
900 W Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 2W6
(604) 662-1900
fairmont-hotel-vancouver.com
