I haven’t been back to House of Dawn since they first opened. Then, I reported honestly on their elevated Asian fusion cuisine. Since, it has been almost 2 years and a rebranding I was back today to give them another try.
For the summer season they are running two new features and we got a chance to try both.
The first is the House of Dawn afternoon high tea service that “combines premium Chinese tea culture with elegant pastry craftsmanship from their in house Pastey Chef Leo Liu, to create a luxury experience” (as described by the press release). Services are held Wednesdays through Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for $48 per person, plus tax and gratuity. This includes a choice of premium-quality Chinese Teas and three selections from a rotating menu of seasonally inspired bread, savoury, and sweet or petit fours pastry creations.
In support of this they have added a few ornate framed photographs and some homey decor pieces to tie in with the tea house theme, although it felt fairly out of place. The space in general was too large and regal for the service. I felt it could have done with a patrician to make it more quaint and tea salon-like.
As for the service, there are over 15 varieties of premium Chinese Tea to choose from. Golden Silk County, Jiangxi Rose, Jasmine Blossom Tea, Roselle Hibiscus, Black Mulberyy Tea, Green Mandarin Pu-erh, Phoenix Dancong Oolong, Keemun Black Tea, Da Hong Pao, Tieguanyin Oolong, TaipingHoukui, Long GreenTea, MoonLight White Tea, Jin Jun Mei, and Lapsang Souchong. Just reading them as is without any context is intimidating. Luckily they have data sheets that you can ask for and use to help narrow down your decision. They describe the tea and its flavour profile, suggesting each based on what characteristics or mouthfeel you would like. Each individual pot comes with milk and sugar, however I didn’t find the need for it when choosing a green tea.
Coming into this afternoon, both their social media and press release had me anticipating more. You only get 3 items on your tea tower of small bites, but the photo used online showed more and then reading the below from the press release made it sound like fairly substantial bites. “Pastry selections include Bread (butter croissant, milk bread roll, matcha brioche, salt butter roll); Savoury (truffle egg tart, smoked salmon puff, Wagyu beef pie, crab and corn vol-au-vent); Sweet (yuzu tart, Earl Grey opera cake, strawberry choux, black sesame financier); and Petit-Fours (macarons, chocolate bonbons, fruit pâte de fruit, candied nuts).
Whereas what we actually got was not enough to serve as a meal nor did it fill the tower it was displayed on. This could just be due to the day we visited, as these are meant to rotate, but we were pretty disappointed based on looks alone. Between the two we were able to try all the options, but still left hungry and needed to go else where for a full lunch.
For bread it was either their house pretzel or a butter croissant. I don’t think a pretzel was luxurious or premium so this felt out of place. It wasn’t even a whole pretzel or in the traditional shape, but a couple of segments of one. It was also hard like wood and dry as styrofoam. Our server walked by in time to see me snapping a chunk in two with a crackle, so offered to bring us another. The second round was 4 slices reheated until steaming hot. The texture was better, but alone it still wasn’t anything unique. With the use of the caramel butter spread it became dessert-like, however with the common salty nature of a pretzel, I would preferred a savoury spread instead.
Between the two, I like the Butter Croissant paired with their house made Fruit Chutney more. Once again I didn’t not find this all that memorable. Light and flaky it was a good croissant, but not near their boast of it and this being a premium experience. However, once you consider that this is all $48 it does aligns better.
Our savoury was between two bites on bread, which would be the only two items that were elevated within the set. The Tuna Toast was Bluefin Tuna, Sesame Oil, Shallot, Wasabi Mayo, Pickled Cucumber, Sonbaizu Sauce, and Lemon Zest. The tuna was lovely and I would have liked it on a light cracker or thinner base instead, as to allow it to shine. Whereas the bread felt too heavy and took away from the would be delicate mouth feel of sashimi tuna.
I did like the Burrata & Black Forest Ham Focaccia, but this small bite was not enough. Burrata From Puglia, Black Forest Ham, Cherry Tomoto Cheong, Basil Pesto, and Arugula. The bites were creamy with the cheese and cream sauce intertwined. Given the bold pesto used, I would have preferred this all over pasta instead. As a whole this didn’t read luxury, but better suited as a whole sandwich from a cafe.
And for dessert it was between either a cream puff or a tart. The Tiramisu Cream Puff was Vanilla Mascarpone Cream, Dark Chocolate Nousse, and Choux. Despite the name it didn’t taste like tiramisu, and given the list of ingredients above I can see it was lacking any note of espresso. The choux was also disappointingly stale with a hard crunch, and there was more cream than anything else.
The Yuzu Jasmine Tart was the better of the two. Yuzu Cremeux, Jasmine Jelly, and Grape. I didn’t get any of the latter most ingredients, and sadly found the two bite tart incredibly tart, with the need of some sugar to help cut into. At least the crust was buttery and fresh.
And each set comes with both a cookie and a chocolate. I did like the Palmier cookie. This is a French pastry made of sugared puff pastry rolled into a palm leaf shape. It was sweet and buttery, like a croissant compressed, baked until crispy and then glazed with a sugary syrup to finish and encrust in a shell.
The Petit Four was listed as a square of Rasberry Chocolate Bonbon. Once again, with a luxury experience in mind, I thought this could have been more carefully crafted. The edges were uneven and the circle more oblong, this isn’t the quality I would expect from House of Dawn, but a more homespun mom and pop confectionery. To quote my guest, “there was nothing special about it”. Bitter dark chocolate that missing the listed raspberry in flavour and colour.
In short, this somewhat meets the $48 per person price point, but I rather they charged more and have offered an experience more in line with a steakhouse and what they are trying to achieve in such an opulent setting. This didn’t feel gourmet or elevated and I left deflated by it.
On the flip side I really enjoyed their second summer feature which was a steak masterclass. So be sure to read that review and attend that event instead.
House of Dawn Steakhouse
130-8171 Ackroyd Rd, Richmond, BC, V6X 3J9
(604) 284-5038
houseofdawn.ca
