The Tea House Restaurant at Parkwood — Restaurant in Oshawa

1 star only because it’s settled in a spot with nice scenery, but that’s it.

TLDR: expensive, slow service, mediocre food, and not stroller-friendly. Continue reading if you want tips:

From my experience, with 2 seniors and 1 toddler (with stroller), it was not the best.

First, I wish their website states if there’s an event happening that day, because that affects parking. So do call and ask!

Second, if you have a kid in a stroller, it will be a rocky and hard time to get to the restaurant. So bring the big wheeled strollers or just carry your baby.

Third, make sure everyone goes to the washroom before heading to the restaurant because they don’t have a WR near by. Also go beforehand if you know you’re going to leave the restaurant after 5, because WR will be locked.

Four, don’t order high tea, it’s not worth it in my opinion (see photo for reference). If you do get high tea, make sure your server gets your tea before your set comes 😭. My actual tea never came until the very end of dining (and that’s with questing where’s the tea? 😅)

Five, quantity of food may not be enough for 1 person (at least for our main). So make sure to order more. I asked the server what’s something good to share and well, when it came, it was small. Not meant for sharing (see photo).

Six, We order 1 kids and 1 adult high tea and 1 main, came to a total of $140 (before tips). Super expensive. Just enjoy lunch in your car in their parking lot and then enjoy the garden and water fountain for free.

Seven, service is super slow, so only come if you’re here to mainly chat and food is not your main concern. I think we had to wait an hour before our food came. Service was even slow when there were only 2 other tables in our section.

Eight, this is for the manager and chef, please let your servers try the food! So they know what to recommended & have more knowledge on what they’re selling! But don’t get me wrong, my server was very nice!

Nine, bring a kid and share a kid’s high tea, 85% same items as adult high tea and saves you $40.

Ten, if you do decide to eat here, make sure to plan ahead and make reservations ahead of the week. But even so, you will likely still need to wait 10-20 minutes for your table, even if there are tables for you.

Eleven, if you finish dining after 5, head to the parking lot and walk towards the green wooden gates that face the hospital to exit. The front gates will be locked.

Twelve, if there is an event happening and ground parking is not available. They will direct you to the high school across the...

DO NOT GO HERE!

I am writing to formally express my deep disappointment and concern regarding the treatment I received at your restaurant today. I had planed my shoot form 3 weeks ago with your manager Maggie stating that I will be using the resturant on Thursday August 21st

When I arrived, I expected to be seated, but your blonde waitress ignored us for over 7 minutes. As a pregnant woman, I expected at least basic courtesy and timely service. We eventually seated ourselves at a dirty table which had no “reserved” sign on it and I personally wiped it clean.

After waiting another 10 minutes for service, the same waitress approached and abruptly told us the table was reserved. I was very respectful I politely explained that I would move after taking two quick photos, and that I intended to order a full meal including drinks, finger foods, dessert, and tea. Instead of showing professionalism, she gave me attitude, walked away, and escalated the situation by calling security.

To my shock, four security guards arrived and demanded that I leave. Their behavior was extremely rude, disrespectful, and humiliating especially in front of my three guests. This experience left me overheated, out of breath, thirsty, and still not even offered a glass of water. The audacity of refusing service to a pregnant woman who was simply trying to order food, then publicly embarrassing me with security, felt not only unprofessional but also discriminatory.

This incident ruined both my dining experience and a planned shoot, and your restaurant lost out on at least a $400 bill from our group of four. More importantly, the behavior of both your waitress and your security team was completely unacceptable. Their lack of respect and basic human decency reflects very poorly on your establishment, and in my opinion, such conduct should not be tolerated from any staff member.

I strongly urge you to take this matter seriously and take corrective action with your team. No guest let alone an expectant mother should ever be treated in such a disgraceful manner. You need an entire new team who is professional and understanding of hospitality through your security and your unprofessional waitress.

I DO NOT RECOMEND...

What an utter disappointment. One of the most magnificent settings in Durham Region is being wasted by inept customer service and horrible food. On arriving we were ignored by all service staff working at the tea room. We may as well have been invisible. The only reason we received any service was because I blocked the path of a waiter and asked to be seated. We were seated ‘inside’ which was fine as it was quite windy. I reminded the waiter we had preordered afternoon tea. He presented us with two dirty tea menus and walked away. While waiting for our waitress, busboys repeatedly walked through the ‘inside’ restaurant, weaving between tables and customers, with full garbage bags, dirty trays of dishes, and dripping wet dishwasher trays. Our waitress appeared after a few minutes and asked us what tea we would like and then immediately told us “we have run out of those teas”. Our tea was lukewarm at best. We asked for spoons and were told ‘we’ve run out of spoons’. But it’s a tea house… how do you not have spoons or a selection of tea? And then we waited. And waited. And waited. And then the same waiter from our arrival rushed over to ask what my name was again and if I had booked afternoon tea. He rushed back to a terminal with the other staff huddled over a screen as there clearly was no record or planning for our afternoon tea. Had I not prepaid I would have left at this point as improvement was not in the horizon. And so we waited. And waited. While waiting we got to listen to who I assume was the restaurant manager yelling at his staff in and out of the kitchens, storming around the floor, and not acknowledging to a single customer that the entire afternoon tea experience was a shambles . Our $58 tea consisted of bland scones, stale sandwiches and less than appetizing sweets. Had to ask for jam and cream. And wait for it! Had to ask for tea refills. At a tea house. And no apology for the 45+ minute wait from staff or management. Complete...