Globe@YVR — Restaurant in Richmond

We made a phone reservation for an afternoon tea at the YVR Fairmont to celebrate Easter. There was a lot of excitement especially since we had a fantastic high tea experience at the Fairmont Empress just a few weeks before. I'm sad to report that we did not have a good experience here.

We arrived a few minutes after our allotted time as we had to battle through the reconfigured airport parking caused by the ongoing renovations. We checked in reasonably quickly and were ushered to our table. The designated table was rather noisy, however we managed to be relocated to a quieter spot.

While waiting for our assigned server 'J' we were approached by another staff member 'R' informing us that we had to commit to four full afternoon tea orders instead of the three full and one junior teas that we wanted. She said that we should have specified this in our reservation since the kitchen cannot accommodate a junior tea at the last minute. We did not have any choice but to oblige. Interestingly the hotel staff member who took our phone reservation never asked us for this information and only asked for the number of guests and whether there were any special requests to which I only requested a peanut free meal for a family member. At this point we were more concerned whether our child who is a very picky eater would even eat any of the savory food items from the full order.

A few minutes later 'R' returned and surprisingly told us that the kitchen would comply and make the junior tea, to our relief. I suspect that they noticed while adjusting our order that we were paying full menu prices rather than the Groupon deals many of the other patrons were using. However we were again lectured on how we need to specify our orders precisely next time we make a reservation not knowing that we were never asked that question when we made our phone reservation.

Our tea arrived shortly after this exchange and about ten minutes later a different server brought our treats on three separate towers. He was very courteous and described all the different treats to us. At this point our designated server 'J' still had not attended to us. We had to inform the staff member at the check in desk a few times during our visit just to get any type of service. A big part of the high tea experience is the service and the sense you get of being specially attended to. There was essentially no service.

The treats both savory and sweet were just average at best, especially for the price of $79 per full order. Would also have preferred to have more savory to sweet treats.

This was a very disappointing experience overall especially when comparing this to what we experienced at the Fairmont Empress a few weeks earlier.

We did leave some gratuity specifically for service we received from the unassigned server who brought and described our treats and topped up our tea.

Appreciated the complimentary parking that was provided.

The afternoon tea at the Fairmont YVR is not recommended unless their service and food quality is improved...

Very convenient and nice atmosphere.

But, needs attention to detail and higher standard of cleanliness.

We were staying at the hotel right here in the airport. So we were glad to have a good option so close.

The place doesn’t open until 5:30pm so we reserved a table and sat at the bar. We ordered some little bites. They were delicious!

Once they opened, we were seated right away. For just opening, you would expect it to be clean. But the booth had food on it and trash and debris were scattered around. It’s a little off putting.

Upon seeing the prices, I was definitely unsatisfied with the level of cleanliness. But went ahead and tried to not be so finicky.

Our server told us about their oyster special and we excitedly ordered two portions. Placed our drink and mains and waited.

It wasn’t very long that she returned to tell us they didn’t have oysters after all. Disappointed barely described our feelings. We hadn’t been able to have oysters for a while and our hopes were up and now they were very down. Oh well…

You would think the kitchen would’ve communicated that to the servers prior to service.

We skipped appetizers.

Our mains arrived and looked promising.

The steaks were fine and the burger passable. But my duck seemed to have gone through the Sahara before dying on my plate. To say it lacked moisture would be putting it nicely. The bone was more edible than the meat.

I opted to skip to dessert. I was handed an afternoon tea menu…which seemed a little ridiculously priced for what you got. But that’s besides the point.

At this point, I was giving up on dessert since our server was gone. She came back asking what I would like… “a dessert menu if you please”.

Skipped dessert and went back...

came here for high tea for the first time as a treat with my mum and made a reservation; service was commendable (4/5) tea selection was very detailed and innovative but lacked the usual selection (eg they didn't have regular earl grey, only CREAM of earl grey). to be honest, the food entirely not to my liking and not up to standard. We had the coronation chicken sandwich, which had a good filling but the bread underneath was stale and cold as if it had been refrigerated for a while. the smoked salmon with caviar was also a great filling - light and fresh, but the piece also felt like it had been sitting in the fridge for a while as well. what a pity! The desserts were way too sweet and quite dry. I would've liked to see something a bit fruitier (perhaps a mousse of some sort) because all I could taste was sugar, sugar, sugar. The scones were the saving grace and were nice and fluffy.

overall, I would say the service and ambience was great, but the food was definitely sub-par for a high tea costing $70 for two people (originally $120). I hope they make some changes to the menu so that the savoury sandwiches don't taste like they came from the airport lounge refrigerator from the day before. I cannot speak for the lunch/dinner, but I would not come here again for the high tea.

edit:: I had been contacted and returned for another go -the pieces were a lot more fresh this time around, and since then they had altered their menu slightly to suit my needs. I am very satisfied and would recommend the globe@YVR! Had a lovely afternoon! I have changed my rating based on...