Tucked in the heart of Canada’s southernmost town is one of my favourite spots for afternoon tea. Annabelle’s Tea Room opened in 2007 and is located in an 1859 historic home in Kingsville, Ontario. If you follow me on Instagram you may notice that I always post photos around my birthday of my afternoon tea visit here as it has become a tradition. Whenever I share snapshots of my celebrations I often get people asking where this lovely shop is so they can put it on their list of places to check out.
I always (partly) joke that, if I could, I would go to Annabelle’s Tea Room every single day because the food, tea, service and atmosphere are just that wonderful. The moment you step through the front door you are greeted with the aroma of freshly baked scones, clinking teacups, light chatter among tea lovers and soft music providing the perfect ambience to the beautifully decorated vintage tea house.
To the left of the entrance you will find the tea shop that consists of a wall with tins of loose leaf teas that you can purchase and take home with you, and a variety of other gift shop products such as artisan sugars, fancy tea infusers, books, cards and other seasonal gift items.
To the right is one of the seating rooms which is just a peak into how gorgeous the rest of the tea room is with the array of tea related antiques.
Straight ahead is the small set of stairs that leads up to the other seating areas, where you might head after waiting to be seated.
When seated in one of the three seating rooms, you are presented with a tea menu, lunch menu and alcoholic beverage menu. Generally, a personal pot of tea is $2.50 each and a larger pot of tea to share is $5.00. Depending on the tea you order from their vast selection, the price might be a bit more. The personal pot of tea is served in a silver stainless steel teapot and the sharing pot is served in a porcelain tea pot that matches all of the other tea and lunch ware Annabelle’s Tea Room uses.
At your table you will also find a dish filled with white and brown sugar cubes if you wish to sweeten your tea and, as a special touch, there is always at least one artisan sugar cube included for guests to use (if you don’t think it’s too pretty to!). It might take a while to select a tea with the many tasty options, but their menu makes it a bit easier as they have the teas organized based on each type of tea, caffeine or not, estate teas, tea blends, flowering teas and children’s tea (tutti-frutti and bubblegum).
Lunch at Annabelle’s Tea Room is served Tuesday-Sunday from 11:30am to 2:30pm and my go-to order is the Queen Tea Service ($16.95) which consists of an assortment of mini tea sandwiches, freshly baked scone and a cup of the soup of the day. I have enjoyed Annabelle’s Tea Room with other guests that favourite other entrees such as their Quiche Du Jour, served with fresh house salad, Portobello Baguette Sandwich, accompanied by a fresh house salad and Anytime Tea Service, served on a three-tiered stand featuring a scone, tea sandwiches and pastries. You can view their full lunch menu here.
Perhaps one of my most favourite things about Annabelle’s Tea Room is the food presentation. When served you’ll instantly notice the love that went into making your dish from the uniquely cut out fruits and veggies on the side of your plate, fresh herbs topped on your meal and thin cookie cut outs decorating your treats. Even the way they serve butter for your scone (along with Devon cream and jam, of course) doesn’t go unnoticed. They present a small, rippled ball of butter on a toothpick that is place in the scone. During my first visit there I thought it was such a pretty presentation and mistaken it for a ball of white chocolate. Don’t worry, I learned what it was after I instantly regretted placing it all in my mouth haha! While it may look and seem like fine dining, the entrees range anywhere from $15-$26 and a casual attire is definitely suitable.
After ordering your tea and lunch dish, be sure to use the waiting time to explore the decor at Annabelle’s Tea Room. As mentioned earlier, the theme for this tea spot is antiques. You’ll find walls, mantels and shelves canvased with beautiful art pieces, books, greenery and teaspoons. Elegant teacups and saucers can be found outlining mantels, the top of door frames, and even teacup ornaments on chandeliers. Also, Annabelle’s Tea Room is great at seasonal decorations for their tea house, their food presentation, and even their artisan sugar cubes. My birthday is around the Christmas season so I always get the opportunity to check out how they have everything arranged then.
If you ever find yourself in Kingsville, Ontario, you should definitely add this tea spot to your travel list. I already can’t wait to plan another afternoon tea date there!
Visit Annabelle’s Tea Room:
76 Main Street East
Kingsville, Ontario, Canada
annabellestearoom.com
*If you plan to visit, I highly recommend making a reservation as the place can fill up quickly.
**UPDATE: This article was written in 2017. Unfortunately, in 2020 Annabelle’s Tea Room permanently closed. It will be missed so much!