The Tea Room – Mississauga, Ontario

In the city of Mississauga, Ontario is a neighbourhood called Streetsville. This village is in the northwestern corner of the city and located in the heart of it is a spot for traditional afternoon tea. Streetsville is home to the largest number of historic buildings in the city. One of those buildings is the Robinson-Bray House. Inside this building is where you will find The Tea Room. This well-known tea room has been around for over three decades. Your next trip to Mississauga won’t be complete until you explore the village of Streetsville and make reservations at The Tea Room. It definitely deserves a spot on your must-visit list!

The Robinson-Bray House

The Robinson-Bray House was built in 1885 as a private family home. It was owned by at least 2 families, the Robinsons and the Brays. This building is one of the few in Mississauga that was built in the Italianate style.

Standing on the corner of Queen Street and Mill Street, this landmark building has been restored for commercial use since 1988. This red brick building with green awnings and white accents is home to a number of small businesses today.

About The Tea Room Streetsville

You can’t miss the teapot shaped signs outside of the Robinson-Bray House!

In 1989, Rhonda Turner established The Tea Room. Since Rhonda has retired there have been a few different owners. The current owner and operator is Nina Graham.

The Tea Room specializes in light lunches and afternoon tea. Their afternoon tea menu is available every day of the week, year round. They host seasonal afternoon tea events throughout the year as well.

There is limited parking at the back of the building for customers only.

Entrance

After making your way through the front entrance doors, The Tea Room is located to your right before the staircase. A chalkboard sign with The Tea Room hours of operation and other information is placed outside the doorway so you can not miss it.

The first room is the gift shop. The Tea Room sells loose leaf tea for take home as well as other tea related gift ideas. I spotted some lovely teapots, teacups, tea signs and more decor.

Make your way to the desk in the back with the cash register to speak with someone about your reservation. The staff member will then direct you to your table in the dining room. 

The Dining Room

Like the gift shop, the dining room floors are lined with hardwood and the walls are an orange-brown colour.

There is a small section of the dining room right near the gift shop with about 4-5 tables. That is where I was seated. If you were to go through another doorway you would find the other sections of the dining room with a similar vibe and exposed bricks.

My table was just enough for 2 people and right next to a window overlooking the street. Close by was a fireplace that had polka dotted teapots and floral arrangements with teacups lining the mantle. 

The table was already set with a white tablecloth and a clear tabletop protector. On the table were simple white porcelain tea cups, napkins and cutlery.

We were handed a menu with a black leather cover after being seated. The different types of afternoon tea were listed inside along with the light lunch options. 

The tea menu was also included.

Tea Menu

The Tea Room offers over 40 different loose leaf tea that is blended by their Master Tea Blender, Michael Horst.

Their tea selection includes black teas, green teas, oolong teas, rooibos, honeybush, yerba mate and other herbal tea blends.

Tea of your choice is included with the afternoon tea services. However, you can also order tea separately for $5.00. The loose leaf tea is available to purchase in small or large bags and canisters to take home, too. 

Two simple white porcelain teapots that matched our teacups were placed on our table since my husband and I ordered different teas.

I ordered the English Breakfast. Blended in the traditional British manner, The Tea Room states that this is made with Orange Pekoe, Assam and Darjeeling black teas.

My husband ordered their Chai which is a blend of black tea with aromatic spices and creamy vanilla.

Since the teas were loose a stainless steel fine mesh strainer was provided to catch the loose leaves when pouring a cup of tea. Sugar packets and a small pitcher of milk accompanied the teas, too.

You can view their full tea menu online here.

Food Menu

There are 3 options when ordering afternoon tea at The Tea Room, all of which include your choice of tea:

The Tea Room Medley
This consists of a medley of tea sandwiches, fresh fruit and your choice of garden salad or a scone with cream and preserves. This is the lighter of the 3 options as no sweets are included.

Robinson Bray Tea
A selection of tea sandwiches, quiche tartlet and scone served with cream and preserves and an assortment of sweets.

The Tea Room High Tea
This service begins with a garden salad topped with fresh fruit and homemade Honey Dijon dressing. Followed by a variety of tea sandwiches, quiche tartlet and scone served with cream and preserves and finished with an assortment of sweets.  

My husband and I each ordered The Tea Room High Tea. You can view their full dining room menu online here.

The garden salad starter was beautifully presented and full of fresh, bright flavours including juicy clementines and strawberries. The Tea Room’s honey dijon dressing is famous for a reason. It was absolutely divine!

This was a light, refreshing segue into the traditional afternoon tea food which was served on a silver two tiered tray.

Savouries

Before diving into the savoury course, a warm quiche tartlet was brought to our table on a plate with the cream and preserves. These items do not belong together, but instead it was an easier way for the server to bring over both items, especially with limited table space.

The mini quiche tartlet was a savoury, egg based dish that was crispy with a delicate mouthfeel. It was flavoured with cheese and herbs.

The medley of tea sandwiches served were Chicken Salad, Cucumber Cream Cheese and Egg Salad. The Tea Room kindly accommodated a vegetarian diet for my husband, so his selection included a Tomato Harvarti tea sandwich in place of the chicken salad option.

There was a total of 4 per guest, 1 of each tea sandwich, plus an extra Cucumber Cream Cheese. The finger sandwiches were cut into squares and triangles. I liked this shape variety as it appeared quite elegant on the tray.

I decided the classic tea sandwiches, Cucumber Cream Cheese and Egg Salad, were my favourite. They were simple, yet flavourful as their sandwich filling was not too thin.

My husband really enjoyed the tomato tea sandwich with the harvarti cheese slice. It was nice that he was able to have a 3 different sandwich options, as past afternoon tea rooms we experienced have just doubled up on the vegetarian friendly sandwiches already on the menu. We were very pleased that The Tea Room did not take an easy route and instead offered variety.

Scones

Scones were served 1 per guest. They were in the traditional English style scones shape and dusted with powdered sugar.

A white porcelain dish was filled with the scone accompaniments — strawberry jam and cream.

The jam was light and sweet and the cream was a bit tangy. It was not real clotted cream. In fact, The Tea Room correctly only refers to it as cream. But, the texture felt a bit thick and reminiscent of mascarpone cheese.

The exterior of the scone was crunchy and the inside of the scone was soft and crumbly. However, it was not easy to split the scone in half by hand.

I topped my scone with the provided jam and cream and enjoyed every bite. Overall, I was happy to see a more traditional English style scone was served during this tea service. It was definitely one of my favourite plain scones I’ve experienced at an afternoon tea room in Ontario, Canada!

Sweets

At the very top of the tiered stand were the sweets for the third and final course. The Tea Room switches up this portion of the afternoon tea menu so what I was served may not be the same as another day.

However, on this day, there were 3 sweets per person. Included was a Shortbread Cookie, a Brownie and a Buttertart.

At first glance, these sweets didn’t seem like much compared to the fancy pastries I’ve had at other afternoon tea rooms recently. In fact, this combination is not one I’ve seen before. But, I really do believe that sometimes simple is best. Each bite was delicious and by the time we even got to this course we were already quite full!

Even though I am a Canadian, butter tarts are not usually my cup of tea. Although, this one was plain, no raisins, so I gave it a go and was glad that I did.

The shortbread cookie was buttery and tea infused. I made the mistake of not asking the server to double check if I was correct but I thought the speckles inside the cookie were earl grey tea leaves.

Finally, my favourite of the 3 sweets, the brownie. It was rich and decadent with chopped walnuts and chocolate frosting. The warm sips of my English Breakfast tea paired with this chocolate goodness was heaven. This chocolate lover was satisfied!

Price

Afternoon Tea at The Tea Room will cost anywhere from $25.00-$38.00 plus applicable taxes and gratuities. The price will depend on the afternoon tea service you order as there are a few options.

The Tea Room Medley is priced at $25.00, Robinson Bray Tea is priced at $30.00 and The Tea Room High Tea is $38.00. The latter is what I enjoyed and found it to be reasonably priced for the value.

Overall Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to The Tea Room Streetsville. Despite being in a busy city, the atmosphere was welcoming and relaxing. I would recommend a trip to this tea room if you’re looking to escape for a moment of calm.

The food was delectable and flavourful. I liked that they made their afternoon tea menu unique with a touch of tea infused treats, too.

I would have loved if the server took time to explain each item on the afternoon tea tray so we knew everything we were are about to indulge in. The details are not on the menu as the savouries and sweets probably change seasonally. So, this extra bit of information would be helpful in the future.

Plan a trip to the village of Streetsville for tea next time you are in Mississauga!

Visit The Tea Room Streetsville:

223 Queen Street South, UNIT 3
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
www.thetearoomstreetsville.ca

*Reservations can be made online here.

**Prices and tea/food options may change. All were accurate at the date of this tea room review.