Afternoon tea is a well-known British tradition – one we enjoyed quite a few times during our four months in the UK. So on our recent trip to Victoria, BC, where afternoon tea is also very popular, we decided to treat ourselves to afternoon tea at Pendray Tea House.
How is the experience at Pendray Tea House? It’s not the most famous afternoon tea in Victoria (that honour belongs to Tea at the Empress) but it is a very popular option.
After hearing such great things about their tea house and menu, I was excited to try it!
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. While there were parts of our tea in Victoria that I enjoyed, on the whole I was a bit disappointed.
Unlike some other meals, afternoon tea isn’t just about the food. It’s an experience. From the fancy tea houses and traditional atmosphere to the dainty cups and tea pots, it should feel like you’re dining with royalty.
That’s not to say the food and drink aren’t important! Afternoon tea can be expensive, so you should get your money’s worth with delicious savoury bites, mini desserts, pastries, scones and incredible-quality tea.
So where did Pendray Teahouse stack up on setting, food, drinks and service? Let’s find out!
If you’re considering going for afternoon tea at Pendray Inn and Tea House – or if you’re looking for another tea house in Victoria – read on for my full review. I’ve included information about other tea houses in Victoria, so you can enjoy the best pot of tea, scones and tiny sandwiches in town!
A quick history: Why is afternoon tea in Victoria, BC so popular?
Victoria is one of the most British cities in British Columbia. It really embraces its history as a British colony, in culture and aesthetic. This easily extends to the tradition of afternoon tea!
Afternoon tea was first introduced in Victoria in the 1840s. In 1908, afternoon tea at the Fairmont Empress was served for the first time and has been the city’s most iconic (and most expensive) spot for tea ever since.
Tea houses have popped up around Victoria to embrace this cultural practice and introduce locals and tourists to the delights of afternoon tea. While the roots of afternoon tea are historic, many Victoria tea rooms put their own modern or west coast spin on the experience.
Note: High tea vs afternoon tea
You might hear people refer to this tea experience as both “high tea” and “afternoon tea” but those are actually two different things.
Afternoon tea is a light meal traditionally served in the afternoon on low tables in a parlour or sitting room. It centres around small foods, like mini sandwiches and petit-fours, and pots of tea.
High tea, on the other hand, is a hearty, savoury meal served around dinnertime. The “high” part refers to the fact that this meal is served on high tables, as opposed to the low tables you’d see at afternoon tea.
Most people who say “high tea” actually mean “afternoon tea.” So now you know which one to use!
PS: There’s also “cream tea” which is a miniature version of afternoon tea. Instead of getting the tiered stand with sandwiches, cakes, etc., cream tea only comes with tea and scones.
Pendray Inn and Tea House afternoon tea details
Pendray Inn and Tea House in Victoria, BC serves their afternoon tea daily, roughly from 11:00am to 3-5:00pm. The hours change seasonally, so check with their reservation system to confirm.
They have four different afternoon tea menus to choose from:
All prices below are accurate as of June 2026, in Canadian dollars, and don’t include tax or tip.
- Traditional Afternoon Tea: $67
- Vegan Afternoon Tea: $69 (requires 24 hours’ notice)
- West Coast Afternoon Tea: $70
- Children’s Tea: $25
Guests at the same table can choose different menus. You can also make your menu gluten-free upon request for an additional $5 and with 24 hours’ notice.
Click here to see the most updated menus and prices, as well as to make a booking.
My Pendray Tea House review
We went for afternoon tea at Pendray Inn and Tea House in June 2026. Here’s what I thought of our experience:
The setting
Pendray Inn and Tea House is set in a restored 19th Century mansion, so you feel that historic charm as you’re walking up to the door. The buildings are beautiful and the inside really did feel like we were stepping into a Downton Abbey scene.
The rooms were not ornately decorated, but the tall windows, chandeliers and wood features still made for a very nice atmosphere.
Pendray Tea House is also conveniently located by the Inner Harbour and James Bay. It’s only a few minutes’ walk from the BC Parliament Buildings and Fairmont Empress. So it’s quite central and easy to get to on foot.
We happened to visit during a mini heatwave when it was 28 C/82 F outside and almost as hot inside. This is unusually hot for Victoria, so not many businesses or homes have air conditioning.
I wasn’t surprised that Pendray Inn, being a historic building, didn’t have AC. However, I was surprised that none of the windows were open and they didn’t have any fans out.
I guess fans would ruin the aesthetic, but sweating throughout our meal wasn’t fun either!
The food
We ordered one Spring Afternoon Tea ($67) and one West Coast Tea ($70).
Almost everything on our stands was the same, except a few of the savoury items were swapped: shrimp salad instead of chicken salad, crab cake instead of Yorkshire pudding and roast beef, and rockfish instead of egg salad.
In addition to the five mini savoury items, each order included two scones with cream and jam, and four mini dessert pastries.
Overall, I thought the food was just okay. The savouries were fine; I thought the BC rockfish was the best. We ended up packing the desserts to go because Baby C was getting restless and Colin wasn’t feeling well.
We ate the desserts later and thought they were all just fine too. Admittedly, we weren’t having them at their freshest, but I still wasn’t wowed by any of the flavours.
The only food item that really impressed me was the scone. The white chocolate and lavender scone was so tasty and you could really taste the white chocolate sweetness coming through. My only complaint is they were quite small.
The drinks
Pendray Tea House has a substantial tea menu with lots of options, including a few iced teas. I’ve been to tea rooms that had more teas to choose from, but I didn’t feel like this tea menu was missing anything.
Colin ordered a peach black tea and I ordered one of the iced teas, since it was so warm in the tea house. The server asked me if the tea I had ordered was black or green, which I thought was odd. Shouldn’t he know?
My tea was nice, especially after I added the liquid sweetener that came with it. I’ve had better teas but am not a tea expert, so can’t fault this one. Colin also enjoyed his selection.
Later, our server brought me a refill of my iced tea. This was a nice surprise, as I wasn’t sure if refills were included, but also odd, as he hadn’t asked if I wanted another. We were actually trying to leave, so I had to quickly drink my tea.
He had also already added the sweetener to my refill, and much more than I was given on the side of my first tea. I found this strange too, since he hadn’t asked if I wanted it sweetened.
The service
As I teased in the drink section above, I did have some issues with the service we received. To be clear, no one was rude to us. But we didn’t feel overly welcomed or taken care of either.
For example, we had requested a high chair when we made our reservation. Pendray sent me two emails and a text in the days/hours leading up to our booking, asking me to confirm our reservation and the note about the high chair.
Yet when we arrived, there wasn’t a high chair at our table. It wasn’t a big deal – the staff quickly removed a regular chair and brought a high chair over – but was just a small detail that you’d expect a fancy tea house not to overlook.
Similarly, we arrived with a stroller and weren’t given any instructions about what to do with it. At other restaurants, staff will show us where to park our stroller or even offer to take it from us and put it out of the way.
At Pendray Teahouse, we were kind of left to our own devices. The person who showed us to our table left before we could ask about our stroller.
Eventually we just tucked the stroller behind our table and hoped that was fine. Again, not a big deal, but also not what you’d expect from a fancy restaurant.
But by biggest issue was with our server. He took a really long time to come by our table and didn’t apologize for the delay. And when he finally did come over, he left quickly, saying he would give us some time to “study the menu.”
Only the menu had two options – traditional tea or west coast tea – and we’d already been “studying” it for the many minutes he had left our table unattended. It would’ve been one thing if he asked if we needed more time, but instead, it felt like he was brushing us off.
Throughout the meal, his service continued to be subpar. He was slow to bring us water, slow to check in on the food, and talked over us when we were ordering.
Having been a server myself, I completely understand that you can get busy and service standards can slip. But from what I could tell, our server only had three other tables and two of them left before we were done.
Honestly, nothing about the service at Pendray Tea House was awful. You could read all of my complaints above and tell me I was being picky or entitled. Fair enough!
But in my opinion – and on Pendray’s own website – they say afternoon tea is a fancy occasion. People dress up and go out to celebrate. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect slightly higher service standards.
In the end, it didn’t feel like Pendray Tea House really wanted us there. It felt like we were a bother to our server. I don’t know if it’s because he saw us with a baby or was just having a bad day, but it wasn’t a nice feeling to leave with.
PS: Baby C actually did great at afternnon tea! She sat in her high chair and happily ate scones. She did make some noise but there was no crying or screaming, and no big mess left on the floor.
Plus, Pendray says on their website that they are a family-friendly tea house, so any babies should be warmly welcomed.
Where else can you get afternoon tea in Victoria?
In case my review of Pendray Inn has turned you off, here are some other well-rated tea houses in Victoria, BC:
All prices below are accurate as of June 2026, in Canadian dollars, and don’t include tax or tip.
Fairmont Empress
Tea at the Empress is the most well-known, popular and expensive afternoon tea in Victoria. I haven’t been myself but everyone I know who has been raves about this place. So it just might be worth the splurge!
From $114/person. Click here for menus and to make a booking.
Piggy & Paisley
This is a lesser-known tea house in the James Bay area of Victoria, just a few blocks from where we stayed. Their afternoon tea availability is more limited (two seatings per day from Thursday to Sunday) but looks very charming. You also have the option to book a cream tea if you’re not so hungry.
From $60/person. Click here for menus and to make a booking.
The Butchart Gardens
In addition to being a world-famous garden, The Butchart Gardens also serves afternoon tea. It’s actually served in the Butchart family’s original residence, which is quite cool! Note that you’ll need to pay for admission to the gardens in order to book in for tea.
From $55/person. Click here for menus and to make a booking.
The Teahouse at Abkhazi Garden
Not as popular as The Butchart Gardens, Abkhazi Garden is more of a local gem and closer to the city. But I’ve heard wonderful things about both the garden and the tea experience, so I’m hoping to check it out on our next Victoria visit.
From $68/person. Click here for menus and to make a booking.
White Heather Tea Room
Located in Oak Bay, White Heather Tea Room offers one of the most affordable afternoon teas in Victoria in a stylish setting. They have two daily seatings for tea and offer three different sizes of afternoon tea, depending on how hungry you are.
From $48/person. Click here for menus and to make a booking.
Murchie’s Fine Tea & Coffee
Murchie’s is an institution in British Columbia, opened in 1894 by John Murchie, who used to deliver tea to Queen Victoria. Its iconic Victoria location on Government St has been open for over 40 years and is housed in a Edwardian brick building from 1907.
Technically, the cafe at Murchie’s in Victoria does not serve afternoon tea. However, you can DIY your own afternoon tea experience by ordering tea, pastries and sandwiches from the cafe.
This is a great way to have tea in Victoria on a budget, while still enjoying food and drink from a historic BC tea brand.
And if you love your tea – or are just looking for a great souvenir from Victoria – you can browse the large Murchie’s retail store connected to the cafe.
Even if you’re not a huge tea drinker, they have some beautiful homewares in this shop, as well as other beverages for sale, like coffee and hot chocolate. Definitely worth a stop!
Wrapping up: Would I recommend Pendray Tea House in Victoria for afternoon tea?
As you could probably tell from my thoughts on the service, and despite my smile in the photo above, I cannot whole-heartedly recommend Pendray Tea House for afternoon tea in Victoria.
We didn’t have a bad experience. The location is great, the mansion is charming, and the food and drink were decent.
But the service didn’t make us feel welcome and, honestly, that’s enough to put me off a place. Maybe if the food and drink had been incredible, I could still recommend Pendray Inn and Tea House, but everything was just okay.
When we were living in Brighton, England, we went for afternoon tea three times at The Grand – one of our favourite restaurants in Brighton – and were always so blown away. The servers took great care of us, the tea room was beautiful, and everything we ate and drank was delicious.
I can’t say the same for Pendray Tea House. We ended up paying $175 after tax and tip for our two afternoon teas and it did not feel worth it.
Considering that Pendray Tea House serves the second most expensive afternoon tea in Victoria, I think it’d be better to either splurge on tea at the Fairmont Empress or save some money and book in at another tea house.
If you’ve been for afternoon tea in Victoria, I’d love to know where you went and what you thought of the experience. Let me know in the comments below!
