No Crustless Sandwiches Here: Baan Lao Serves Up a Fresh Take on High Tea

This experience might be called “afternoon tea,” but mercifully, there’s not a crustless cucumber sandwich in sight.

From the second you walk in the door of Steveston’s Baan Lao, one thing is abundantly clear: this is far from your great-grandma’s British high tea. In May of last year, the upscale Thai restaurant—which was recently named the best restaurant in Canada by the 2024 World Culinary Awards—launched what it dubbed the world’s first sommelier-led Thai afternoon tea. The experience (because there really is no better word to use in this case) features a three-course menu of small, delicate bites paired with rare teas sourced from around the world.

Executive chef and co-owner Nutcha Phanthoupheng came up with the idea after trying out various afternoon teas throughout the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

“I felt like, ‘Why do we have to choose the tea by ourselves when we’re not experts?’” she says. “I thought it would be a cool concept if I had a tea sommelier create the tea for you, and pair the tea with an afternoon meal, like Thai canapes: an appetizer, main, and dessert. So I had the idea, and then I did it.”

Diners have three levels of tea to choose from: regular, premium, and ultimate (and from there, they all come in both caffeinated and non-caffeinated versions). That means Baan Lao’s tea sommelier Lena Pan, who was certified by the Tea and Herbal Association of Canada (bet you didn’t know that was a thing), had the fun and challenging task of finding multiple teas to pair with each course. And don’t worry if you don’t opt for the highest tier of tea: “the regular ones are all premium, in my opinion,” she says with a smile.

It all begins with a glass of B.C. sparkling wine or a mimosa (because why not), which is swiftly followed by a “palate activator”; in the case of the non-caffeinated ultimate experience, it’s an herbal elixir that Phanthoupheng makes herself from lemongrass and pandan leaf. Subtly sweet and grassy, it’s said to get the palate ready for the rest of the journey.

From there, Pan—who stands in the dining room quietly steeping each table’s individual pots to order—serves a tea made from osmanthus blossoms, which are sourced from Guangxi, China. This tiny yellow flower results in a tea with a honeyed scent and a flavour profile that is lightly fruity yet somehow deeply complex; it’s also believed to detoxify the body and improve the skin (a win for us all!). It pairs with Phanthoupheng’s Arun/Dawn appetizer course, which focuses on savoury, sour, and spicy flavours: khao kriap pak mo (a comforting steamed dumpling stuffed with stir-fried chicken); kuai tiao lui suan (a salad roll with a delicious herbal sauce, wrapped in a rice noodle dyed purple with butterfly pea flower); and yum salmon fu (a crispy wild sockeye salmon salad served in a crunchy pastry shell—the standout of the bunch, perfectly tangy and sweet and spicy all at once). It’s really quite a feat that Phanthoupheng can pack so much punch into these tiny morsels of food. But for her, it’s one of the joys of the job.

“I enjoy it,” she says simply. “It’s my happiness to create a new menu.”

The main course, called Athit/Sun, celebates savoury and spicy flavours, and is paired with a tea made with rare pu’uer flowers from Yunnan, China. These white blooms are harvested from trees that are over 1,000 years old, and result in a tea that is grassy, woody, and floral. As for the food, this course includes thung thong nuea kwai (a crispy wonton “money bag” filled with stir-fried water buffalo, and dipped in a Thai chili sauce); thot man kung (a crispy prawn and mangrove cake); tao hu thot (deep-fried tofu with “caviar” made from wild seaweed and topped with gold leaf); gai sa tay (grilled chicken in a superb yellow curry, served atop a round of house-made brioche); and khao chi nuea yang (crispy coconut sticky rice with marinated beef tenderloin and a so-good-they-should-bottle-it Thai tomato chili sauce).

For the Bulan/Moon dessert course, focusing on sweet and sour flavours, Pan presents a citrus blend from the mountains of northeast Portugal. It has notes of bergamot, chocolate mint, and lime leaf, resulting in a tea that is fruity and fun (and is said to have immunity-boosting and digestive properties). To go with it, the kitchen prepares phon la mai kae sa lak (seasonal fruit that’s been hand-carved into intricate shapes); khao niao ma muang (coconut milk sticky rice with mango—a classic dessert, done to perfection); and khai tao phueak sang kha ya bai toei (a deep-fried taro ball with crispy rice and a pandan coconut custard that is the stuff sweet dreams are made of).

To cap things off, Pan serves a proprietary blend that she made just for Baan Lao. Crafted with rose buds from India and nan mei wild tree buds from Yunnan, China, it’s a boldly floral finisher with understated notes of tropical fruit and honey.

All in all, Baan Lao has created a highly choreographed, deeply creative, and altogether delicious adventure for the palate. It might not be your great-grandmother’s British high tea, but you can bet she’d love it anyway.

Baan Lao
4100 Bayview St, Richmond
baanlao.ca

PS: Baan Lao is also hosting The Legends Dinner on March 29, a fundraising dinner for BC Children’s Hospital featuring chefs Michel Jacob, HidekazuTojo, Bruno Marti and Baan Lao’s own Chef Nutcha Phanthoupheng. A handful of tickets still available—if you’ve got $1,250 per person to spare for a good (and delicious) cause.