Tea at this Ottawa mansion is unforgettably elegant

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How often do you get the chance to enjoy finger sandwiches, baked goodies and other treats on a prime minister’s porch?

To be clear, I’m not talking about the current Canadian prime minister. I think Mark Carney has more on his mind than hosting guests for tea. However, if you book a seat for High Tea on the Veranda at Laurier House National Historic Site in Ottawa, you’ll be nibbling your croissants, quiches and scones on a porch where prime ministers Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Mackenzie King once entertained visitors.

Yes, although it was named for just one of the two prime ministers, it was actually home to both of them (not at the same time, of course). When Laurier died in 1919, King succeeded him as leader of the Liberal Party. When Laurier’s widow, Lady Zoé Laurier, died in November 1921, she bequeathed the Sandy Hill mansion to King; he became prime minister a month later.

You can learn lots about the Lauriers and King during a visit of Laurier House, which is included with your tea ticket. I’ll describe that excellent tour later in this post. But first, let’s talk about the food.

Disclosures: I received tea and a tour of Laurier House for free as a guest of Parks Canada, which neither reviewed nor approved this post. If you book accommodation using the map at the end of this post, I will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Also, a note for all the alert readers who have printed out that this meal is correctly called “afternoon tea”: I’ve called it “high tea” here because that’s the term Parks Canada uses for the meal—probably because there’s one morning sitting and two afternoon sittings, and they didn’t want to confuse people!

What’s on the tea menu at Laurier House?

I had purposely skipped breakfast before arriving at Laurier House for tea at 10:30am. However, when I saw the huge selection of goodies placed before me on a three-tiered tray, I wished I’d skipped dinner the night before as well. The tray is meant for two people, but it honestly could have fed our entire table of four.

The food is provided by Working Title Kitchen + Café, a lovely restaurant/coffee shop/bakery located in a former church directly across Laurier Avenue East from Laurier House. I’ve eaten at Working Title several times and I’m particularly partial to their baked goodies, but they’ve really outdone themselves with the tea menu.

The bottom tier of the tray was devoted to savoury items: cucumber sandwiches, cured trout crostini, chicken salad croissants and tiny butternut squash quiches. My favourite were the croissants, although the crostini came a close second. The quiches were unusual and ensured a second option for vegetarians (but not vegans) beyond the cucumber sandwiches. (The cucumber sandwiches were fine but, hey, let’s be honest—even though they’re among the most traditional elements of afternoon tea, almost no one gets excited about cucumber sandwiches.)

The next tier offered small (but still filling) vanilla, cranberry-orange and cheese scones, with jam and clotted cream. Again, scones are traditional at any afternoon tea worthy of the name, and they’re usually my favourite part. These lived up to expectations, offering the requisite blend of fluffiness and crunch.

The top tier was reserved for other baked goodies. That may be one reason I enjoy afternoon tea so much: It’s a meal with a small main course, a dessert selection and then more desserts. Isn’t that how all meals should be?

The upper tier included some complicated treats, such as a biscuit topped with a slice of white-chocolate jelly roll topped with a strawberry, and a square of salted-caramel chocolate cake adorned with cocoa nibs and dabs of nougatine.

And, of course, we had our choice of a selection of fancy teas. Guests can also choose coffee, but as a tea lover and coffee hater, I call that sacrilege. All of the hot beverages are served in beautiful vintage china.

Everything was delicious, but it was a lot. Despite our best efforts, our table of four didn’t come close to finishing the two trays. I brought home enough leftovers to provide lunch for my husband and me the next day.

The Laurier House visit

Every tea ticket also includes a visit of Laurier House. A “visit” is a bit different from a guided tour. On a visit, tea guests are free to meander through the house, and interpreters are available to answer questions and share cool stories.

The Second Empire-style mansion was built in the late 1870s for an Ottawa jeweller. After Laurier became prime minister in 1896, a group of his admirers bought the house and raised funds for its upkeep. The Lauriers were not rich, and their friends wanted to ensure that the couple lived in a residence that reflected his new stature. The wraparound porch where we enjoyed tea was added during the Lauriers’ tenure.

King found himself in similar straits when he became the home’s owner—he was a newly elected prime minister who couldn’t afford the posh place he’d been given. The Liberal Party supplied the funds to renovate and maintain the house, which King bequeathed to the nation on his death in 1950. It opened to the public the following year.

I’ve visited Laurier House several times, but I always enjoy seeing it again and I always learn something new.

The house reflects both the Laurier and King years, with different rooms commemorating different residents. For instance, the homey breakfast room in the attic has some of King’s mementoes and furniture, while the morning room on a lower floor accommodates Lady Zoé’s prized player piano. A Laurier House guide set the player piano in motion for our little group; it’s clearly tuned regularly, as it has a lovely tone.

We also learned about some of King’s quirkier artifacts, such as his crystal ball. Canada’s prime minister was an ardent spiritualist, and we passed—but didn’t get to peep into—the small room he often used for seances. (Honestly, I can’t believe that someone hasn’t done a TV drama about King since the CBC ran a miniseries called The King Chronicle in 1988. The guy is fascinating.)

One fun fact I learned on this visit: King named all of his beloved dogs Pat after his friends the Patersons. Another: a nondescript door off the main foyer hides a tiny elevator, one of King’s renovations to the house.

In short, even if you don’t “take tea” on the porch, I highly encourage you to take a guided tour, which you can purchase separately.

If you go

Laurier House National Historic Site is located at 335 Laurier Avenue East in Ottawa’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood, at the corner of Laurier Avenue East and Chapel Street. Until September 2, 2025, admission to the house is free for everyone as part of the national Canada Strong program. (It’s actually called the Canada Strong Pass, but you don’t need an actual physical “pass.” Everyone gets free admission just by showing up.)

High Tea on the Veranda is served three times daily on Thursdays and Fridays, at 10:30am, 12:30pm and 2:30pm. The tea program runs until Friday, September 26, 2025. The fee is $68 per guest, plus tax and an 18 per cent service charge. Every tea ticket includes a visit of the house.

The guided tour costs $11 per person. Unlike the visit included with tea, this is a structured, room-to-room tour. Tours are available whenever the house is open, at 10:30am, 11:30am, 2pm and 3pm daily. Reservations are not required.

As well as providing the yummy treats for tea, Working Title Kitchen + Café (330 Laurier Avenue East) is both a bakery/cafe and a full-service restaurant serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. If the weather permits, try to snag a table on the tree-shaded patio; it’s one of my favourite outdoor dining spots in town.

Laurier House and Working Title Kitchen are also closely tied into a new initiative called The Other Hill, which promotes the history of Sandy Hill. It organizes workshops and events with authors, historians, artists and others in some of the neighbourhood’s historic buildings.

For even more ideas, see What to see (and eat!) in Sandy Hill.

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in and around Ottawa? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.