Arbour Room at Rutherford House

A beautiful place to attend a high tea with the ladies (or gents) in your life that fill you with love and joy! The tea selection is not large, but well crafted and all very high quality. It is served in adorable vintage china cups and saucers which no two are alike! As is also the case with the gorgeous tea pots. The tea is brewed at the perfect temperature and it stays hot through your entire service. The finger sandwiches are dainty and delicious as is everything else on the menu. Sitting in the small glass atrium is taking a page out of time; beautiful and with a view that has remained the same for over a 100 years.
The basement has a shoppe that sells the teas served in the restaurant as well as fine China tea cups, pots etc. as well as candies and such. But, here is the real find: The orange and raspberry butter that is served with the to die for scones is for sale! Now that is something truly unique (and heavenly!) I definitely suggest going to have breakfast, brunch or lunch in this historic building. And if you would like to see and learn more about it, they do guided tours!

I love it when you express your concerns and a business takes it seriously. After the experience we had at the Arbour Restaurant, I was disappointed by what I appeared to be an apathetic response to my legitimate concerns. But since, I have received assurances that the management and staff do value their customers, that our experience was an anomaly, but that steps have been put into place to ensure that such an anomaly does not occur again. I do appreciate their thorough investigation and response. (It was definitely more than a «Thank you; we’ll look into that» response.) As a result, I feel comfortable bringing groups here again. More importantly, I am delighted that once more, I can trust the quality of food and service at what has been one of my favourite restaurants in town. I look forward to heading back soon for a holiday tea!

I had a great time here with my family. My aunts had come down from Calgary, so we came here to try something new with them. I’d made a reservation ahead of time, and they set aside a private room for us, which we all appreciated.
We all ordered the Arbour High Tea, and it was a great meal, well worth the $ 25 per person. I never understood the appeal of a cucumber sandwich, but after trying theirs, I definitely get it. They’re light and refreshing and utterly satisfying as an appetizer. The main of turkey pot pie was pretty good as well, although some of my family members didn’t actually have turkey in their pies. My favourite, were definitely the scones that they served for dessert. So light and fluffy, and with the devonshire cream and raspberry butter, they were to die for. All the other desserts were less memorable, there were assorted cookies and bars that I found to be too sweet for the most part.
Our server had a shaky hand but she was really sweet and helpful. We’ll definitely be coming back!

Site of a UYE on June 25^th, the Arbour Restaurant at Rutherford House did not disappoint! The staff were universally perky and full of happiness, the food was made from scratch and was DE-​LISH, the surroundings fascinating for a history buff, and of course, when dining with Unilocalers, the time went by in a flash. I think we need to do this again! Maybe a field trip to the Empress?
Anyhow, the parking stalls out front, while limited in number, are handy — just record your license plate at the front desk.
If you have old china that you wish to donate to someone, consider the Rutherford House — they are happy to take anything you would like to see appreciated and used with care and love.
If you get the «high tea» that includes the turkey pot pie, ensure you’ve not eaten for at least two days prior … it’s a lot of food. Delicious, and plentiful. Honestly, it’s more than what most people would comfortably/​should eat — so unless you really want to try the pot pie, order the option that does not include the pot pie … you’ll enjoy it all the more b/​c you won’t be rolling uncomfortably out the door.
As mentioned by others, ensure you call ahead for reservations to ensure you aren’t disappointed!

The Arbour is an excellent tea room located at the Rutherford House. With a decent sized menu, including a list of affordable high tea options, the Arbour is a great option for a relaxing high tea on a weekend afternoon.
The staff seem to really enjoy their job — beyond belief, to be honest. It’s as if they were hopped up on serotonin. Our main server started off our morning meal with a brief introduction of the room we were sitting in. Since we were a slightly larger group (there were 6 of us), they had held a table for us in a corner area which was quiet and really separated from the main veranda. He then went on to explain the history of the house, including memorial events in Alexander Rutherford’s life. Even the other servers were very happy to serve us tea, top it off and bring our sandwiches and scones.
Now, the English high tea was really something. I haven’t had the experience of sitting through an entire high tea. In fact, I’ve only once before had tea with scones! (excluding Starbucksish experiences). The first course was a sampling of small sandwiches. The egg salad on a dense pumpernickel bread slice garnished with chives and paprika was really my favorite small sandwich. I was a tad disappointed with the cucumber sandwich. It was a unique preparation for sure, with a small slice of French-​like baguette bread with some dill cream cheese to hold a slice of cucumber on top of it and an additional dollop of dill cream cheese pipped on top. However, I was hoping for a more traditional sandwich. I must add that everything was really very tasty. Even the cucumber sandwich was very tasty.
I went with the Mrs. Rutherford’s high tea which includes a pot of tea, sandwiches to start; scones and other treats served with Devonshire cream and Raspberry butter to end. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but trust me eating slowly for two hours and sipping tea in the process, still filled me up real good. I would like to go back and take some of their smaller high tea options. This was a complete meal as opposed to an in-​betweener, which is traditionally the case.
All in all, a very romantic setting in an old and famous house. It’s worth mentioning that they’ve got guided tours as well, but I didn’t take them because I had to be elsewhere. Also, they have a wonderful little gift shop that has cute things like «purse size» hand cream, perfume and awesome, really awesome smelling soap bars — the way it’s done in the Old Country (not that I’m English or something).
Definitely a suggestion for anyone looking for a quiet afternoon. Especially good to come here on weekdays because I don’t think they are so crowded. While most people work on weekdays, there might some Edmontonians who’d be able to make use of a Wednesday afternoon here.

I brought my Mom here for lunch after we toured Rutherford House. The menu is not extensive, but the food was delicous. I had the toasted Premier’s Panini (smoked bacon, chicken, apple, cheddar, chipotle mayo). It was so good and large enough that I couldn’t finish it. It was served with a very fresh mixed green salad with red peppers, tomato, cucumer and one of the best balsamic vinegrette dressings I have ever tasted. It was so good that I even tried to recreate it at home. Mom had the Turkey Pot Pie which she very much enjoyed and I stole all of her salad and dressing. (I think I may be addicted to that dressing. Could also explain why I couldn’t finish my sandwich.) For dessert, we shared the Sticky Toffee Pudding which was very tasty. Entrees are in the $ 12 – 14 range, Desserts are $ 7. The menu is online at the link above. There are only about nine tables, so we saw what everyone was eating (including the Afternoon Teas) and it all looked delicious. I liked that each setting of china is different, so each guest gets their own unique (and beautiful) cup and saucer. Because it is so small, I wouldn’t bring children here unless they are very quiet and well behaved. The service was prompt, professional and friendly in a casual, comfortable kind of way. There are eight parking stalls out front that are reserved for visitors to Rutherford House and the Arbour Restaurant. (Be sure to give your license plate number to the person just inside the front door so your car won’t get towed.) If you drive there and don’t snag one of those spots, be prepared to pay $ 3/​hr for metered parking. If you do get stuck at a meter, you can always pop out and move the car to a reserved spot when one opens up.

Not the nicest or poshest tearoom I’ve been to, but lovely atmosphere, great place to take your gran or to meet up with a colleague or friend. The high tea is not to be missed. All the baking is done in house by volunteers, and items rotate. There is a nice tea menu, and the daily features change regularly. In the summer, there are gardens to browse around, or you could go for a walk on the University grounds, as this is just on the edge of campus.
Reservations are recommended. Easily accessible from the University transit station or LRT station. Exit to HUB mall, and then walk to the other end. Rutherford House is the charming house at the end, near the Business building.