• CLOSED: Venus Sophia Tea Room

  • (10)
    10

    Closed

  • White Vegetarian
Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Ovo
Italian
Organic
Take-out

Tearoom & vegetarian eatery offering organic coffee and loose leaf teas from different regions of the world. Sample food items such as focaccia sandwich, lasagna, pasta, soup, salad, tapas, chocolate cake and baked goods. Afternoon tea service available by reservation. Live music on weekends. Reported closed, Oct 2020.


Venue map for Venus Sophia Tea Room
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10 Reviews

First Review by CLRtraveller

Veggierabbit

Points +11

Mostly Veg
03 Nov 2020

Beautiful place

I really enjoyed celebrating my birthday here last year. Thank you for the delicious vegetarian dishes and atmosphere. Your staff were great. You will be missed!

TKoch

Points +559

Vegan
19 Jun 2019

Vegans, pass on this place

We tried to eat here last week. Snarky waitress snapped at me when I asked if they had anything vegan on the menu. Her answer was a resounding, “No”. Kind of like, how dare I ask such a thing. They need to be removed from happy cow’s vegan section.

Pros: Pretty shop, Nice location

Cons: No vegan food at all, Snippy waitstaff

MAGB

Points +11

Mostly Veg
13 May 2019

Poor service

The worst service in Chinatown. My friend’s mother, visiting from France, wanted cake and tea for Mother’s day. We walked from the Royal Theatre to Chinatown to find out a completely empty place, no one customer, and to be turned away because we just wanted cake and tea, at a tea house marked as “best in town”. What kind of business model is that? Cakes getting old on the shelves, one hour from closing and the place was empty, no wonder why, I would not come back and I won’t recommend it.

Pros: The place looks attractive

Cons: Won’t sell us tea, Poor service

Arbutus

Points +113

Vegan
08 Mar 2019

Vegetarian friendly, but nothing for vegans

I've stopped in several times for tea and would have really appreciated even one vegan dessert or pastry option. They have plenty of veterinarian options but nothing cruelty free (all desserts have egg or milk). There are a few savoury food options that appear vegan but a vegan can not have a traditional high tea here.

Pros: no meat, friendly staff

Cons: No vegan friendly tea pastries

christopherjboyce

Points +976

Vegan
04 Nov 2018

Beautiful tea room with some expensive vegan food options

I really liked the ambience of this place - light and easy. Helpful staff too. However, there were only 2 vegan main food choice on the menu of which I had one - nourished bowl which was basically a quinoa salad. It was tasty but at $15 was a bit pricey to not feel me up. I had a tea and that was 4$ for a pot. There were no vegan cakes available, which is a major let down for a vegetarian place given many non veg*n places have vegan cakes. Plus the cakes we're very very expensive - nearly $10...

Pros: nice ambience

Cons: expensive, limited vegan options

eliza6156

Points +64

Vegan
22 Aug 2018

Great tea, not much selection for food

Sadly this tea place had to cancel their vegan high tea because of low demand ☹️. I was pretty disappointed because since it wasn’t lunch or dinner time, the only vegan food they had was this kinda gross kale and quinoa soup. So if you are vegan, I would advise you to maybe come during a mealtime so you can get some food.

Pros: Charming atmosphere , Great tea selection

Cons: No vegan desserts , The soup was bland

EmilyD

Points +42

Vegan
04 Feb 2017

Amazing vegan options!

This is an all vegetarian tea house but if you call ahead (the day before if possible) they can make an entire vegan spread for afternoon tea. We had desserts (pies, brownies, cookies, scones), with various creams and butters, as well as little finger sandwiches with avocado and various cream cheeses. The tea was also incredible. It was about $40 per person but that is comparable to the other "famous" tea houses that are not veggie or vegan. Well worth it for this small, locally owned business.

vaalea

12 Aug 2017

Sadly, their website now says "A note about allergies and special diets: Please be advised our kitchen uses dairy, eggs, wheat, soy and nuts daily; and many of our baked goods contain almonds. We are no longer able to provide a high tea menu that is dairy free or vegan due to low demand. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Josensei

Points +203

Vegetarian
21 Jan 2014

A Charming Tearoom

We have had a great lunch there both times we've been. It is in Chinatown, in downtown Victoria. The food is creative and delicious, the atmosphere is everything a tearoom should be and the staff is nice and friendly. There is a great selection of hot and cold lunch-time entrées in addition to the dessert choices in the display case. This is a great choice for vegetarians and even non-vegetarians who might not even notice that everything on the menu is vegetarian.

Pros: delicious food, wonderful atmosphere, friendly staff

eietmo

Points +77

Vegan
03 Oct 2011

Absolutely fantastic

I have visited there today for the first time. First of, I LOVE the decore. very cute, a mix of olden "tea parties" set and newish- relaxing sitting area. I was impressed because almost all the meals were vegan friendly, or could have been made vegan.

We ordered an iced tea (amazing), a soy americano, 2 soups (well, we only planned to order one but my boyfriend tried it and had to get himself one too), and 2 paninies, one with oyster mushrooms and another mediterranean. Everything was simply superb. Each Panini comes with a side salad; the greens were nice and fresh, and the sauces were very tasty.

I should also say that we got our food pretty quickly, and that the restaurant is very clean.

Overall our meal was $42, which was reasonable for the amount of food we ordered.


The owner, who was ringing us up, was very nice, and her husband cooked our amazing food. We were served by a very sweet girl, and were just overall very very happy with our experience. Will definitely be back.

Pros: Amazing food, Good prices, Awesome Staff

CLRtraveller

Points +8091

Vegan
10 Apr 2011

Beautiful and tasty oasis

I just discovered Venus Sophia on Fisgard Street in Chinatown, an oasis and delightful place to savour a cup of organic tea or enjoy a healthy meal.
The decor is wonderfully comfortable and cozy, with cushions, a fresh rose on each table, cream-coloured furniture and walls, tapestries, chandeliers and ceiling fans. Real teacups. Friendly service.
Several vegan items and gluten-free options. Homemade focaccia bread. Seitan made in-house. Mediterranean influences, including fava-bean spread, hummus and babaganoush. Delicious-sounding salads and soup of the day.
I had seitan sandwiched in grilled pita with tahini sauce, served with green salad, all very tasty and satisfying. I want to try their pink quinoa dish. I'll be going back soon.
Open every day. Live music 2:00-4:00 Saturdays and Sundays. High tea 3:00-5:30.

Pros: tasty food, comfortable ambience, pleasant staff and chef




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