It's a bit of a misnomer. I love afternoon tea and was hoping this would be a full fledged teahouse, but upon calling the restaurant I discovered they don't offer an afternoon tea service. Oh well, I headed over to the Ashcroft heritage site for lunch anyway. Here's a description of Ashcroft Manor from www.planetware.com:
"The Ashcroft Manor estate, which was originally known as the Cornwall Ranch, was laid out in 1862 by two brothers, Clement and Henry Cornwall. For many years it was a famous resting-place on the Caribou Waggon Road. The owners lived here in the style of landed gentry, complete with horseracing and foxhunting. When post and freight were carried by stagecoach the estate served as the first court and post office in the region. Today Ashcroft Manor, more commonly known as Ashcroft Manor and Teahouse, lying in the shade of two hundred year-old elm trees, is a museum with two craft and antique shops and a charming tearoom."

Trying to get to the restaurant alive is a bit tricky. The only parking is in a pull out across the highway, or you can park on the shoulder of the highway like we did, but risk losing your driver side door as you open it to the traffic whizzing by. It's crazy!

This is how close you will be to the rigs if you park on the shoulder. Yowzah!
The property is quite pretty. There is a gift shop in front and the restaurant is in a separate building towards the back.

It really is a quaint room.

There was only one other table dining when we showed up. When we called in advance we asked if they took advantage of any local ingredients. No, they don't. Sigh, such a shame when they are located in an area that is surrounded by meat ranches and produce farmers.

Still needing a tea fix we ordered some peppermint and Earl Grey ($2.75 each)

Broccoli and cheese quiche ($8.95)

Meh. The crust had the texture of store bought and overall the quiche was kinda bland. This may be because the broccoli and cheese was not integrated throughout the egg custard. As you can see in the photo, the featured filling ingredients were "floating" on top.

Prime Rib Burger with added bacon and cheddar ($12.40)

There was high hopes for this burger. I love prime rib! I love burgers! What would be better than putting the two together. On the phone the chap that I talked to really pumped up the meat he served. I asked if he served beef from one of the local ranches (like the Central Cafe) alas no; the beef comes from Alberta. The toppings were tasty, but the patty tasted and looked like a typical frozen patty. Argh.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake ($5.50)

This tasted much better than it looks. It was very moist and not ickly sweet. It tasted very homemade.

I recall a while back, the Ashcroft Manor Tea House and it's acreages were up for sale. I'm not sure if the current owner/operators are the the newest owners or not. The Manor has a neat history and I think people will continue to stop there to read about it. There's also a geocache nearby for those of you interested.

Location