Posts Tagged ‘finger sandwiches’

Awfully Chocolate Afternoon Tea

August 7th, 2013 365days2play

Awfully Chocolate is a household name when it comes to chocolate cakes. They started out as a hole in the wall shop in Katong Mall, retailing just 3 flavours of chocolate cakes. Sales boomed like mad, probably because the chocolate cakes on offer at Awfully Chocolate were more cake than cream, unlike its counterparts in the market at that time.

Fast forward to today and the Awfully Chocolate Group has expanded into an awfully lot of F&B areas, ranging from small cafes like the one I’m going to review in this post, to full brunch and dinner places like Nine Thirty (previously known as Mooshi Bakes) to even an old-school coffeeshop styled coffee shop called Sinpopo Brand. I really didn’t like Sinpopo Brand when I tried it a couple of months back, but when I walked past Sinpopo yesterday on a Saturday night, it was packed to the gills. I’ve been tracking the growth of Awfully Chocolate over the years because many of their concepts are situated at Joo Chiat and I live near there. It’s no wonder Lynn Lee, the owner of Awfully Chocolate is dubbed the queen of Joo Chiat!

Anyway, I was kindly invited by Awfully Chocolate to try out their new Afternoon Tea set that they had just rolled out. The tasting was to be held at the Awfully Chocolate Greenwich V branch in Seletar. A cross country travel for me to be frank, but I am familiar with Greenwich V Mall after having participated in an amazing race kind of contest there last year. It’s really a quiet and relaxed mall far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, especially since it’s mostly landed property nearby. My colleague who lives in Sengkang likes to visit Greenwich V every other weekend or so just to chill. I must admit the bus ride to Greenwich V, although tiring, was interesting because it let me experience a part of Singapore that looks a little set back in time.

Awfully Chocolate Cafe at Seletar Greenwich V (2)

Welcome to Greenwich V, a chill out mall in Seletar! Awfully Chocolate is on the upper level of the mall.Awfully Chocolate Afternoon Tea Set (2)

This is the tea set, which includes a choice of house coffee or artisanal teas, as well as a selection of savoury and sweet bites. Also includes scones pictured below. $20 for 1 pax or $36 for 2 pax. This set shown here is the serving for 2 pax.

Awfully Chocolate Afternoon Tea Set (4)

The skewer is of frozen lychees and a small square of the famous Awfully Chocolate chocolate truffle. You are supposed to dip it into the cup of chocolate sauce. I didn’t though because it was serious chocolate overload for me by the time I reached the frozen lychee skewer. This set pictured here is the serving for 1 pax.

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Ritz Carlton Summer Afternoon Tea 2013

July 5th, 2013 365days2play

I’ve been a fan of Ritz Carlton’s Afternoon Tea for the longest time and after my cousin asked me to recommend me great places to have afternoon tea in Singapore, I started to have cravings again. Yes I know the last time I had afternoon tea at Ritz Carlton was but a mere 6 months ago, but for an afternoon tea lover like me, that just feels like decades ago. Besides, back in December, it was the Winter afternoon tea menu that we tried. It’s Summer already for god’s sakes!

For the uninitiated, Ritz Carlton Singapore’s Chihuly Lounge changes their afternoon tea menu four times a year to suit the four seasons. It’s all about getting inspiration from the produce of the season as well as the weather of course. And what better way to celebrate summer than to have a Mediterranean theme for the Summer Afternoon Tea. (I have a good mind to ask Four Seasons Hotel if their afternoon tea is inspired after the four seasons as well, ha!)

The Mediterranean afternoon tea theme is best showcased by their desserts, so let me first tempt you with the dessert pictures. Don’t get me wrong though, I was a good girl and ate the savouries first before hitting the dessert table. Actually, I’m the sort who has to have the main course first before dessert. And I can’t just have desserts as the main meal. I’ll feel as if I haven’t had lunch/dinner, even if I’m busting from the cake I just consumed. Interestingly, as long as I’ve had the mains first, I can go on to dessert and back to savoury again, if we’re talking about a buffet setting. Smile

Ritz Carlton Afternoon Tea - Ivoire Mousse with Candied Orange (2)

Ivoire Mousse with Candied Orange

Ritz Carlton Afternoon Tea - Shell Shaped Macarons with Olive Butter (2)

Shell Shaped Macarons with Olive Butter

These were really delicious macarons! Light and airy meringue casings sandwiched together with an interesting olive butter. There was just a tad too much olive butter to my liking but otherwise, the macarons tasted fantastic. Neither were they overloaded with sugar, like how most macarons are. You know what’s the best part? You can eat 10 if you want to because it’s a buffet!! Probably the most value-for-money macarons ever!

Ritz Carlton Afternoon Tea - Seaweed Cake

Seaweed Cake

I don’t usually eat cakes with fondant, but these were too good to resist. Aren’t they cute? I’ve yet to come across a seaweed cake before. This tasted like a somewhat heavier than usual sponge cake with seaweed flakes all over. Delicious!

Ritz Carlton Afternoon Tea - (38)m

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Afternoon tea at Halia, Raffles Hotel

May 25th, 2013 365days2play

I’m always on the look out for nice places to have afternoon tea. You know, I think that Singapore really could do with more afternoon tea places. I know we have lots of interesting new cafes, especially in recent times where we are literally seeing a new cafe pop up each month. But I’m talking about decadent afternoon tea places, places from yesteryear, that make you dream of faraway lands. For just those few blissful hours, each sip of tea and each morsel of macaron transports you to a place lost in time, where stress and tiresome duties do not exist.

And so I was glad to make acquaintance with the new Halia at Raffles Hotel. Halia takes over the spot which was once occupied by Seah Street Deli. Afternoon Tea Service is available here daily from 3pm to 5pm. For $35++, a two-tier tea stand with a scrumptious selection of sweet and savoury nibbles will be served to you.

The long and short of it all, is that all of the items were pretty delicious. I’ve come across several other afternoon teas where some items are really mindblowing, while other items are not worth your calorie intake. At Halia’s afternoon tea, there aren’t any items that are overly rich or cloying.

Afternoon Tea at Halia Raffles Hotel (14)

This is the entire set that will be served, along with your choice of a drink. It may not look like a lot, but guess what, I had to tabao a few items home! Scroll all the way down to check out the entire list of food items available in the 2 tier service.

Afternoon Tea at Halia Raffles Hotel - Macarons (2)

Which do you normally start with, the desserts, or the savouries? For me, I’ll definitely start with the savouries, but I think the desserts tend to make a more droolsome photo. This picture here plus a few other below show double the number of goodies but the accurate reference picture is the 1st picture at the top.

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Rendezvous Grand Hotel Singapore Afternoon Tea

December 12th, 2011 365days2play

*Media Invite*

I haven’t had English Afternoon Tea for the longest time. It was a pleasant surprise when Ms Christina Tan, Marketing Manager of Rendezvous Grand Hotel Singapore after reading about my Afternoon Tea exploits, kindly kindly extended an invitation to me and to fellow blogger PXDKITTY.

Having afternoon tea always puts me in a good mood. One gets to delight in the beautiful chinaware used, the exquisite little morsels of cakes and finger sandwiches, and the girly company. For some reason, I cannot imagine 2 men having afternoon tea together.

It was particularly delightful to learn that the English Afternoon Tea at Rendezvous Grand Hotel costs only $18.90. Compared to the approx $32 Afternoon Tea at Regent Hotel or $38 at The Knolls Sentosa, the one at Hotel Rendezvous is a steal! Rendezvous Grand Hotel does not provide free flow of coffee or tea (just the 1 cup), but it’s still good value!

You may not know this but Rendezvous Grand Hotel has recently undergone a major Renovation, including a name change from the previous Hotel Rendezvous. The Palong Bar, located on the 1st floor of the hotel and where we had our Afternoon tea, looks sleek yet comfortable.

Rendezvous Hotel Palong Bar - Afternoon Tea 3-tier service (2)

Three tiers of finger sandwiches, savoury pastries and desserts!

Rendezvous Hotel Palong Bar - Various Desserts

Dessert was my favourite tier so I shall start talking about the dessert items first!

  • Paris Brest (hazelnut cream)
  • Macaroon (chocolate, orange or lemon)
  • Cheese cake
  • Tiramisu
  • Raspberry mousse

Those chocolate and lemon macaroons were fantastic. I wish there were more of them. The sweet filling sandwiched by 2 crisp layers of wafers, they were almost melt in the mouth. They are smaller than usual so I crunched them up whole. Delicious!

Rendezvous Hotel Palong Bar - Tiramisu

The other notable items were the raspberry mousse cake, the chocolate cake and the tiramisu. I like my tiramisus to be as moist as possible with more cake rather than mousse. I don’t mind if it’s swimming in the liquor actually! The tiramisu at Hotel Rendezvous had just the right ratio of liquor, cake and mousse.

Rendezvous Hotel Palong Bar - Raspberry mousse

The raspberry mousse cake was light and sweet without being cloying. Once again, there was more cake than mousse, which is really how I prefer it.

Rendezvous Hotel Palong Bar - Durian Pengat

Christina is a huge fan of durian. After she got us on that topic, and we realised that Hotel Rendezvous makes its own Durian Pengat, we just had to try it even if it wasn’t included in the Afternoon Tea Set! It was smooth and tasty with just the right amount of sweetness. I wouldn’t mind a more intense durian flavour if that could be possible.

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Best Afternoon Tea buffet places in Singapore

September 6th, 2011 365days2play

Recently, a friend asked for my suggestion as to the best place to have afternoon tea in Singapore. Specifically the English Afternoon Tea type, where she and her girly pals could giggle and gossip over pots of tea and unlimited dainty sandwiches. Three choices immediately came to mind, but it was quite hard to whittle it down to the top choice! And it really depends on personal preference in the end, but here are my top choices for the best English Afternoon High Tea places in Singapore. Click on the titles to go to the full posts.

No. 1 – L’Espresso at GoodWood Park Hotel – $38/pax

L’Espresso is my number 1 choice as it really is the best all rounder. There are lots of dainty finger sandwiches and canapes to choose from, all so delicious looking that I am seriously considering making a reservation this weekend as I type now. There’s a huge variety of cakes to choose from too. And most unique of all, there is free flow of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream. This last factor is my weak spot!  The one downside though, is that L’Espresso does not provide clotted cream with its scones.

L'Espresso (8)

No. 2 – Courtyard at Fullerton Hotel and Landing Point at Fullerton Bay Hotel – $42/pax

These 2 are sister hotels. I’ve only been to the afternoon tea buffet at Fullerton Hotel, but you get the exact same thing at Fullerton Bay Hotel too. At Fullerton Hotel, they first serve you a 3 tiered tray of scones, sandwiches and desserts. If you need 2nd helpings, or 5th helpings for that matter, the staff will top up your tray with the desired items. Fullerton scores very highly on my list because of its super delicious scones and generous serving of clotted cream! Also, the posh setting and huge velvety blue armchairs really make you feel like a tai tai. Let’s just hope someone else is paying the bill.

Courtyard 3-tier tea service

No. 3 – Chihuly Lounge at Ritz Carlton ($42/pax I think)

The afternoon tea at Chihuly Lounge also gets my thumbs up for serving up really creative dishes. You have to check out the decorations of the desserts in my previous post. Apparently the designs change frequently. The chefs are amazing! Afternoon tea at the Chihuly Lounge gives you the best of both worlds, it had dainty sandwiches, fried stuff like small spring rolls, samosas, and the European type desserts. Alas, once again, no clotted cream and the scones were blah. I’m afraid if you want good scones at a buffet, it seems quite an impossibility apart from the ones at Fullerton Hotel.

Chihuly Lounge @ Ritz Carlton

 

There you have it, my top 3 suggestions for good English afternoon high tea places. Anyone can be a tai tai for a day. Wait, everyone DESERVES to be pampered like a tai tai for a day, be it a man or a woman! Just eat $2.50 mixed rice for the next 5 days!

For where to find the best scones in Singapore, click here.




Posted in Fullerton Bay Hotel, Fullerton Hotel, Goodwood Park Hotel, Ritz Carlton Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Comments Off on Best Afternoon Tea buffet places in Singapore
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