High tea @ Clipper Lounge, Mandarin Oriental, 18/5/2010
Hello all, it’s been a while. Apologies for not updating for ages – if you’re still reading this.
I treated a friend to the Clipper Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental today for high tea. The lounge positions its tea as ‘traditional tea with a modern twist’. I was intrigued as to what this twist was, and was soon to find my answer.
We walked in and were promptly seated – our choice of seats. Looking around briskly, the place had several patrons, but wasn’t packed. Seats were appropriately spaced so as to allow for intimate conversation, and the seats by the window were more intimate still. We opted for seats near the entrance, overlooking the main lobby.
The menu was styled differently to what you would expect an English high tea menu to be like. It was emblazoned with several dragon-like art, perhaps an influence of the Chinese chefs working behind the scenes. The menu wasn’t particularly descriptive, as it didn’t reveal what this twist would be. We opted for a tea set for two – my friend went for Earl Grey tea and I went for Darjeeling.
Our tea arrived appropriately within good serving time – also allowing us to converse as we wished. The tea arrived with two servers both laying down the pots and pans (not literally – I just wanted to say that) briskly and efficiently. They poured us our serving of tea of choice. The food arrived soon after, and I immediately noticed the twist.
There were three sections to the tea set tray, and a side serving of scones. The top layer was finger sandwiches, the middle layer pastries, and the bottom layer cakes and chocolates. The twist was in the sandwiches. With its Asian influences, they had turned the sandwich inside out – literally. What was supposed to be the ‘filling’ of a sandwich was in fact wrapped around the bread, producing what I can best describe as ‘sushi sandwich cubes’.
We proceeded to enjoy our meal. The pastries were top notch – one with tuna, one with bacon and one with cream cheese. The sandwiches were your typical fare – egg, cucumber and salmon but were very disappointing. The ‘inside out’ flavour just didn’t work. You’d imagine that it wouldn’t make such a difference, but biting (and hence tasting) the bread-bread-filling combo (in that order) as opposed to a filling-filling-bread combo (with very little additives) was not only very different, it just didn’t work on a number of levels. Best leave the sushi to the experts eh? Another reason not to dabble into ‘fusion-food’ – a rant which I’d promised to write on and is now long since overdue. I will get to it one day.
I didn’t opt for the chocolates or sweets as I’m not a fan. I’m a massive fan of scones though and as great as the scones looked, I had to give it a miss because I’d just had a late lunch an hour earlier and was fairly full.
My tea was excellent – lightly flavoured, transulcent orange as Darjeeling should be. I ended up finishing the whole pot, as well as the Clipper Lounge’s ration of sugar I suspect.
The service was friendly, timely and caring without being intrusive – just what you’d expect from a top class hotel.
A nice, relaxing afternoon/evening proceeded, with the tea set laying the foundations and tone for what was to come.
Food: 6/10
Ambience: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Overall: 7.33/10
Cost: $460 for two with tip (the tea set is $378 for two persons + 10% service charge).
Recommended: If you have nothing else to do on a relaxing afternoon, certainly. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it, though.
Would I visit again?: Yes, if I’m in the area and am looking for a nice tea to help calm me down.
Clipper Lounge – Mezzanine Floor
Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2825 4007
http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/dining/bars_and_lounge/clipper_lounge/
*Pictures are my friend’s or my own.
Tags: Chocolates, Finger sandwiches, Hotel food, Pastries, Scones, Sweets, World class food
