After suffering a bout of cold and two fevers within a span of a week, I decided to go ahead with my afternoon tea at Raffles Hotel that I had booked a few days ago.
Before the hotel had closed for a two-year refurbishment, I had wanted to visit The Tiffin Room for an afternoon tea but for some reason, I procrastinated and had gone to other seemingly more glamorous and colourful afternoon teas at other hotels instead. By the time I saw that the hotel was closing for a two-year renovation on television, it was too late.
I told myself I must go for an afternoon tea at the renowned Raffles Hotel at least once. It was Michael Jackson's choice of stay when he came to Singapore. Must be good.
This was what greeted us the moment we stepped into the hotel
"Wow, so pristine!" I thought aloud.
We were ushered to The Grand Lobby which was on the left side of the chandelier.
I was given a not-so-ideally located table, almost beside the walkway, but it was still cosy and this was my view on my left.
I thought the edited picture looked closer to the reality, strangely.
The lightings were warm white and the colonial feel was thick.
I looked longingly at the cosy and more private booth seats.
Incidentally, the seats were allocated to two separate groups of Caucasians guests.
We were one of the first patrons there so I enquired if it was possible to let us have those two seaters inside.
"I'm afraid it's not possible. They are all taken." the Caucasian serving lady replied with an apologetic look after checking with someone else.
At the time of leaving, one of the tables was still empty though.
3-tier set:
Bottom tier - sandwiches with chicken, tuna and salmon as fillings
Middle tier - sweets
Top tier - apricot meringue and fruit cake-like pastry
I love the salmon sandwich best.
The chef combined the usual cucumber and salmon with mayonnaise.
It was delicious.
I actually ate all of the items except the fruit cake pastry. I rarely finish everything at an afternoon tea as there are items I know I definitely don't like, but the portion at The Grand Lobby was just nice and the food was scrumptious. "All are edible" is my verdict.
A quick snap of a pic as evidence that I was there
The peanut flavoured sweet was not as peanutty as most peanut items are. Not overly sweet either.
William had thought that it was a real peanut sitting on top of the bar. He poked at it with a fork and was surprised to find that it was made of cream.
I thought it looked really realistic too.
The scones were separately served by a lady when we were in the middle of our tea.
I thought we could only have two so I asked for one plain and one raisin scone.
The lady came by again later and checked if we wanted more scones.
I asked for another plain one.
I prefer the plain one as I feel that there were too many raisins in a scone.
The scones were superior to many others. One of the best scones in my opinion.
One of the best clotted creams too!
I think Regent either comes close to or is on par with it.
I tried the rose petal jam. While I could taste the rose petal flavour, I found it too sweet for my liking, like any other jams.
I will stick to clotted cream.
The only item I didn't like: the fruit cake
We heard the playing of the 'piano' for the entire time but we didn't see the harpist until we were about to leave. She was hidden behind the wall separating The Grand Lobby and the sitting area.
I can't think of a word to describe the music. It was just right for an afternoon tea. Not overly soothing or calming. It certainly made me want to sit there longer to listen to the music. Regent Hotel has a live pianist. The music was great, but this is even better.
Even the intricacies of the tableware were so understated
I usually don't do such a thing, but the place was so beautiful I had to have myself in it.
I asked for the washroom and I exited The Grand Lobby to see this pristine marbled corridor.
Everywhere is so beautiful at Raffles Hotel!
Despite my slightly negative experience about not having a more private table as the ang mohs would have, I would still think Raffles Hotel does live up to its 'Legendary Service'.
The servers made us quite comfortable. They were attentive and did not forget any of our requests, not that we had many. I asked about another pot of tea and the server obliged without advising me on the number of pots of tea I was entitled to. I asked for more clotted cream and it came quickly. I didn't get the feeling that I was treated less than the Caucasians (why should I even mention this though?).
It must be the most expensive tier-set afternoon tea I have been to though. It was $68++ per person, so the final bill came up to $80 per pax.
But this afternoon tea reignited my hope of finding a good afternoon tea.
I think I might have problems looking for a better afternoon tea elsewhere (Oh dear!).
