It has been a while since I last had tea here at Chihuly, the stunning interiors are still as breathtaking as I remembered it to be.
The elaborate table setting for afternoon tea. Everything is served in luxury French porcelain tableware from Bernardaud, with matching embroidered napkins.
For starters, a refreshing sweet Apple mocktail was served with assorted Crackers and XO chilli sambal. Quite addictive to munch on.
Following that, we had the Turkey Ballotine, made with Maple Glazed Bacon, Smoked Foie Gras, Mushroom Farce and served with Giblet Sauce & Chestnut. This was really delicious.
Then, a 3-tier Tea stand was presented to us, with Gingerbread Spiced Scones and Raisin Scones on top, an array of savory sandwiches in the middle, and 4 kinds of desserts at the bottom.
The scones were served with clotted cream and honey or fruit jam. Tasted alright, doesn't leave much of an impression with us though.
The sandwiches were quite forgettable. Served with typical western fillings such as Smoked salmon, Ham and Turkey, and Egg mayo stuffed in different types of breads and rolls. We couldn't finish them in the end.
The pretty looking desserts were mostly too sweet, except for the Dark chocolate dome which was bittersweet and densely chocolaty. Too bad we can't have refill for this one.
The dessert course continues with Raspberry, Fig & Cinnamon w/ Chantilly Cream and Lime Sorbet w/ Red Wine Poached Pear. We both preferred the tangy sorbet over the creamy fig.
Lastly, a Pass Around Trolley, loaded with X'mas Stollen, Fruit Cakes, assorted Chocolate Pralines and Christmas Cookies, arrived at our table where we each picked out a few items we fancied to end the tea session.
We loved the Chocolate and green tea kueh lapis but the rest were just overly sweet confectioneries. Fortunately, we didn't asked for too many items on our plates!
Overall, this afternoon tea experience was a borderline case of excellent ambiance and service being let down by not-so-impressive food. I wish they would review the savory menu to include more interesting open-faced finger food or quiches rather than just breads and rolls with regular fillings. And, also look into reducing sweetness level of the desserts items. Would I be back again? Well, not in the near future for sure.
Chihuly Lounge @Ritz Carlton Hotel
7 Raffles Avenue, Singapore 039799
Tel: 63378888
Weekday Afternoon Tea from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m (Mon - Fri)