So you all know how much I love doing high teas. I have been able to convert Skye and Bex to being fans of it as well. And now any occasion where there is an excuse to do so, we are all well on board. The weekend of May 8-9 was Bex’s last weekend in Japan as she made the move back to the UK after what was about 5 years living in Japan. An end of an era. I met Bex on the JET Program when I was placed in the same town as her – the sleepy town of Namie along the Fukushima Coast. After our JET days we both then went on to work in Niseko ski town. Prior to her departure, we organised a weekend-long 送別会 for her. Sunday lunch was at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for High Tea. It’s a 5-star luxury hotel with a most superb tea lounge located on the 38th floor offering great view of Tokyo. They call the hotel a “Tower of Contemporary luxury”. The 38th floor – this was quite literally “High” tea. The food portions however were more of an afternoon tea proportion rather than a proper high tea.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

Coincidentally, this year the hotel is celebrating its 5th anniversary. On offer was the Legendary 5 year Anniversary Afternoon Tea menu, subtlely themed around the number 5. The afternoon tea here at the Oriental Lounge is a modern contemporary take on the traditional British afternoon tea. There were no 3-tiered platters or pots of tea. It was a little different. Although I am more of a traditional gal when it comes to high tea.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

Our scones were served first, which I personally prefer last. They were petite scones – one original, and the other an Earl Grey scone accompanied with cherry jam and an apricot jam, as well as clotted cream. No strawberry jam – I was a little disappointed.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

Next was the sandwich assortment plate. Usually this is served first. I think on this occasion there was a slight delay with our sandwiches because I had forgotten in advance to arrange vegetarian ones for Skye, and the kitchen needed to prepare an alternative plate. The savoury plate consisted of the following: – Foie Gras Parfait – Peach Puree with Port Wine jelly and pistachio nut – Open face sandwich of smoked salmon and dill sour cream – pork ham and egg tart with pink pepper. – tuna and potato sandwich.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

The vegetarian plate exceeded our expectations. We thought they would just come out with some plain cheese, tomato and cucumber sandwiches, but instead we were surprised with roasted chargrilled vegetables, avocado, asparagus and chutney.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

A delightful dining experience. The service was impeccable as well. 5 stars for service. We had a great waiter. Another difference with afternoon tea is that there are no pots of tea. Instead, you select teas of your choice from the menu and they will bring out cups of tea to you. You can try as many different types of teas as you like, which we did. Mind you, there is quite a selection. Here are some of the teas on offer: – Assam – Darjeeling – Lavender – Earl Grey – Iced Muscat – Lemongrass – Blend teas – Chamomile, to name just a few… And you can have as many cups of tea (or coffee) as you like. Cuppa tea houdai. Admittedly, I do like the teapot experience, but this was not so bad either. -having cups of tea brought out to us on beck and call.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

This was followed by a delectable mango pudding with coconut sauce served in a fancy shot glass, complete with a specially shaped spoon to scoop out every last bit of mango pudding from those hard to reach places.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

The highlight and the specialty feature of afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental is the final course – the desserts. In the absence of a 3-tiered platter, the desserts are brought out in a Sweets Wheel-like ornament. It’s aesthetically beautiful. This is a classic example of food as art. The dessert assortment was the 5 Anniversay Petit Fours and consisted of the following: – Five spice meringues with chocolate brownie – 5 layered Baumkuchen – 5 fruits Macron – 5 kinds of nuts tar – 5 cereal cookies. They looked beautiful and way too good to eat, delicately arranged on a circular wooden antique ornament.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

What a most divine relaxing experience. Service was amazing and atmosphere great too. There were quite a number of people in that lounge. It seems quite popular amongst the well to-do’s. We spent a leisurely couple of hours at the Oriental Lounge.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

I booked a couple of weeks in advance and requested window seating which we were assured of at the time of booking, so we had a great window seats with a view on nice plush lounges. I highly recommend booking in advance and requesting window seats.

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

Service, views and presentation were superb. Taste and filling factor a little lacking in comparison to a few other places I’ve been to for high tea. Still great value though for service, views, beautiful presentation, relaxing environment, and endless cups of tea, even if the food is somewhat petite. Even the bathroom at the hotel was very pretty. Glass window walls which looked straight out over Tokyo. The Mandarin Oriental 5 year Anniversary Afternoon tea is 3800yen (can’t remember if that included tax or not).

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

From Mandarin Oriental High Tea

The hotel’s website in English can be found here For afternoon tea, you’ll want to make a reservation at the Oriental Lounge (and don’t forget to book a window seat), not to be confused with the Tea Corner – Sense located on Floor 37, which is an oriental tea room. Access: Ginza metro line, get off at Mitsukoshimae station, take Exit A8 onto the street, face left and you will be right out the front of the Hotel.

Sandwiches, scone with jam and cream, cakes and a pot of tea. There is no finer way to spend a Sunday afternoon than a high tea with friends in Tokyo. (Well, maybe not so much a high tea as an afternoon tea). As a lover of High/Afternoon Teas I plan on visiting all of Tokyo’s offerings. St Christopher’s Garden is a little oasis in Tokyo. It’s a British tea garden in the suburb of Jiyugaoka about 10 minutes from Shibuya. Jiyugaoka is a very pretty district full of shops, cobbled streets and cute cosy cafes. Great for walking off all the cakes consumed. It was a girls’ day out celebrated with a 3-tiered platter of sandwiches, scones and sweets, and of course, tea. The sandwiches were a traditional but delicious assortment. They literally melted in your mouth. There was a cucumber sandwich, egg sandwich and salmon. (The salmon can be substituted for vegetarians upon request). There was also a tiny quiche tartlet. Yum. I love quiche. The sandwiches are a nice starter to the sugar overload that follows. There were scones with clotted cream and jam. I always save the scones to last. Before the scones I always eat the sweets. There were quite a few desserts to get through too. There was mousse cake, a carrot cake, a fruit parfait and a strawberry cake. Some of the ingredients are organic too, and most are made with fresh seasonal fruits. The menu usually changes with the season. There was also an extensive selection of teas to choose from from black blend teas like assam, ceylons, to fruit and herbal teas and everything in between. My only complaint would be that all of our teas were too strong. We had received them overbrewed. It was nonetheless a pleasant dining experience. Being the group of gaijins that we were, we also had an excellent English speaking waitress. Afternoon teas mostly draw a female crowd but we did see a husband who had obviously been dragged along by his wife and mother-in-law. But honestly, why wouldn’t a guy enjoy afternoon tea. There’s nothing un-manly about a pot of tea and some cakes and sandwiches. I do recommend that you reserve if planning on visiting this tea garden. It was pretty busy and full with tea-lovers seated over two floors. Website here complete with map, menu and contact details.

High tea is one of my many indulgences. The Peninsula Hotel in Tokyo is an amazing, classy hotel that serves a proper high tea. It is a luxury hotel where hotels guests get free chaffeured rides in Rolls Royces. An indulgent afternoon on a cold Autumn day was spent there in the Lobby lounge sipping champagne, drinking tea, and savouring sandwiches, an assortment of cakes, and scones. Have to admit that the Wentworth Sofitel in Sydney still does the best High tea to date. Lovely photos as usual.

From High Tea in Tokyo

Hotel lobby, Lobby Lounge, where afternoon tea is served:

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

Seasonal autumn spread:

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

From High Tea in Tokyo

 

As a huge drinker of tea, there is no finer way to enjoy tea that an afternoon with scones, pastries and sandwiches. On my visit back to Sydney last month, I went to yet another High Tea establishment. There are only a handful in Sydney that offer it. This time I went to the Wentworth Sofitel Hotel, Sydney which does a modern take on High Tea as opposed to ye olde English feel. The food here was amazing and totally kicked ass over the QVB’s Tea Room. The food was exquisitely presented and tasted divine. The sweets selection was very decadent, too rich. There was chocolate gateau, macarondades, financier, cheesecake, gateau opera, lemon curd tart and framboisier. Of course, there were baked scones with strawberry jam and fresh whipped cream. But the highlight would have to be the savoury treats. They were amazing. There was mini quiche lorraine, and gourmet finger sandwiches with fillings such as chicken and mayonnaise; cucumber, dill and mayonnaise, but my two favourite were the smoken salmon on brioche, and the brie cheese and quince on baguette. For a truly relaxing afternoon that will delight the senses I would highly recommend the Wentworth Afternoon Tea. Top points for food quality and taste, although the QVB excelled in service.

From High Tea Wentworth Sofitel

From High Tea Wentworth Sofitel

From High Tea Wentworth Sofitel

From High Tea Wentworth Sofitel

From High Tea Wentworth Sofitel

From High Tea Wentworth Sofitel

From High Tea Wentworth Sofitel

From High Tea Wentworth Sofitel

 

My recent indulgent obsession has been with high tea.

In my recent visit back to Sydney I did afternoon high tea at the Queen Victoria Building tea room. Complimentary sparkling wine was served before tucking into a traditional afternoon tea. A three-tiered platter was served with an assortment of sandwiches (crusts off), bite-sized cakes and pastries, and scones with jam and cream. The servings were very delicate and bite-sized, enough to not leave you feeling too full. And of course, your choice of tea. There was certainly a variety to choose from. I couldn’t go past the English breakfast tea.

A nice way to treat oneself.

My recent indulgent obsession has been with high tea.

In my recent visit back to Sydney I did afternoon high tea at the Queen Victoria Building tea room. Complimentary sparkling wine was served before tucking into a traditional afternoon tea. A three-tiered platter was served with an assortment of sandwiches (crusts off), bite-sized cakes and pastries, and scones with jam and cream. The servings were very delicate and bite-sized, enough to not leave you feeling too full. And of course, your choice of tea. There was certainly a variety to choose from. I couldn’t go past the English breakfast tea.

A nice way to treat oneself.