Agnès B. La Loggia - Afternoon Tea

Last Sunday was girls' tea time again! So there we were, Chloris and I, on our search for the best afternoon tea sets in Hong Kong. I suggested going to Agnès B. La Loggia in IFC after having read the review in SugarednSpiced. More than reading, I'd say it was looking at those gorgeous pictures that convinced me to go! Indeed, Agnès B. La Loggia is as pretty as it can be. A sunny French courtyard full of plants with a vintage-like yellow tiled flooring and glass ceiling makes for a relaxing day for sure. Unluckily, there is no service in that area, it's rather the place to eat food bought in the take-away counter. Luckily I had booked a table inside, because as you can see from the pics, it looks most unlikely to snatch an outdoor table on a Sunday afternoon. This is one of the reasons why sometimes I wish I worked on the weekend and have holidays during the week, this way Hong Kong would be all mine! No overcrowding whatsoever! It's almost too pretty to be true.

The inside was as pretty as the courtyard. A different style, no sun bathe possible there, but still with all that French grandeur that characterises all Agnès B. restaurants. 

The venue deserves a 5* but the food was a disappointment, which is why I would never recommend this afternoon tea set. At $298 + 10% charge, the set could have been way richer. I was almost as hungry when I started eating as when I finished. Everything was just below the minimum quantity you would expect for a tea set for two people, but the one thing that threw me totally aback was that there was one single scone! One scone for a two people high tea set? It's the first time my eyes have seen something similar.

On the bottom layer there was honey panna cotta with fresh berries, shrimps with sweet pepper jam, poached scallop with tropical fruits, crab vol-au-vent, and a macaron(!) (what is a single macaron doing in the savory platter?!)

The middle layer came with one raisin scone, a croque-monsieur, smoked salmon hard boiled egg & pickle on toast and smoked chicken & capsicum sandwich.

The top layer had two macarons, chocolate and lemon tarts and butter cookies.

I was glad to see the tea was from Mariages-Frères. I however became instantly disappointed when I saw that there were only 5 teas to choose from. I went for the Marco Polo, which unfortunately wasn't very good.

Visited on: September 2, 2012

Price: $298 + 10% service charge

Overall Quality: 2.5*

Value for Money: 1.5*

Would I recommend it? Do not go for the afternoon tea set. You can grab a table in the courtyard and enjoy a $40 cake from the take-away counter. I'm sure it will be a much more worth it experience! I have tried the Agnès B.'s cakes before and they are delish. It's just this high-tea set that I would not recommend!