Via Tokyo - Green Tea Desserts in Hong Kong

Don't you even think for a second that I'm done blogging about all the afternoon teas and sweet treats I had in Hong Kong! In fact, I still have a traditional afternoon tea {the only one I had this time around} review pending.

Today's post is all about green tea again, this time at Via Tokyo, another hype in Hong Kong that doesn't seem likely to fade anytime soon. We visited their newest branch, in Tsim Sha Tsui, since less people knew about it and the chance of avoiding the queue was higher than in their original location in Causeway Bay. And... we didn't have to queue indeed and got a table for 5 people + a stroller, how cool is that? :)

I was meeting my friend Daisy who was at the very end of her pregnancy {the baby is born already!}, her husband, my husband :D and our friend KC. The five of us devoured five different desserts that we shared, and I absolutely loved it because it gave me the chance to try so many things! Indeed, when you know you only have that ONE chance to go a place you've been dying to try for a while, you're faced with the horrible responsibility of choosing one single item from the mouth-watering menu. Sharing 5 desserts was AWESOME!

I had really high expectations for this place and I think the reality was not up to it. I've only ever tried a green tea cheesecake once before, at Teakha, {which I blogged about} and totally fell in love with it. This one though, was not nearly as cheesy, more mousse-y, so not that great. The parfait was good, no arguing about that, as was the mille-feuilles. The two soft serves though were in my point of view disappointing. Way too sweet and the matcha one not matcha-y enough. The one from Shatin's Sweet House Cha Cha is way better on my opinion.

Have you been to Via Tokyo and felt just like I did or is it just me?!

Visited on: December 25th, 2015

Overall Quality: 4*
Price: pricey at around HK$60 for a dessert.
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? I do, but it's definitely not my fave.

Via Tokyo

G/F, 29A Cameron Road
Tsim Sha Tsui

+852 2385 6388

Dessert Art at ATUM Desserant Hong Kong

Abstract art, innovation, molecular cuisine, imagine all of this in a dessert plate designed just for you, right in front of you? This is ATUM Desserant, the new hype in Hong Kong which has brought dessert to a whole new level. Never again will you think of dessert as something simple if you happen to visit ATUM Desserant, an unconventional dessert bar in Hong Kong you don't want to miss out on! 

Basically, how this dessert bar works is you sit in the bar and have an appointed dessert artist, who draws the most amazing contemporary dessert plate in front of you. I really enjoyed the experience, not only because I was there with my good friend Chloris, but also because our artist turned out to be really nice and good at her job, and we had an amazing time watching her perform her magic! We also enjoyed seeing other artists performing dessert plates next to us, each of them was different!

ATUM Desserant Menu

The final touch, dry ice {liquid nitrogen} sorbet with a huge fog effect, makes for a killer ending! I made a video of the whoooole process that will be up on my Hong Kong trip vlog, (which I still didn't start editing!), so make sure to stay tunned on my YouTube channel!

The dessert itself wasn't my fave, basically because there was a lot of jelly, which I'm not really fond of, but I wouldn't mind going again if someone (hubby?) really wanted to try and asked me to go again!

Visited on: December 24th, 2015

Overall Quality: 4,5* I was impressed by this molecular cuisine dessert, I must say!
Price: Improvisation set for two at HK$348 with drinks included.
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? I would! I had never seen something like this, so innovative!

ATUM Desserant

16/F, The L.Square,459-461 Lockhart Road

Causeway Bay,Hong Kong

+852 2956 1411

Nakamura Tokichi Hong Kong - 中村藤吉香港店

Nakamura Tokichi, originally from Kyoto, Japan, is one of those new spots in town Hong Kongers are crazy about. The queue can be of one hour if you're lucky. We were extremely lucky (as I think we always are, thank God!) because we run into one of J's friend who had taken 45 minutes ago 2 tickets: numbers 92 & 99, in case her wife didn't make it for the first one, since he arrived early. The wife made it for the 92 and he gave us the 99, instead of the 122 we had taken ourselves! Awesome!!!

I was surprised by the beautiful Japanese decor and the amazing views of the harbour and Hong Kong's skyline.

Nakamura Tokichi is famous for its Matcha Zaru Soba (cold noodles), and for its green tea desserts. Since we went there for tea, we had two desserts. One (Kyo no Fukiyose) had cakes and matcha ice cream (best matcha ice cream ever!), and the other was a hot matcha sweet soup with rice balls and azuki (red bean). They were really yummy and I was glad we went, although I won't be going again if the queue continues to be as crazy as now.  

 

During our visit, a tea ceremony expert from Japan dressed in a kimono was there to teach a tea ceremony class in the tatami. From what I saw from Nakamura Tokichi's instagram, she flew in from Japan for three days exclusively to teach this class (three times each day I think). It looked really interesting, and was priced at $HK150 per person.

Visited on: December 24th, 2015

Overall Quality: 4,5* (venue is great; food really yummy; long queue is horrible (not their fault, though!)) I particularly didn't like the fact that one of their most coveted desserts, a matcha mochi kind of slices, was sold out when we went, and apparently is sold out early everyday. Why not simply make more?!
Price: pricey at around HK$65 for a matcha latte and between $HK80-100 for a dessert.
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? I do and I don't at the same time. I think the craze needs to ease down a bit, otherwise queuing for an hour and a half is simply nuts. There's other places in town with yummy matcha desserts like this one!

Nakamura Tokichi - 中村藤吉香港店

18/F, The One, Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui

Afternoon Tea At The Grand Hyatt - Hong Kong

I still hadn't shared the afternoon tea Chloris and I {with little Liam} enjoyed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Hong Kong back in February. I had been looking forward to this afternoon tea for a while, I had wanted to try it lots of times while I lived in Hong Kong, but for one reason or another I never ended up going in the end. I'm glad I finally managed to during my last trip to Hong Kong, although truth be told, it was rather disappointing. We went there on the third day of the Chinese New Year, and there was an extra service charge because of it, which means we ended up forking in more than I found was reasonable! The price on weekdays is $596, and $656 on weekends and public holidays, except that this was a special public holiday and the bill turned out to be... $800 Oh-My.

The thing I had been looking forward to the most was the Croquembouche, a majestic French dessert consisting of a pyramid of cream puffs, cemented together with toffee. It looks absolutely stunning. I heard this was available on weekends and public holidays only, hence the reason why I never even thought about going there on a weekday. Well, what was my disappointment when there was no Croquembouche whatsoever on my visit to Tiffin {where afternoon tea is served at the Grand Hyatt}! I know for a fact they did have it before because my friend Marie went a couple years ago and she told me. Maybe I should have asked the waiters whatever happened to it :( This is a picture of a croquembouche, a.k.a. pièce montée I found on Pinterest:

Breathtaking or not!?

The high tea at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong is not only about the tiered stand, though. There's a huge dessert buffet that includes yummy waffles, 4 different kinds of delicious ice-cream, 2 sorbets, popcakes, candy and cakes. Seeing this you may think the price is totally worth it. Maybe it is. The point is you can only eat that much food right? So I never really enjoyed buffets, specially for afternoon tea. If you've ever had the traditional English afternoon tea, you'll know you get full only with what's on the three-tiered stand, so for me there's no need for more.

There's life music (piano, violin and cello) during the high tea, which makes it really nice. We couldn't see them from our table though :(

As you can see from the tea stand, it was a good idea for this tea set to have a buffet, because there wasn't much stuff on the stand. I didn't particularly like the food on the tea stand, to be frank. The waffle with ice-cream from the buffet was remarkable though. But then, that's not what I go looking for in an afternoon tea, hence my disappointment. I remember the tea selection being rather poor, too. I can't recall it exactly, so if I'm wrong please correct me, but I remember me not being the least excited about the tea.

Visited on: February, 2015
Overall Quality: 3.5*
Price: A bit over HK$800 on the day we visited! Check above for a better price detail explanation 
Value for Money: 2*
Would I recommend it? Quite frankly, I wouldn't. There's so many better choices out there!

Afternoon tea at Seasons by Olivier E. - Hong Kong

Seasons by Olivier E. is another of the new teas in town I knew I wanted to try as soon as I saw it. Little did I know Olivier Elzer was a 3-Michelin star starred chef, and that Seasons, which is not even a year old, had already been awarded with 1 Michelin star. 

We went to this tea with lovely Rach from Through the Looking Glass, another blogger and high tea enthusiast I was just beyond happy to finally get to meet, a friend of hers and one of J's friends :)

Just like with Shelter's golden bird cage, I was attracted to Season's boxes as a way to presenting the tea treats. Also, just like Shelter was an Italian fusion tea, this was a very French fusion one, with delicious treats like foie gras creme brulee, eclairs and a Mont Blanc tart. But this one did come with scones, just like it's supposed to be :) 

Somehow my absolute fave sweet was the strawberry jelly with white chocolate creme, which surprised myself since I'm not usually into jelly! Regarding the tea selection, brace yourselves for a list of around 10 teas with exotic names like Sweet memories, or Lychee paradise. I forgot how they went exactly, all I know is there is no way to know what you're ordering. At least I got lucky and liked mine :D

Both the indoor and the outdoor area were gorgeous, a really nice venue indeed!

Visited on: February 2015
Overall Quality: 4* Service is to be improved for a Michelin-starred restaurant
Price: 430$ + 10% service charge for a tea set for two (or 230$ for one)
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? If you're into high tea and into French food, this might just be your kind of paradise!

Seasons by Olivier E.

Lee Gardens Tower 2

2-38 Yun Ping Road

3/F, Shop 308

+852 2505 6228

Afternoon tea at Shelter Italian Bar & Restaurant - Hong Kong

Here I am again being able to do a review on afternoon tea, as you know my favorite thing about Hong Kong! I couldn't resist myself and I booked 3 different high teas during my stay in Hong Kong {that means 3 high teas in 5 days}, I mean, why not?! :)

Shelter was the last one I went to, with another AMWF couple we met at City University during our bachelor. I liked the name of the restaurant because it makes so much sense. The restaurant really makes you feel as if being on a shelter, it's hard to explain but basically the place is outdoors yet it has a roof, so it does resemble a shelter.

The afternoon tea itself was pretty fusion, Italian fusion, that is. I mean, a tomato filled with cheese spread bathed in pesto sauce sounds pretty caprese to me! 

The hubby didn't particularly like the food, although I thought it was good, specially the savories, yet a bit too fusion. I don't mind that an afternoon tea has Italian hints if it's being served in an Italian restaurant, but Shelter did sin. They didn't serve scones! That's right, dear afternoon tea lovers, Shelter's high tea comes without scones.  

The main reason I wanted to go to Shelter for afternoon tea was the golden bird cage their afternoon tea is served in, the most beautiful afternoon tea stand I've ever seen. I was rather disappointed when, only because there was a lot of people and we ordered two cages, one of the sets was served in a regular stand instead of the golden bird cage. Oh well :(

Unfortunately, the group picture came out pretty bad, so here's a picture of our friend Ray and Liam getting to know each other instead!

The tea selection was nothing special, as I probably guess was to be expected from an Italian restaurant. They had the regular English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Peppermint, etc. boring selection, which is why I ended up with a cafe latte. 

Visited on: February, 2015
Overall Quality: 4*
Price: HK$398 for an afternoon tea set for two, plus 10% service charge
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? If you're a passionate of afternoon tea just like I am, sure, go and enjoy. If you only go for afternoon tea on counted occasions, you can find something better. Take a look at all my high tea reviews here. 

Shelter Italian Bar & Restaurant
718-719, 7/F Hysan Place
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
+852 2778 8398

Cacao Sampaka Barcelona

Cacao Sampaka is definitely something. If you go and pay close attention to all it has to offer, with its chocolate from all over the world in the form of chocolates, bars, etc., you’ll find yourself in a Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory kinda experience. Even the name, Cacao Sampaka, suits the theme well. I wouldn’t find it weird to say “I saw an Oompa-Loompa at Sampaka's today” :D 

As a chocolate passionate, I knew Cacao Sampaka and I would become good friends as soon as I read their statement: "Cacao Sampaka was created to propagate the culture of cocoa, to revive chocolate tasting as a social custom and to convey our passion for this legendary food of the gods." This definition is basically ME!!! I’m the only weirdo you find in the middle of summer under the Barcelona heat having hot thick chocolate for afternoon tea.

Cacao Sampaka must be in one, or several, Japanese guide to Barcelona, because it’s always full with Japanese customers, buying chocolate delicatessen to bring back home. I personally can’t believe I didn’t know of its existance until I recently stumbled upon it by chance. It’s worth spending a while to wander around the shop, since you can learn as many things about cocoa there as in a whole section at the Chocolate Museum. 

If it weren’t good enough with the shop already, Cacao Sampaka has yet another pearl: a sitting area in which to indulge in all their yummy chocolate. There’s so many things I want to try, I’ll definitely need to go back soon. Their cold chocolate drinks come in different flavors, sweet, tea or saffron-flavored! They also have chocolate fondues and chocolate spreads on toast... It sounds mesmerising to me! 

With all these treats, you may be wondering why I went for the suís, hot thick chocolate with cream, but it was cold and, oh well, I love hot chocolate, so that’s what I had! In fact their hot chocolate is nothing ordinary! They have the regular 70% one, which I had and was delicious, but also a 80% one! I didn’t dare to try it but I might one day, just because so few places serve it! The pastry wasn’t that yummy, but that’s not their speciality so I guess that’s ok.

Visited on: January 2, 2015
Overall Quality: 4.5*
Price: 3.30 for a cup of hot chocolate, or 3.50 for a suïss 
Value for Money: 5*
Would I recommend it? Yes, in fact, you can let me know if you want to go, coz I'll be joining for sure! So many things still left to try :)

Little Liam is always such a good baby letting us enjoy all the afternoon teas in town <3

Cacao Sampaka

Consell de Cent, 292

(between Rambla de Catalunya and Balmes)

Artte Barcelona - Art & Tea

Artte is yet another masterpiece by interior designer Lazaro Rosa-Violan, which I introduced to you on my Praktik Rambla Hotel review. This trendy cafe actually specializes in tea, and has a tea shop at the entrance where you can buy loose tea. 

Did you notice all the tea pots hanging from the chandelier? :)

It's perfect for either a cup of tea with a pastry or a full meal. We went with a couple of friends we hadn't seen in a while and they had a cup of tea, while J and I had something to eat since we had only had brunch earlier that day. I went for the hummus and eggplant spread, which was absolute delish. I would so totally go for it again! 

The tea selection was huge, just how I like it! So many loose teas to choose from it was hard nailing it down to one. I loved how all the teas come with timers, either digital or in the form of  an hourglass, to tell you when your tea will be ready to be poured. I absolutely loved this, since I find most restaurants don't take proper care about this and you end up pouring a tea that's been sitting for too long or too short. Teas have a timing for god's sake! I particularly liked the sand clocks, simply brilliant!

It was the first time ever for Liam to sit in a high chair, and he LOVED it! He was so curious, and kept touching the little table attached to the high chair, it was just adorable. 

Artte is more than a cafe, it's a place where food and tea meet art. In fact I think its name plays with the word Arte, the Spanish for art, and the word Te, the Spanish for tea. At Artte you can find numerous pop-up art and music exhibitions. You can take a look at the schedule on their website http://artte.es/

Visited on: December 20, 2014
Overall Quality: 4.5* Everything was perfect, except for the service, which was a bit uptight.
Price: Around 3.5 euros for a cup of tea. Around 10 euros for a main dish.
Value for Money: 4.5*
Would I recommend it? Yes, it's one of the most gorgeous venues in town.

Artte
Muntaner, 83
Barcelona
Closed on Monday