Afternoon tea at Le Salon de Thé de Joël Robuchon - Hong Kong

The Joël Robuchon afternoon tea is one I had been looking forward to for some time. Joël Robuchon, a Michelin-starred chef, is worldwide famous for his culinary delights. You may remember how much I enjoyed my birthday lunch at his Macau restaurant, Robuchon au Dôme, last year. This tea set was no exception. It was not as mind blowing as the lunch at Robuchon au Dôme, but it was really good and, dare I say, cheap.

The fact that the set is priced on the lower side for an afternoon tea means that you actually don't get that much food. I've mentioned several times how I don't particularly enjoy having to cut the pastries in half to share because there's only one of each, instead of one per person as with most sets. Well, the high tea at Joël Robuchon is like this, and is one of the only things I wasn't fond of. Another one being the fact that the set wasn't served in a three tier stand. I know, it looks nice like this as well, but I'm a three tier stand devotee.

The quality of both the savouries and the sweets was great, and the scones were satisfactory as well. I would highly recommend this tea if you're not particularly hungry. Otherwise forget it and go for some other option with more food for a similar price, like this one or this one.

As for the venue, you can choose either of the 3 branches: The Landmark, the one in IFC {next to the Four Seasons}, or the recently open branch in Elements, which I haven't seen yet. I had this one in The Landmark and didn't really like it. It's small, dark, and the tables are really clustered together, so overhearing neighboring conversations is easy peasy Japanesey! But then, who am I trying to fool, this is Hong Kong, so that's the norm rather than the exceptions in most restaurants. Le salon de thé de Joël Robuchon at the Landmark has an advantage though, there's 3 or 4 {I forgot exactly} tables outside of the restaurant, on the middle of the mall overlooking the ground floor, big enough for 6 people each, perfect for when you have a party of 4 to 6! The only prerequisite for this tables is to pay for the tea set in advance before sitting, seeing how they are relatively far away from the restaurant. If you have a party of 2-3, or even if you go alone, I'd rather recommend the branch in IFC, which is much brighter and elegant. Here are some pictures I took of the IFC branch. 

Tea starts at 3PM, and since they don't do bookings, I recommend getting there at 2:30PM to line up.

Visited on: September 22nd, 2013

Overall Quality: 4/5*

Price: HK$380 for a tea set for two

Value for Money: 4.5*/5

Would I recommend it? Yes, only if you're not that hungry though! This set could easily be a set for one!

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!

Le Goûter Bernardaud LGB - Afternoon Tea

Last Sunday I went for high tea at Le Goûter Bernardaud in IFC. It was a bit of a random choice, I didn't even know if we would be having the high tea set or just a cake and a cup of tea. Well, I couldn't be more glad to have chosen the high tea set for two. It was a delightful experience that I highly recommend, as this set is far from being mere eye-candy. It is one of the most tasty afternoon tea sets I've tried in Hong Kong. The high tea set for two, at $320 + 10% charge, consists of a three tiered stand including savories and sweets as well as a coffee or premium tea of your choice.

The savory layer comes with two portions of the following:
- Bruschetta with chopped tomatos, onion and fresh herbs, topped with parma ham and green asparagus. 5* (If I could rate this 6* star I would, totally mouth-watering).
- Toasted ham and cheese. 5*
- Sandwich: egg, salmon and vegetables. 5*

Middle layer:
- Cheese tart (The cheese taste was not that evident, to the point that we thought we ate a lemon tart until we checked the name on the counter afterwards). 4*
- Raisin scone. It's hard to find good scones in Asia, and even though they're never my favorite part of a high tea set, I do admit these were ones of the best I've tried. 4*
- Apple cinnamon & raisin cake. This pastry/cake was a bit too much for me after having the also very filling scone, so I left half of it untouched. 3.5*
- Clotted cream, butter & strawberry jam

Upper layer:
- 4 macarons: caramel with sea salt, cheddar cheese, sesame & forêt noire. The macarons do have the characteristics of good macarons: crisp shells, and moist and intensely flavored on the inside. They do not, however, reach the level of other French maîtres. In fact, beware of the odd tastes served here, I mean, cheddar cheese?? Sesame?? Oh well, why not! 4*
- Baked mini apple and pear. I found these to be more suitable for a nice presentation than to actually being eaten. 3*
- Strawberry tart. I'm not fond of strawberry mousse, or any kind of mousse for that matter, which is what this cake was filled with. I would like to point out though, how just by cuting this cake, a filling strawberry aroma arises from it. Quite impressive! 4*

Note that while the savory bites remain the same for all the tea sets, some of the sweet treats change from one set to the other, as we observed from the stands on tables around us. The "random" items are: the two cakes (in our case cheese tart and strawberry tart), the pastry (in our case apple, cinnamon & raisin cake), and the flavors of the 4 macarons.

The counter:

After taking a look at LGB's counter filled with cakes and macarons, one would expect the sweets to be the climax of this afternoon tea set. Well, surprinsigly enough, it was the savory layer that delighted me the most, making it the BEST savory layer I've ever had in a high tea.

A highlight of Le Goûter Bernardaud that I can't wait to share with you is their premium teas selection from Dammann Frères. This does boost this tea set rocket high! I hadn't had such a good tea since my days back in Paris. I chose the Black Tea no.7: Cherubins. Divine Decadence! For some reason I couldn't help but thinking it smells like Christmas. This is a medium strength black flavored tea which tastes nutty and chocolatey, with a hint of citrus from the orange. I just wonder why they ommit mentioning that their tea is from Dammann Frères; not on the menu, not on their online store... but here I am as a French tea-lover to bring the truth to you!

As for the venue, comfy and elegant seats and table with a nice atmosphere (as long as you don't mind passers-by staring!), with about half of the tables being located outside the store and the other half inside (although the inside part doesn't have any kind of separation wall).

Le Goûter Bernardaud's menu (sorry for the quality, you can zoom in and see the details):

Visited on: July 29, 2012
Overall quality: 4.5*
Price/Quality relationship: 5*
Service: 4.5*
Price: HK$320 + 10% service charge
Do I recommend it? I certainly recommend this eyes closed and I'm already planning to return soon to try their all-day breakfast accompanied with one of those amazing teas of them.

N.B. Waiters will be happy to refill your tea with hot water if you ask them.

Enjoy!