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!

Paul Lafayet

Hong Kongers, we have something to celebrate! I've recently discovered another Ispahan in town! Remember how I got all excited upon discovery of Sift's Ispahan, and begged you to tell me whether other patissiers offered this delicatessen in Hong Kong? Well, about ten days ago, I visited the newly opened shopping mall in Causeway Bay, Hysan Place, to take a look at the new complex and see how I liked it. I loved it, and after only a week since its inauguration, you could already tell the place is going to be a success. I wandered around the shops, Jason's the supermaket, and the mesmerising Eslite bookstore, and then had dinner at Sen-ryo, the Japanese restaurant on the 12th floor. When I was about to go out in the Ground Floor, I saw Paul Lafayet has a tiny store in Hysan Place as well! It's mostly for take away, but there's four seats in the bar. My eyes stumbled upon the Ispahan as if it was magnetised. Paul Lafayet calls it "Rose and Raspberry Macaron", so no "Ispahan" name there, but we all can recognise an Ispahan when we see one. This one doesn't come with the eye-catching details on top, namely a raspberry and a fresh rose petal, but the rest is the same.

I liked the fact that the lychee was sweetened to the point that it lost all sourness. Since I don't like to eat lychee as a fruit, I enjoyed this sweet technique. Overall this Ispahan was delicious and I highly recommend it (5*). On an aesthetic note, I missed the details on top that I mentioned.

As you can see from the pics, we also had the Chocolate Craquelin (5*), a must-try for dark chocolate lovers. I loved everything in this petit-four: intense dark chocolate flavor and the most amazing of all the textures in the base: crispy praline that explodes in your mouth just to melt immediately afterwards.

Overall Quality: 5*

Price: HK$40 per petit-four

Value for Money: 5*

Visited on: 19 August, 2012

Would I recommend it? Yes, chocoholics can't miss out on the Chocolate Craquelin

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!

Woobar - W Hotel Taipei - Afternoon Tea

Two weeks ago I was visiting Taiwan and decided to go to Woobar in the W hotel Taipei for afternoon tea. I decided on this one upon others after reading the review in A hungry girl's guide to Taipei, since the pictures she took where eye-candy. She did mention in her last sentece: "I was hoping to be wooed by more than presentation", but I decided to ignore the warning. Well, I shouldn't have. This afternoon tea set, at TW$ 1,400 + 10 % charge, was a total disappointment. Nothing at all tasted good, except for maybe the caramel macaron which was ok, and the green tea cake.

The rest didn't even make it to a 3*. First of all, as soon as the black and white stand came to our table, I was disappointed by the fact that the food was not the same as in the pictures from the review I mentioned. I'm guessing it's a season thing. Our food was very summery, (cold and fruity), which I'm not particularly fond of.

The savories, distributed among the three layers on one side of the stand, were as follows: Mixed Fruit Saba, King Crab Stemmed Egg, Smoked Salmon with Salmon Roe, Shrimp and Bamboo Asparagus and Smoked Turkey Cheddar Cheese Sandwich.

As for the sweets, also three-tiered on the other side of the stand: Mochi, Chocolate and Caramel Macarons, Green Tea Almond cake, Chocolate Lips, Milk Chocolate-Raspberry Mousse, and Chestnut-Cranberry Scone.

The one thing that needs to be praised about this afternoon tea set, and makes you feel like you didn't totally waste your money after all, is the fact that you can order as many tea/coffee drinks as you want. You could try every single coffee or tea on the menu for that matter! I had two cafe latte and one Japanese Sencha tea. The tea was so-so, but the coffee was delicious so I highly recommend you go for it if you ever try this set! J had a cappuccino, a cafe latte and a Japanese Sencha tea, and he mentioned the cappuccino was the best among all. I can't comment on that one, but since you can try as many drinks as you want... Let me know which one is better next time!

As far as the venue goes, it was ok, in line with W hotel's modern style, with a red theme and overviewing the pool.

Visited on: July 22, 2012
Overall quality: 3* (saved by the unlimited drinks!)
Value for Money: 2.5*
Service: 5*
Price: TW$1400 + 10% service charge
Highlight: Unlimited drinks
Would I recommend it? If you read my review you know my answer: Do NOT go for this set. If you feel like visiting Woobar, come with your stomach full and simply enjoy a cup of yummy coffee.