last year i tried the cake "elegance", it was really delicious n the best dessert ever!! I waited for months n finally it is for sale again, I bought a pastry to celebrate the valentines day ^^ it was so sweet !!the pastries are not expensive at all~~ its even somehow cheaper then outside cake shops~the staff are friendly and efficient though they were quite busy

i bought their strawberry tart today,which surprised me that the tart was not the cookie butter type,
but that type of instant puff pastry you can buy in supermarket.
try not to mention it was totally WET, MOIST, CHEWY...( uhh~!)
i could not feel the heart of chef,and it was worse than you buy a pack of instant tart pastry in supermarket and make the tart by yourself.
the pistachio cream in the middle was clear of nut pieces,
but NO NUT TASTE at all.
it made me so want a cup of cova gelato.
strawberry was fresh,
but the pink jelly on them was not needed actually.the top cream was nice,
but the waitress made it ugly after putting into the box.
TOTAL FAILURE.
however,the free tasting of foie gras french bread was full mark,
super tasty but still gave a healthy feeling because of the toasted whole wheat bread.therefore next time i will try their high tea set,
to enjoy their sandwiches and tartlets,
definitely better than their cakes~!

that's several day waiting for the valentine's day~!
i came to island gourmet for their cakes........
but today there are nothing attracting me..........
so i turned to next product----macaroon.........
um.........is that the most famous lychee and strawberry vanilla also absent?
er.........unlucky me~!
so pistachio which tasted excellent in cova in gelato state!!!
$15 for this size is so great........
it taste better than tony wong's product..........
um..........yeah..........
it's the best macaroon i've ever tasted...........
but the color is not beautiful at all i think..........
also service needs improvements~!

Oh, it's the end of the financial year and there is SO much to do at work. However, it is the only day my 3 friends could make afternoon tea and they insisted I take them to proper English afternoon tea. So I had to think of somewhere that looked a tea house, served properly made scones with clotted cream. And one of my favourite places for afternoon tea is here. It's feminine and cosy and convenient to get to.

My friends being ladies were traditionally 20-30 minutes late and I was impatient thinking of all the work I could have done in that time but soon forgot as we ordered and the food started arriving. For the 4 of us, we ordered 2 Shangri La sets and one Traditional Afternoon tea sets. One has more savoury items and one more sweet ones. I myself like savoury items more but we all love scones.

With 3 sets, there were 5 scones, so more than enough for the 4 of us. I always like the plain scones and not the raisin ones. The cream was correct but the jam was not spectacular. Here is where I could have done with the Rose petal jam at the Mandarin Oriental, however their other items have really dropped below acceptable standards.

Our rule was whoever wanted what should just go for it as there were so many items. Except for the Macaroons, there were only 2 and we cut them up. One of my friends speak fluent French and she told me they are called Macaron in French, don't know why in English there is one more o.

I had a mini salmon bagel, vol le vent with chicken filling, meat puff, scone of course, half a macaron, half a small plain cake and that was enough. 4 of us couldn't finish 3 sets even though 2 of us had no lunch. I had Earl Grey tea and my friends had latte which was served in an elegant double layered tall glass.

I stayed over an hour plus the waiting time so had to go back. I left my friends happy with the choice of tea venue, the food, the time to get together.

I will be back.

I really enjoy the down-to-earth cakes and croissant sold at DELI KOOL on the Kowloon side's Shangri-la hotel: http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=10401
So how about the offers at Island Shangri-la on the Hong Kong Island side:

It was immediately obvious that the cakes at Island Gourmet are aimed at even a higher end audience. With a dine-in tea room and aggressively priced menu, not only are the displayed cakes here more prettier, but they also serve English Tea Sets, Lavazza Coffee and Gourmet Teas plus more..! Running out of time I only bought some Macarons to try:

*****************
VANILLA - The 1st one I ate and the texture was really crunchy on the exterior, the interior was moist. Its pretty good. What surprised me however was the presence of a piece of darkish 'fruit' inside the sandwich.... but I ate it too quickly before identifying it.
EARL GREY - This had a really strong Earl Grey tea taste, but isn't sweet at all. Lovely!
BLOOD ORANGE - This had a citrusy buttercream and this time I didn't miss the orange like jelly/candy hidden within!
RASPBERRY - With a jammy raspberry filling in the middle, which is not too dry like most other Macaron sandwiches.

THESE MACARONS WERE REALLY SPECIAL IN MY OPINION AND DONE REALLY WELL. THEY TASTE LIKE WHAT THEIR NAME TAGS SUGGEST, AND SOME SURPRISED ME WITH THE INCLUDED CANDY WITHIN.... THIS IS NOW PROBABLY MY 1ST CHOICE IF I BUY MACARONS AS PRESENTS TO SOMEONE!