Lobby Lounge

I’ve realised that it’s also a High Tea marathon hehe because its one of the easiest ways to try lots of desserts at once and I’m also able to keep my friends happy who can’t just eat sweet food lol Intercontinental Hotel has one of the best views of the Victoria Harbour however, because of air pollution and constant fog… it’s hard to get a good clear view >_< but still it was really nice to be able to chat with a girlfriend and have some tea and cake ~I was actually supposed to have high tea here the weekend before, but when we got here at 2pm, they said the afternoon tea set didn’t start until 3:30pm…but I was sure I checked online that it said they open at 2pm, so instead of waiting we went to Coco Patisserie ~ So this time…I made sure I double checked online and also called that on weekdays the high tea starts at 2:30pm. They suggested that we get there at around 2pm because it was always ‘full’. So we got there at 2pm and even though the Lobby Lounge was empty and we were asked to wait outside and come back at 2:3opm. That kind of bothers me… because I think they should have allowed us to sit down and not make us wait for no apparent reason.They have 3 types of afternoon tea sets – Champagne, Intercontinental and The Red Box. Kaylee and I both agreed that the Chinese infused Red Box high tea was too weird for our liking and neither of us wanted to drink so we settled for the Intercontinental Tea Set.We also ordered English breakfast tea I know there’s other types of teas that’s wonderful but I still think the plain old English breakfast is the best for high tea!As per usual, we were both ravenous and started with the savouries first There was two of each hehe starting from the left there’s a mini bun with eggs and herbs, then a extremely miniature bagel so damn cute! Little pastrami bun and last but not least a ham and cheese pastry ~ we enjoyed the savouries, however, I didn’t like the first mini bun with eggs and herbs, I’m not sure what cream they used…but it had a really strange after taste I think another reason why I like high tea is because of the scones I totally heart scones ~ particularly liked how they were served it in a little basket and wrapped in a towel to keep them nice and warm ~ they weren’t just plain and raisons scones. The one with the little one dots on the right is a lemon one.The strawberry jam and clotted cream weren’t spectacular, but I really liked the Earl Grey Jelly I never thought I would because I’m not really an Earl Grey kind of girl lol but I really liked this jelly and thought it matched the scones ~Oops think I forgot to take a close up of the desserts Sorry I don’t like how they only have one piece of every cake LOL I think it would have been more generous if they gave us two pieces of each ~ starting from the left it’s a vanilla and lemon eclair with a little piece of pineapple, I didn’t mind it and thought the choux pastry was made very well. Then we’ve got an apple and coconut tart, quite nice and really liked the stewed apple on top. Then its the chocolate layer cake with raspberry/strawberry mousse, it was slightly bitter I think because of the dark chocolate ~ my favourite would have to be the lemon cheesecake It wasn’t that rich or dense but really light. The last one on the right is a raspberry sponge cake with a raspberry compote in between ~ It reminded me of a lamington heheIt was a lovely surprise when a waiter came over and popped down two chocolate panna cotta and said that it was complimentary with the afternoon tea set ~ I don’t usually like panna cotta but this was so smooth and creamy!I’ve heard that you’re can order a la carte desserts ~ so I couldn’t help but order the lemon tart Overall, I enjoyed the afternoon tea set at Intercontinental and would recommend you coming for the amazing harbour view However, service wasn’t great for a five-star hotel and unless you like the lolly flavour maybe stay away from the lemon tart …Read More

早前相約了到英國繼續學業的朋友來洲際吃下午茶, 趁下午的時間找個坐得久一點的好地方聊天平日的下午沒有事先訂位, 很快也能幫我們安排座位. 這邊的是沙發座位, 感覺更像在吃low tea點了二人下午茶餐. 兩人都點了darjeeling tea, 這邊的茶壺都會多給一壺熱水我們自己加先吃scones, 有原味跟葡萄乾的. 我蠻喜歡這裡的scones, 做得比較沒有那麼乾身牛油味也蠻突出的, 一向吃鬆餅比較喜歡吃有葡萄乾的, 這裡的葡萄乾也下得蠻多但他們的clotted cream的奶味不夠重, 吃起來也不太夠細滑earl grey tea jelly是有很重的earl grey tea味道, 但我是很不喜歡喝earl grey, 所以以自己口味來說就不喜歡了strawberry jam相對地很好吃, 果肉算蠻多的, 草莓味道也相當清甜, 配以鬆餅很好吃當天有四款鹹點:ham sandwich外層的麵包看起來很硬, 但吃起來蠻鬆軟的, 上面的麵粉也沒有下得太多火腿富鹹香, 質感軟軟的不柴, 裡面還有些奶油, 整個三文治吃起來不會太乾smoked salmon sandwich麵包夾了美乃滋, 上面有一塊煙三文魚. 有別於一般常吃的煙三文魚三文治這樣的舖排比起把煙三文魚夾在麵包中間更能嚐到其魚味, 更突出魚有鹹香, 也帶點油脂. 配合下面的麵包跟美乃滋鹹香出色又很順口mango curry turkey sandwich這款三文治的麵包我很喜歡, 有很香的黑芝麻味道內餡以火雞肉做主料, 肉質比想像中軟嫩得多, 因為吃過的火雞肉都是硬韌的咖哩跟芒果這兩種味道意外地合. 配搭著火雞一起吃這三文治的香味層次比較豐富egg salad and truffle sandwich這個三文治到現在也會想起, 因為真的很好吃雞蛋混上美乃滋蛋香十足, 蛋的質感加上美乃滋滑順可口最突出的是黑松露的香氣, 黑松露一向都跟蛋味很搭. 兩者的味道真的非常和諧的配合這算是我吃過這麼多英式下午茶最好吃的鹹點甜點方面有六款:caramel toffee eclair愛吃焦糖的我對這個甜點很滿意. 外層的泡芙有蠻重的牛油香味, 吃起來也很鬆軟裡面的焦糖拖肥香氣十足, 濃濃的焦糖拖肥味道甜味很討喜. 黏黏的質感跟鬆的泡芙吃起來一絕最欣賞的是內餡黏黏的但做的輕柔, 不會吃得有負擔喜歡焦糖的人一定很愛這個甜點, 也是我最喜歡的甜點strawberry cheesecake這個芝士蛋糕很好吃! 外面是以草莓造成的鏡面果醬滿滿薄薄的舖在外面, 紅紅的帶酸果香的草莓味道裡面的芝士很滑, 芝士的味道很重, 比較濃厚的內餡跟外面清酸的味道很搭草莓的酸讓這個cheesecake變得不膩, 造型特別味道又做得好, 相當不錯vanilla tart這個撻的香草慕絲部份佔了整撻的大部份, 幸好做的很輕, 吃起來不會膩香草味道是比較輕, 沒有很濃厚的那種香草味道. 底層做得很鬆吃完這個也不會有膩口的感覺, 我很喜歡這種比較輕的撻類甜點passion ginger tart熱情果的味道很突出, 很清楚吃得到熱情果的果香薑也是很突出, 辣味很快就跑出來佈滿整個口腔兩種味道互嗆得來不會蓋過彼此, mousse也很滑順, 整個不錯吃chocolate elysee這個mousse cake有我不喜歡吃的香橙, 但我卻蠻喜歡這個甜點主要是因為橙的味道很天然, 而且下的比例也沒有太多, 跟巧克力味道配搭得宜巧克力mousse的可可味道香濃, 整個甜點到不錯吃. 起碼我沒有不喜歡這個有橙味的甜點marco polo tea pudding with lychee jelly最後吃了這個甜點, 味道對我來說好怪...奶茶凍的味道茶味不突出, 甜味又是很不自然的甜. 配上上面的荔枝果凍有點不倫不類我跟朋友吃了一口就放棄了這邊坐得很舒適, 也不會太吵. 服務也蠻周到的, 跟朋友聊天很快就過了一個下午很喜歡這邊的落地玻璃, 光線很充足. 感覺比坐在燈光下舒服得多期待之後更多的下午茶聚…Read More

Date dined: Thursday 2nd june 3.15pmOrdered: InterContinental Tea set for 2 ($428)Taste: ham sandwich- All the savory sandwiches looked so small and cute. They were all round unlike others i have tasted. The ham sanwichw as good. I can't say they are the best sandwiches I have tasted but they weren't bad. The bread was soft and spongey. With fair emount of hamSmoked salmon sandwich - i really liked this, not only the appearance was it was good, but the whole design. it is one layer of wheat bread then one layer of smoked salmon then one layer of the bread then the salmon again. which is more thoughtful that just two piece of bread and salmon in the middle. The sandwich si cut into round shape and just bite size. Egg mayo sandwich- This was also liek the smoked salmon sandwich, it was one layer of bread, then one layer of the mayo, only difference is they used white bread in this rather than wheat bread. It is also cut into round shape. It tasted like all the egg mayo I usually i have, nothing particularly special about this. Bread with an unknown filling- This tasted really nice, but we couldn't guess what fillings it was. itw as creamy white, but definately not egg mayo. The bread was poppy seed bread, which brings out another taste to it. i loved this breadOverall I liked the savorys andwiches served here, they gave alot more thought into the look, shape, taste, texture of teh sandwiches more than any other hotels I have been. Where they would just put fillings into two piece of bread. Herre they have tried using other shapes, other bread, other texture etc to make them all differentSweet cakesStrawberry cheesecake- The strawberry cheesecake was good. With soft cheese inside and strawberry coating on outside, with real strawberries on top. Was delicioud. i liked how they included white chocolate on the outside, which gave more texture to the cake. I liked it alot.Custurd tart - This looked like a large marshmellow. We couldn't work out what it was, but we split it in half and it was custurd inside but withcream on outside, shaped into a dome. The bottom was cookie tart. Nice and crispy on the bottom, smooth and creamy on the top.Orange eclair with caramel inside- I am not too fond of orange cakes or food, so i might be abit bias on this review. The eclair did not taste as sweet as i expected it to be. The caramel inside was not sweet at all, but quite enjoyable. The orange topping was really sweet. Too sweet, felt like I was eating heaps of sugar. Not good.Chocolate orange cake- This tasted too sweet. maybe because the chocolate and chocolate mousse have started to melt. It has lost its original texture and as itw as warm, it tasted too sweet. Not good at all.Scones- The scones came in two different types- plain and raisins. I personally liked the raisins, as it gave more texture and taste. The scones were nice and warm, and came seperately in a box. I liked them with the clotted cream. Was very filling. Overall the sweet cakes were REALLY sweet and they have lost the texture and started melting very soon. i would have hoped they would improve on that.Atmosphere- The lounge is situated on the ground floor, right at teh back from the front door. Nothings pecial about the interior. the hotel looks bit old, nothing trendy or stylish about it. teh lounge was quite big with many seatings and sofa. Was not even half full when we got there. It was nice and bright. Conclusion- I wouldn't ahve personally picked to go TST to high tea but did not have much choice but to come here. for 428 hk dollars, i thought this was over priced for the food nad atmosphere. The service was okay, could have been better. I heard anotherw aiter telling the other waiter off, which isn't too professional. One of the waiter tried to tell us the clotted cream, jam and marmalade but I couldnt hear a word he was saying. He should have spoke louder and clearer. The cakes were all below average, teh savory snacks were better. for that price and for a setting that has no effort and old, i think teh food should be better. There wasn't even refills on the tea which is really cheap and inconsiderate for the price you are paying…Read More