In my previous Le Parloir post, I have expressed how much I love high tea. It has become a tradition whenever I visit Hong Kong. In case you don’t know, Hong Kong was colonized by the Britain, hence a huge part of their culture is strongly influenced by the British. Locating in the Clipper Lounge of Mandarin Oriental, the afternoon tea set is the best one I’ve ever had so far in Hong Kong (price-wise is reasonable too!).

Look at this 3-tier of sweets and savories. For a 3-tier tea stand, you start from the bottom (Savory), and enjoy your way up, ending the meal on the sweets. The set includes delicacies such as finger sandwiches, sweets, scones, and two pots of tea of your choice/ or coffee.

In the afternoon tea set, the savories are always my favorites. Sometimes I even save it till the last. The savories include: whole wheat ham and mustard sandwich, smoked salmon with pumpernickel bread, and classic cucumber, cream cheese sandwich. The sandwich breads were still moist, soft, and fluffy upon serving. (Some high tea sandwiches are dried, which means they might have pre-made it.)

My favorite was this smoked salmon with pumpernickel bread, and each layer is spread with cream cheese. Pumpernickel bread has this chewy, sticky, and moist texture. Yum!

Now move on to the second tier, the sweets. The layer consists of assorted cakes. The most memorable, yet my least favorite, was the raisin and orange zest cake (the one on the right of the pink cake). First of all, I do not like any orange or lemon desserts. The fruit cake is made with dried orange peel, which is a very oriental ingredient to me. It just has a really weird, and strong taste that I don’t like. However, it was my mother’s favorite out of all the sweets. Besides the fruit cake, I enjoyed all other sweets. I could tell that lots of thoughts is put into the sweets, and the cakes weren’t cheaply made.

The top tier consists of pastries: quiche, and toasted cheese sandwich. I love quiche, and these mini quiches were good! The crust is flaky, and the filling is firm, but soft.

Last but not least, the star of the entire high tea experience – SCONES (plain and raisin)! I like it when the scones are served separately, because it means that you get an extra tier of sweets or savories. The scones are served with Mandarin Oriental’s signature rose-petal jam, and clotted cream (YES! Scones are supposed to be paired with clotted cream, not butter!). It was my first time having rose-petal jam, and I loved it! The hint of floral scent is so refreshing and made me feel special. They also sell the rose-petal jam in their bakery too! The scones were warm, and fluffy. It wasn’t too buttery too, which is the way I like it.

Overall, it was the best high tea experience I’ve ever had. I personally like it more than the high tea at The Peninsula. The ambiance at the Clipper Lounge is quiet too. Occasionally, they also offer seasonal-themed teas, ranging from the worlds of fashion, art, and culture. Definitely need to add an afternoon tea experience in your itinerary when visiting Hong Kong!

Clipper Lounge – Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
5 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong (Station Central)
Tel: +852-2825-4007
*Reservation recommended

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