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London Glampacker List: Review of Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

August 31, 2011 By 9 Comments

 

Glampacker at Afternoon-Tea at the Ritz, London

Enjoying afternoon tea at the Ritz was the finest, most indulgent and poshest of all my high tea experiences to date. Sharing the afternoon with two lovely friends visiting me in London all the way from Australia made the experience all the more memorable.

Afternoon tea at the Ritz, London, is often seen as one of the more touristy tea experiences in London. Don’t let that idea put you off your scones and clotted cream. In my opinion, afternoon tea experiences need a fine combination of decadent food, impeccable service and great ambience to be five-star. Even if you’re a budget traveller, some once-in-London experiences are worth shelling out for…

Cake Tier Afternoon Tea at the Ritz London

The Food

It’s the small touches that made a difference at the Ritz. You start with champagne, if you’ve opted for the champagne tea. You’re given plenty of time to sip your champers and nibble on the finger sandwiches before the tea is served. I chose the Darjeeling which is light and not too strong to complement my dessert nicely. The tea menu is printed on a takeaway card, which one of the waiters happily handed over to us to keep at the end!

Size and portions matter at afternoon tea. So when I inspected the top tier of the cake stand, we felt a little disappointed. Only 3 cakes? Really? Always having eyes bigger than my stomach, I soon realized that cakes were being served and on display on trolleys. The difficult decision was Victorian sponge or a more heavy fruit cake? Although Victorian sponge sounded like the more boring option, the sponge was light and fluffy with a touch of vanilla.

The petit fours were sweet but offset by the fresh cream. I also tried the shotglass of caramel mousse with raspberry coulis but it couldn’t compare to the cakes!

The apple and raisin scones are warmed up before being added onto your cake tier. This was the first time I’d ever had warm scones brought separately at afternoon tea! The scones are smaller than the usual big plate size scones commonly found elsewhere. Size didn’t matter as these miniature scones were light, obviously made with buttermilk and smoothly sliced open to be slathered with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Victorian Sponge Cake at Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

The Service

At the Ritz, the service is prompt and attentive. More sandwiches? Only want roast ham sandwiches? Not a problem. We Aussies like our ham sandwiches…The waitstaff are happy to have a chat, take your photo and don’t rush you to leave…even though I was well aware we only had a 1.5 hour time slot.

Palm Court at The Ritz London

The Ambience

It’s the Ritz. The Palm Court is opulent, the decorations are ornate and the room feels huge even though it’s not a ballroom. The room was full of other diners from families to ladies and couples with hardly an empty table in sight!

To make the afternoon even more memorable? Request a song. The classically trained pianist plays medleys of your requests. The songs I chose?

Dream a little dream. Moon River.

 

Glampacker’s Tips for Afternoon Tea at the Ritz, London:

  • Book online, dates and time slots fill in fast!
  • Dress to impress, this means frock up. You want to look as lovely as the cakes!
  • Order champagne. You’re having afternoon tea at the Ritz…this alone calls for champagne!
  • Visit the powder room because it’s pink!

 

Filed Under: afternoon tea, food, london Tagged With: , , ,

Glameating: A Breakfast of Crepes at Toast, East Perth

July 1, 2010 By 1 Comment

Toast was recently named Perth’s best breakfast spot. Always eager to try out a new breakfast menu, I visited Toast on a bright and sunny Thursday morning.

Toast in East Perth is opposite the Royal Brasserie and has views over Claisebrook Cove. East Perth is a quiet nook, wall to wall with townhouses and apartment buildings and a small strip of shops and restaurants.

Many patrons were enjoying the sunshine and seated at the outside tables. Funnily enough no one had nabbed the two sundeck lounges nearby the entrance!

Toast’s menu features the usual breakfast options such as big bacon and egg breakfasts, french toast, pancakes but it also specialises in crepes and unique “toasts”.

We sat al fresco and ordered lattes, the corn fritters with poached egg, avocado and hollandaise sauce and the rhubarb and raspberry crepes with almonds.

Inside the cafe has a distinct retro feel. It’s bright and airy with full length windows letting in the light. The counter is choc full of biscuits, cakes and slices – all very tempting and distracting you from what you had decided to order! The waitress accidentally overcharged me $2 but was apologetic enough when I queried this.

At one of the nearby tables a beagle kept barking at its owner, obviously yearning for his own breakfast dish. Patrons were a mix of business people, tourists and people who had the luxury of having a leisurely breakfast…

The poached eggs were well done with just the right amount of yolk oozing from the centre. There was too much hollandaise sauce on the plate which was a bit overpowering. The fritters also had too much corn inside. Next time I would go for poached eggs on toast, easier to mop up the yolk with.

The crepes though were absolutely divine. They were thin and rolled up and mixed well with the raspberry and rhubarb compote. A dash of greek yoghurt or ice-cream would have complemented the crepes nicely.

Overall I would definitely come back for the crepes at Toast. Attention to detail could be improved but it makes for a nice breakfast spot in an area of Perth that’s often under-visited.

Filed Under: australia, food, perth Tagged With: , , , , , ,

High Tea at Peninsula Tea Gardens, Tranby House

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

High tea is a fine art. A perfect balance of sweet, savoury and of course tea. In Perth high tea has become a popular weekend activity offered in select hotels and restaurants.


The Peninsula Tea Gardens offers a relaxed, natural and rather historical setting for high tea. The tea rooms are set on the tranquil grounds of the historic Tranby House and Farm which was built in 1839. Tucked away in Maylands, the tea rooms are situated opposite Tranby House and overlook the Swan River.



We visited on a crisp winter’s afternoon and opted for an outdoor table to soak in the sunshine. We ordered the Sweet Tea set, with Stockholm tea and the Peninsula Tea set, with Lovers Leap tea. Each came on a three-tiered stand with fresh, fluffy scones with jam and cream. The Sweet Tea had fruit as well as cakes and the Peninsula set had finger sandwiches instead of fruit.




It’s difficult to find cakes in Perth that aren’t of the “cake box” variety. The cakes on the Sweet Tea set were dusted with icing sugar and very light with the right amount of sweetness. The cupcake was delightfully light made of a buttercake base and the little petit four when sliced had spongecake inside.


The total only came up to $33. Considering some places charge over $50 for one high tea set, this was incredible value for money. This was the best high tea experience in Perth I’ve ever had.


One day, hopefully sometime soon, I’m aiming to do high tea at the Langham Hotel in London… 

Filed Under: afternoon tea, food Tagged With: , , ,

Lunch in Suburbia – Coode St Cafe, Mt Lawley

March 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment



Nestled amongst heritage homes in the leafy suburb of Mt Lawley is a cafe named after a street. Coode Street Cafe keeps things simple but not boring. Its lunch menu offers fresh salads, sandwiches, tarts and a pie or two. Each pie or tart comes with the salad of the day- no garden salad here – instead a mixed salad featured mushrooms, asparagus, spinach leaves with just a drizzle of caeser-style dressing.
Customers came into the cafe at a steady pace to grab a bite or a takeaway Fiori coffee. A gaggle of girls were having a farewell lunch beside us, and surprisingly, a group of men waxed lyrical at an outside table. Men Who Do Lunch?
The cakes at the counter were also tempting to look at but my chicken pie was just too filling! Either way it was a nice relaxing lunch on a demure Saturday.
Filed Under: food Tagged With: , ,

Big Day Out 2010 Perth

February 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Big Day Out is one crazy carnivale. Not for the faint-hearted, BDO is one heady festival full of rock, electro-pop and a few dance acts thrown in. Held annually at Claremont Showgrounds, this was my first BDO. Nevertheless I felt so old compared to the mass of 18 year olds around me. Perhaps the fact that I wasn’t wearing a) high waisted shorts or b) a cut-out swimsuit was a dead giveaway.

BDO is comprised of seven separate stages, the Orange and Blue stages are next to each other for easy transitioning between big names.

On the Green stage we watched Lisa Mitchell beg the crowd NOT to throw coins at her during Coin Laundry. Her small voice carried over the crowd, surprisingly, and she sounded great live.

I knew Eskimo Joe’s oldest song in their set “Wake Up” which definitely shows my age! Frontman Kav Temperley proudly spoke about writing songs “down the road” in Fremantle. He may need to rethink the all white ensemble though.

After surviving the mad push into the ‘D’ area we got ten deep close to the stage for Ms Lily Allen. Lily strutted out onstage, blinding us with her silver cape. Her set seemed longer than most covering big hits Smile, LDN, the Fear and 22. Underneath the giggling, smoking, beer-drinking and that Brit accent though – Lily struck a chord with her mostly female audience. “C’mon ladies, you know what I mean!” she screamed before breaking out into Not Fair. She changed three times and declared it to be her last gig before she branches out in a new direction, a shame that…

Buzzed after Lily’s set, we pushed through to the front for Powderfinger, waited an hour, and stood right in front of Bernard Fanning. The oldies like These Days and My Happiness won the crowd over, as did Fanning’s constant teasing of the crowd waiting for Muse on the Blue stage.

By this time we were exhausted, had drunk way too much free iced tea and were in desperate need of dinner and a sit down. We did manage to fit in a bit of Groove Armada’s set before we caught Peaches and her massive mess of fake hair.

In 11 days time I’m going to Good Vibrations… wish me luck!

Filed Under: music Tagged With: , ,

High Tea at the Hotel Windsor, Melbourne

January 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Traditional High Tea at the Hotel Windsor is a Melbourne institution. When my bestie informed me we were going to high tea in Melbourne I had a sneaking suspicion that was where we were headed.

On a pleasantly warm Friday afternoon dressed in a ladylike fashion, we were ushered to a table whilst the smiling waiter explained high tea at the Hotel Windsor to us first-timers. Firstly, we were treated to a glass of sparkling rose, the 3 tiered stand featuring finger sandwiches, petit fours and scones would be brought out and we would be offered freshly brewed tea or coffee. Simple, right?

High tea at the Hotel Windsor was being served in the Grand Ballroom due to renovations, an ostentatious Victorian-era room with high ceilings and decorative walls. Most tables were filled with couples, families including one with a toddler who charmed the socks off the patrons around us, mothers with their young daughters dressed in their prettiest floral dresses with matching handbags and (low) heels and then there were us – Ladies Who High Tea.

We couldn’t help but say yes to the rose which was light and had a fruity palate.

The delicate finger sandwiches featured smoked salmon, egg and cucumber. No crusts in sight!

The plain and raisin scones were warm and fluffy with the choice of strawberry, blueberry and clotted cream. There is no slathering during High Tea at Hotel Windsor. Gently slicing the scone in half lengthways, you use separate knives to layer the scone first with jam and then with a generous helping of cream. Be generous, you don’t go to High Tea everyday!

Just as we bit into our scones and craving piping hot tea, it was served in its own tea pot with additional hot water.

Then there were the petit fours – which one to start from? The standout petit four was the delicate pear tart which had a custard dream filling wrapped in a glazed, ultra thin slice of pear. It was heavenly.

The service at High Tea at Hotel Windsor was prompt, friendly and anticpated our needs before we could voice them. Upon leaving one of the waitstaff asked if we enjoyed it and we replied strongly in the affirmative.

The Hotel Windsor
111 Spring Street, Melbourne
High Tea is served 3 – 5 pm weekdays

Filed Under: australia, melbourne Tagged With: , , , ,

My Balinese Birthday – The Sofitel Seminyak

January 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

On my recent trip to Bali, we stayed at the Sofitel Seminyak. My colleague had recommended this to me and an online special included free breakfast, Internet and airport transfers with the booking.

Located right on Seminyak beach the four-star resort has lush rainforest gardens throughout the secure complex. Bamboo grew right outside our hotel room door and banana trees with early fruit hung over a nearby walkway.

The gardens were home to a croissant-eating lizard. Whilst I enjoyed breakfast, this lizard leaped into the water to devour breakfast rolls from the waitstaff. He seemed friendly enough although I’m not sure that I’d want to meet him if I was walking alone in the evening.

We stayed in a ground floor room with a balcony that overlooked the moat. Ok, so it was more of a man-made waterhole surrounding the ground floor rooms but it did have the appearance of extra security from the balcony.

The hotel boasts two pools, a garden view pool and the more popular and crowded oceanview pool. Guests nabbed prime positions near the latter before breakfast so its recommended to go early although there were still some sun lounges available mid afternoon. The garden pool is a little more peaceful and secluded, plus its jacuzzi was great to relax in.

We were genuinely surprised by the food at the Capris beachside restaurant. There are a lot of negative comments on Tripadvisor about Balinese hotels having inflated prices at their restaurants. Yet I think if you’re hungry and don’t feel like venturing out from your hotel after a shopping expedition – you do get what you pay for. We ordered the mixed satay and gado gado salad with fresh juices. The satay came with an array of sides including white rice, steamed sambal spinach and sauces. The still-sizzling satay had to be turned over a couple of times on the hot rocks – which were not just for decoration!

On my birthday, we went for a hot stone massage at Le Spa. The massage was soothing for me but way too hot for my mum! Hot stone massage involves heating stones which are then used to massage all over your body with pairs of stones placed on your pressure points. It’s my favourite massage but maybe not for everyone.

Back in the room after the massage I was flicking through the TV channels when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a colourful cake on the coffee table. The hotel staff had left it there when we were away – it came with candles so I can only surmise that they wanted to sing to me? Either way it was a genuine surprise adding to a one-of-a-kind birthday. And yes, we did eat most of the cake for morning tea…

What completed our holiday though was the attentiveness of the staff. They were always friendly and assisted us with tour information, organising a taxi to Ubud and of course presenting a birthday cake. It perhaps accounts for the “regulars” that continually choose to stay there.

Filed Under: Asia, Bali Tagged With: , ,

Best places to eat in Melbourne in summer

January 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’ve just returned from a relaxing 10 day visit in Melbourne, soaking up the sun, nabbing a few bargains and doing lots of eating. Below are my top three Melbourne Eats, I confess I am missing Chapel Street and my brother’s inner city apartment already!

1. Suzuki Night Markets @ Queen Victoria Markets

Before you enter the markets you can hear a thumping folk band entertaining the hungry crowd. An intoxicating mix of smells greets you as you gently nudge your way through the people. The problem is how do you choose what to eat? Stalls sizzle with an international array of freshly fried, battered, stewed, grilled and baked foods. Worse still is watching what other people are eating – this induces serious food envy. The lack of empty tables necessitates eating wherever you can, perching on any empty space while you feast on New Orleans Creole Jambalaya with chicken and chorizo or honey dumplings and wash it all down with a sangria.

2. Hutong Dumpling Bar, 162 Commercial Road, Prahran

This upmarket Chinese restaurant has a dumpling viewing window so you can watch the chefs in action. The duck roasting oven is also on customer display and apparently cost $300,000! Either way, I enjoyed the shanghai dumplings as an entree when yours first bite releases the hot soup into your mouth, the specialty claypot melt-in-your-mouth scallops and eggplant and the very sweet pork spare ribs in a honey sauce. The service was a bit hit and miss though.

3. Ganache, 250 Toorak Road, South Yarra

My best friends swears this is the best chocolatier in Melbourne. I opted for the hazelnut fan slice and she had the passionfruit and mango slice accompanied by lemongrass T2 tea. The milk chocolate was velvety and smooth perfected by the wafer base sandwiching the crunched hazelnuts. I tasted her slice too which was light and fluffy, the sweetness of the fruit offset by the white chocolate mousse. This made for a rather decadent afternoon tea.

Whilst this isn’t a “top 3″ you have to eat Lord of the Fries if you’re in Melbourne after a big night or snack attack, just a pity they ran out of the below:

All photos were taken on my iPhone. Big thanks to my bro for letting me crash on his futon! =)

Filed Under: melbourne Tagged With: , ,

Lunch at the Lake House – Daylesford, Victoria

August 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago whilst in Melbourne I went on a little road trip to Daylesford with my girlfriend, Wei Yi. Escaping out of the city, we set our friendly GPS navigator and headed north west. As our surroundings changed from high rises to houses to wide open spaces, we breathed in deep the country air.

We lunched at the Lake House, which was a lovely bright and airy restaurant beside Lake Daylesford. Kookaburras eagerly waited for their raw steak fillet lunch on the deck. The waitstaff feed them regularly every day!

I highly recommend lunching at the Lake House. The service is faultless and the food is simply divine. Most of the produce is local, sourced from the Macedon/Daylesford region. The dessert tasting plate pushed us near to the edge, but it was heavenly.

Amuse bouche

Spicy pumpkin soup

Sashimi entree

Rose!

Filed Under: food Tagged With: ,

Liquid Desires at NGV, Melbourne

August 16, 2009 By 1 Comment

“One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.” – Salvador Dali

I have a penchant for Surrealist art and particularly the way in which the definite line between dreams and reality is blurred.

I remember studying Surrealism at school and deconstructing Salvador Dali’s melting clocks. In 2006 I visited the Tate Modern in London and viewed Surrealism: Desire Unbound. My favourite exhibit was the Lobster Telephone – it’s bizarre, it has sexual connotations and…it’s a lobster!

The Lobster Telephone is one of the surrealist artworks in Liquid Desires at NGV.

Liquid Desires looks at Dali’s body of work spanning his entire career. I was amazed by his artistic diversity – film, television, advertising, fashion design, theory, photography, publishing and his exploration of new ideas and mediums.

I would’ve loved to have seen more “clocks” in Liquid Desires, but perhaps I’ll come across them in another Dali exhibition somewhere else in the world. Adding to the list of things that I must do in my lifetime – see The Royal Heart at the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueras, Spain.

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