Four Seasons - Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea #2 - Four Seasons
Official Site: http://www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/the_lounge.html

Today i hit the Four Seasons Afternoon Tea in Central, Hong Kong. The occasion was an 'beat the rush' mother's day tea with my mum (and aunt).

The servings are as follows:
The tea set (this is for 3 people so don't get excited by the number of servings)

Here's some close-ups of the savouries (the sandwiches weren't worth photograhing - they were dry and bland)


The first is a prosciuto on toast, 2nd is an egg salad concoction with caviar - both were quite nice.
The third was a little profiterole with something that i found kind of bland inside.

The tea set - not much variety of tea to choose from (they had breakfast/afternoon/earl grey and two others for the 'black' teas), unlike the Intercontinental and inside the teapot was ... a tea bag!!! That was a little disappointing. It's nice that the waiters pour the tea for you when your cup is empty but it would have been nice if they actually asked if you would like another tea bag when the tea coming out of the pot is almost the colour of the water they poured in!


Close-ups of the dessert part of the afternoon tea. I found the chocolate mud slice a little on the heavy side (that said, i've had 'heavier' cakes before) It's just a matter of taste/mood. The things in the little glass was pineapple and coconut jelly. I'm not sure what kind of cream base they used but it was my favourite out of section of the tea. I'm not a fan of maccaroons either so they were wasted on me. the little strawberries biscuits with a bit of gold flakes was nice though.

Atmosphere - seating was comfortable and it was surprisingly not crowded. It'll probably be different tomorrow. Tip: If you arrive well before the 3pm starting time and they take your name down before directing you to wait in the lobby, remember to ask for a window seat (if you would like a view of the Kowloon side) - we didn't know and missed out.
There is live music (grand piano + cello) - the grand piano was nice but at times it was a bit loud. We were the closest table to the piano though so if you're sitting at the back of the lounge it may be better. It was still nice and relaxing though the view isn't as great as the Intercon - because the lounge is in the lobby of the hotel you don't get that great of a view, it'll probably be better if the Lounge was on the next level up or something.

Restrooms - very nice - this was one thing that is better than the Intercon. Neat, spacious, dressing tables, multiple cubicles! (most important considering the amount of tea you can drink)

Verdict - Intercon is still my first choice, if you're doing the afternoon/high tea circuit in Hong Kong. Four Seasons is a must-try but i don't think i'll go back (yet).

The outside of the hotel is nice but you have to walk through all the cars parked around in front to get to the lobby and there's no clear pedestrian path leading from ifc One to the front door. The Peninsula is definitely the winner for grand entrances (though that said, you have to walk up the driveway....) :P