Alice C.
Yelp
This place is covered by local socialites, and the kind of foodies that chases after trends rather than flavours. A friend of mine managed to get us an afternoon tea booking -- she claimed it was fully booked, and really hard to get! I must admit, that got my expectations up, and on top of that, their cakes that was showcased at the entrance were rather beautiful looking!
I haven't had the cakes ever, and I've heard good things about it, but I suspect a lot of it is just marketing and packaging, based on my tea experience here. After my meal here, I don't think I will ever be back.
Where do I start? The place was pretty empty as we arrived at our time of reservation, unlike what I was led to believe. There weren't too many people at the rooftop area, and at some point we were the only people having high tea. They sat us at some Victorian-style couches with a coffee table, which was at knee height and very awkward to eat at, and unfortunately it was at a lower level than the rooftop so you could barely see the view outside.
One thing I immediately noticed was how cold the air-conditioning was, and I was quite uncomfortable and cold. Food and hot tea usually solves that, especially if the food comes in three tiers. But alas, I was disappointed when the food came. There was only one of every single item, and each piece was quite large, making it much harder to eat with your fingers, but not large enough to share. The food tends... American? There were sliders, tarts, sponge cakes... even a tacky chocolate-and-sprinkle-covered strawberry (yes, ONE).
None of the food was memorable. They were underwhelming at best, and the desserts were so bland, you couldn't really tell what they were meant to be if you weren't looking at the colors. Did I mention how cold the air-conditioning was? Usually the food at tea is served cold, but when it involved a beef slider... the slider quickly turned cold and chewy in the air-conditioning and I'd rather have a fresh McDonald's burger.
The tea? Forget about it girl. It became iced tea the moment it was poured out of the teapot.
On top of this, the food was not even cheap. It rivaled the tea at Ritz Carlton in terms of prices, and the service was forgettable and minimal. I don't think the waitstaff even came to refill our hot water. It took us forever to get their attention for the bill, and again, the place wasn't even close to 1/4 filled.
Needless to say, I highly recommend bringing your $$ and tastebuds elsewhere. Unfortunately, because food and social media are such essential parts for Hong Kong people, anything that looks remotely instagrammable always gets the most recommendations, despite the actual quality and service. Don't be a lemming, and definitely don't fool yourself into thinking anything expensive must be good.