Haha, enough of this Family Day (Hari Keluarga) essay. I'm quite surprised that my Bahasa Melayu is still pretty much intact despite having not used it for years! For me, every day is a family day but some days are more special than others, such as the day our family had afternoon tea at the Lobby Lounge, Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur. It's quite a special event considering that my dad is not a huge fan of afternoon teas and the likes.
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| Narumi Bone China |
In Kuala Lumpur, the only high tea place I had been to was Shangri-La's lobby lounge. I did not know that Ritz Carlton offers afternoon tea until I read Rebecca's post on Ritz Carlton's Christmas high tea.
One afternoon tea set costs RM 68++ per person. It is slightly pricier than the set offered in Shangri-La but my parents agreed to try Ritz's Carlton afternoon tea.
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| Clotted Cream, Bonne Maman Preserves and butter |
Each set includes either Ronnefeldt tea (loose leaf, not sachet!) or coffee. We ordered two sets to share among four of us, so, we are only entitled to two sets of tea or coffee. All four of us ordered tea as there were about 40 choices available to us. We added another two pots of tea. Each pot costs RM 22 but it is worth the price as the tea can last many rounds.
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| A three-tiered affair |
My dad picked Soft Peach tea. It was the best tea among the ones we ordered. I loved its fruity flavor. :) Reminds me of Twining's Grand Wedding Tea but with an additional shot of acidity to it. Quite appetizing. My sister had Rose tea. It had the authentic taste of rose, not the flavored kinds found in your standard bandung sirap drink.
I had Ginger and herb tea, which was repelling for everyone on the table except me. In my opinion, it was a healthy option since ginger is reputed to reduce bloating and boosts weight loss (not that I needed it, but whatever). My mom, on the other hand, picked lemongrass. The lemongrass would not infuse properly despite the boiling water, so the tea was pretty watery at the start. The flavor only appeared when we were about the leave the place, which was an hour and a half from the arrival of the tea.
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| Start from the scones, then the savory items |
The scones tasted as perfect as it looked. It was fluffy and bready. Quite good to eat on its own. Its slightly salty taste went well with the strawberry and marmalade preserves. The clotted cream was quite different from the ones I usually have - it was much denser. The butter was quite a waste really as none of us used it.
I had not complains of the savory items. They were not soggy at all, as they were made on the spot. The pastry skin was crisp yet light. The filling were low in sodium but still tasteful.
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| A selection of finger sandwiches to enjoy |
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| A sweet note to end, as always |
For desserts, there was a slice of layered cake, a mixed berry tart, a chocolate macaron coated with hazelnut pieces, a chocolate pistachio eclair filled with orange cream and a slice of cheese cake. All of them were not too sweet, just the way I love my desserts to be. The macaron was better than the ones I have in Melbourne. They had beautiful "feet" and enough dark chocolate was used for the filling. Absolutely divine. :)
The afternoon tea in Ritz is a must have when you visit Kuala Lumpur. The tea here is of a different league from the one in Shangri-La. Sorry, but after a round of tea here, I am a Ritz-tea convert. :D
However, there are a few things I did not like about having tea at Ritz. First, there are not many tables in Lobby Lounge so a reservations is a must. Secondly, I cannot stand the fact that the the crowd in the Lobby Lounge was a bit rowdy - except for Anita Sarawak's table, which was the only other quiet table apart from ours. I can hear whatever the other tables are talking about. There was this Singaporean man, in his sixties, bragging about his 75 million SGD fortune to his fellow mates. Sheesh, with KL being so dangerous, I cannot believe that one can spout such things! He was talking so loud that the heavenly harp music, played live by a Japanese lady, was almost non-existent. Such a waste really.
Oh, did I mention? The Lobby Lounge is a yes-smoking area. It was torture, sitting in a room filled with "chimneys". There was this table of six girls in their mid twenties. They looked very decent and had great fashion sense but all was ruined when they started puffing their ciggies. The smoke from their toxic sticks were floating towards our direction. T_T
Edit: I made a mistake by thinking that the place I was in was Cesar's. Millions of apologies
Edit: I made a mistake by thinking that the place I was in was Cesar's. Millions of apologies
Little things:
-Cuisine: Afternoon tea
-Ambience: Very opulent but ruined by the smoke. The air-con was not working well.
-Service: Quite good.
-Portion: Two tea sets manage to fill four tummies. So, the portions here are not bad
-Budget: RM 68++ for a tea set can be quite expensive for some.
-Afternoon tea runs from 3pm to 5pm
-Location:
168 Jalan Imbi,, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
03-2142-8000
