The boulangerie with some lovely pastries and cakes on display for sale:
All three of Robuchon's Le Jardin, L'Atelier and Le Salon de Thé are located in one building (the Landmark), but the tea salon is markedly more casual, and the service not as refined (but still perfectly acceptable). The trademark sleek and smooth design is present, and there was the option to sit inside the store or at one of the more private tables outside in the corridor overlooking the mall. We opted for more privacy, and we enjoyed some of the lovely Christmas decorations that were already set up on the ground floor of the Landmark.
The decorations at the Landmark were completed a few days after our afternoon tea - models of a snowy mountain and mobile gondola lift, and a huge silver Christmas tree:
The menu was quite simple, with options for Savouries Set For 2 (HK$265), the Pastries Set For 2 (HK$265), or the High Tea Set for 2 (HK$325) which combines items from both the Savouries Set and the Pastries Set. Steph selected the High Tea Set without any hesitation whatsoever. There was also the option to select individual pastries, cakes and sandwiches from the a-la-carte menu, but the set made it much easier for an indecisive person such as myself. Portions were tiny, perhaps the daintiest tea set I've had so far, and it turned out that tiny was enough for the two of us.
The savouries arrived first:
Scones - my favourite part of any tea event. These ones were "Home made natural, lemon and raisin scones with Devonshire clotted cream and home made strawberry jam", as stated on the menu. Delicious on its own (as I prefer) or doused in the cream and jam (Steph's way):
Lobster Sandwich with Tarragon - a good one to start with so that the subtle flavours of lobster could be fully appreciated:
Norwegian Smoked Salmon and Caviar Sandwich - beautiful silky texture of the smoked salmon enhanced by the fresh dill and salty bursts of caviar. Cute presentation, the best of all the savouries:
Tuna and Poached Egg Sandwich - an ordinary filling taken to new level with the use of seared fresh tuna (versus canned tuna). There were also some olives which added a different dimension to the sandwich:
Premium Ham with Mustard Seed Sandwich - this one failed to impress me, and there's not much to say except that this was a ham and mustard sandwich:
Our tea arrived in their respective teapots. I can't remember what I got, but Steph got the dai pai dong-style milk tea:
The Pastries Set, beginning with the Macaroon Ganache. I've only had good macaroons at Robuchon, and these were great too. I believe it was a caramel macaroon flanked by two lemon macaroons, and the macaroons were resting on hazelnut cream and pâte sucrée (sweet shortcrust pastry):
Pistachio & Chocolate Mousse Cake - this was much too sweet and rich for me, but the presentation was pretty, and I liked the gold foiled pistachio at either ends of the cake:
Blueberry Cheesecake - surprisingly light for a cheesecake. The blueberries were topped with jam and either gold foil or chocolate, and the whole cheesecake was resting on a thin sliver of pâte sucrée:
Exotique - white chocolate and passionfruit "drops" with raspberry halves on pâte sucrée. At this point I was glad for the small portions, because we were consuming a fair amount of sugar and rich stuff:
Paris-Brest, which resembled nothing like how paris-brest is supposed to look like (a wheel, in honour of a bicycle race between Paris and Brest). Nonetheless, it was delicious and similar to éclairs, with a hazelnut cream inside choux pastry and topped with chocolate sauce, a walnut fragment and more gold foil:
This was a luxurious and indulgent afternoon tea, and I was glad to finally try it!
LE SALON DE THÉ de Joël Robuchon
Shop 315
3rd Floor, The Landmark,
16 Des Voeux Road Central, Central
Tel: +85 2 2166 9088
that looks so yummy! well jealous of your wonderful experience!
ReplyDeleteNo need to be jealous, for you live in the country where afternoon tea originated from!
ReplyDeletegood point though none as fine quality as this near where I live!
ReplyDelete