“As high-falutin’ and old-fashioned as
high tea sounds, it’s still a major part
of our day, every day,” said Sammy
Carolus, general manager of the Grand
Hyatt Taipei. “People used to talk about
the power lunch. Today we’re talking
about the power tea. Increasingly it’s
how guests are beginning to explore a
particular destination’s culinary appeal.”
In Taipei, the deliciously over-the-top
afternoon tea buffet takes place at the
Grand Hyatt Taipei’s Café restaurant.
Designed to resemble a gourmet
marketplace, this is possibly the most
high-powered high tea experience in
Asia, with more than 10 live cooking
stations, 120 different international
delicacies, and 280 seats for guests.
Highlights include a sushi and seafood
bar, a salad bar, a fresh juice bar,
Chinese, Indian as well as Western fare,
and a dessert station filled with cheese,
all-you-can-eat cakes and pastries, and
a matcha chocolate fountain to top it
off.
In Tokyo, the ever-popular high tea
service at Palace Lounge, Palace Hotel
Tokyo’s cozy bar and restaurant, marries
seasonal selections with premium teas,
specialty coffees, and champagne. With
sweeping views of the surrounding
Imperial Palace gardens and moat,
this high tea adds a seasonal twist with
pastries and sweets inspired by spring.
Treats featured in the spring tea set
include mini bacon and onion quiche,
Japanese rice balls with green leaves,
and freshly baked scones — all artfully
presented in an elegant, three-tiered
jyubako lacquered box. spread of reinvented French classics,
or a lavish chocolate buffet featuring
pralines, ganache, mille-feuille pastries,
and a chocolate fountain — while
listening to the sweet sounds of live jazz.
In Bangkok, and in particular at Le
Macaron, Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit’s
gourmet, Parisian-style cafe, a taste
of afternoon tea tradition is served up
daily from 2 to 5 p.m. Treats include
homemade French pâtisserie — from
green tea cakes to scones with jam and
vanilla whipped cream — and all manner
of teas. On Indonesia’s Bintan Island near
Singapore, The Sanchaya serves up
afternoon tea on a veranda overlooking
powder white sands and aquamarine
waters dotted with picturesque islands.
Savory treats from the Classic English,
Southeast Asian and Artisanal-themed
afternoon teas include roasted beef
with beetroot and horseradish relish,
‘tahu isi’ stuffed local tofu with mixed
vegetables, and lobster ceviche on
crostini respectively, topped off with
sweets such as fresh berries with vanilla
custard, fried ice cream in bread and
spring roll skin and creamy dragon fruit
tartlet.
In Hanoi, the high tea takes place at
the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi’s
recently revamped Le Club, a Roaring
Twenties speakeasy-style bar, built on
top of a wartime air-raid shelter. Here
guests can choose between a traditional
afternoon tea, a delectable three-tiered
And in Colombo, afternoon tea at
one of the oldest hotels east of the
Suez pays homage to the Ceylonese
past. Amid the Verandah’s colonial
al fresco setting at The Galle Face
Hotel, traditional English afternoon
tea is underscored by fine Ceylon teas