This is my 3rd day of Bday celebration.
Actually overslept cos I was simply too tired. The appointment with the café was at 1pm but only manage to crawl outta bed around 12.40pm.
Thus, called the café to push back to 2pm instead.
I tot the timing was jus nice, shower n dress up, leaving my hse around 1.35pm. A 25min drive should be more than sufficient to Orchard Regent Hotel.
The drive on the CTE was smooth n weather looks fine. Tot it would b a great way to start the day – sufficient rest, nice dress, proper make up.
Our plan was to spend a lazy afternoon at the Tea Lounge. As the high tea buffet starts from 1pm to 5.30pm, we tot it was a wonderful way to hv lunch n dinner together n spend sum relaxing time there. I even equipped myself wif a book and my game console, jus to ensure I’ll b occupy for the afternoon.
Who would hv expect, a bad jam at Orchard Boulevard Road (towards Regent) Just a short little journey from Orchard Cine-leisure to Regent, we took almost 40min. First (on the left side), there was a lane closure due to trees trimming. Less than 300m away, there is another closure due to some road works. On the right side was the construction for the Orchard Ion.
With buses taking up almost a lane, we only left with abt 2 lanes to move abt. This has caused a rely bad jam, which start to spoil my day.
Following tat was another unwanted disappointment - we cun locate the carpark entrance. Poor planning as we should hv look at the road map for the entrance.
By the time we reach the Tea Lounge, it was almost 2.40pm. Not a big issue though since our seats are still under reservation.
Of cus, I wasn’t in a gd mood anymore. Nt sure if it’s the mood or the food, but I dun find the spread fantastic. In fact, I find the selection kinda limited.
The seating was also not to my expectation. I tot it would b a very cozy corner with couch seats where I could lift up my legs. Nope. The seats we were assigned to was 2 single chair (like those old English chair). A pretty small round table with nice napkins n cutleries.
Food wise is ok. I wun say they r rely nice but not too bad. The spread is kinda mixture. There are some hot stuffs like chicken wings, roasted lamb, satay and a unique crabmeat in chilli sauce (jus like those chilli crab sauce and they added sum crab meat to it) serve in a small little pastry cups. None of the items are fantastic but usually hotels dun serve great food. Such stuff u simply hv to get them at hawker centres.
The bun/sandwich selection is not bad. Most of them in small little portion so you will be able to try all before deciding which u like most. The presentation is cute and they serve in different type of fresh buns/bread. Sum of them r actually quite tasty.
There is a very small spread of Japanese sushi and smoke salmon. The Sushi doesn’t look appealing at all. But surprisingly, it taste beta than its look.
There is a salad section whereby u get to mix your own salad. The set up is like a rojak store, only instead of rojak, they are salad ingredients (various type of veg, tomatoes, onions, cucumber, salad sauce and blah blah blah)
The biscuits selection is the worst. I cun locate the biscuit and was told tat they are all in the 2 tins at a corner of the pastries selection. Basically, u hv to dig the biscuits u like from the tin. To be fair though, the biscuits are gd.
The little little pastries/desserts are ok. Sum wif rely nice presentations. I like the chocolate fondue most. The fruits are prepared in sticks. 2 choices, the berries (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries) and tropical (rock melon and I cun remember) The tropical is gd, sweet n fresh. So shiok.
The chocolates are kinda disappointing though. I tried at least 4-5 types and oni 1 of them (should be hazelnut cream) that I find not bad, they rest are not rely my cup of tea.
They hv a special dessert for the day, sum kinda soufflé but I cun remember it’s name. It’s made from a type of Japanese fruit which taste like lemon & lime (mixture of both taste). It’s meant to be hot and suppose to be a must try (the chef would specially serve it to your table). I find it abit too sour for my liking but I do admit tat the texture is gd.
The worst of all, is actually the scones. I’ve read sum comments abt this pl before deciding on it. And there are comments that the scones are rely gd. Mayb I m jus not a scones fan, but I truly cun tell wat’s so nice abt the scones. It’s a little too hard in texture and jus lack the taste. I probably should hv go wif sum jam to spice up the taste.
Overall, I tink I’ll just give a 6.8/10 for the food. Ambience is reasonably comfy wif soft live piano music from time to time. It’s a gd way to spend a lazy afternoon if u dun mind the price (May bank has discount). They hv long High Tea hour from 1pm to 5.30pm. Good choice if u wanna skip lunch and dinner for a high tea.
I probably wun give it another try in the nx 1 yr or so. My nx high tea consideration would be L'Espresso @ Goodwood Park.
Anyway, tat's how my bday celebration ended, with us leaving the place at around 5pm. Full enuff to last mi for the day.
