Sunday, January 6, 2008

Shangri-La Rose Veranda High Tea

Took mother-in-law out for a spot of afternoon tea today. We chose the Rose Veranda, Shangri-La (from my high tea buffet list). It turned out to be a really nice treat.


MIL loves her scones, and this place serves some really good ones. I can imagine languid afternoons spent here, with a book or a good friend, nibbling on treats like these.


Choose from 101 quality blends of teas (yes, you can choose as many as you like), served on Wedgwood crockery. We loved the Bourbon Vanille and Creme de Coco. They even have Lapsang Souchong and Roibosh, as well as mutivitamin sporty infusions. Most of the fruit flavoured black teas are rather subtle but refreshing nonetheless.

If you're not a tea person, don't fret - coffee is also available. The Viennese coffee topped with a generous rosette of whipped cream was heavenly! A robust Continental blend, not acidic at all.

One slight caution about drinking all this liquid (a hot pot of tea serves up four cups) - your tummy can feel a bit sloshy if you drink more than one pot. And I hear the restrooms are located a fair distance away.



Warm and cold mains, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

The buffet spread may not look like a lot but looks can be deceiving. They use small serving platters crammed quite narrowly together. If you try to take a bite out of everything, I'd reckon you'd still be quite full. Personally I don't mind a smaller spread if they do each dish better. I'd rather have quality over quantity. However, it's still hits and misses here.


The hot Asian mains were fairly good. The Thai green curry chicken was the one of the best dishes in the whole buffet. Interestingly, they served "corn rice" (some fragrant rice steamed with corn kernels, not pictured here) instead of plain white rice


A small side area upfront served Japanese starters. The salmon sashimi and unagi sushi were decent. They also had futomaki and small kappa-maki (cucumber) and oshinko maki (yellow pickle). Lots of pickles to choose from.



Assorted dim sum, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

You also get a small variety of dim sum, but as in most buffets, these were not spectacular by any means. There's a DIY mee rebus station too that I forgot to try.


I wasn't too impressed with the cold Western stuff though. Only liked the smoked salmon.


Some of the hot Western stuff was all right. Loved the crispy potato skins. MIL loved the chicken pie and quiche. But the ball-shaped salmon cake was a bit too fishy.


There's a lot of salmon in this high tea! One small station was dedicated to serving this baked salmon and spinach in pastry. Served with a pureed mushroom sauce that would put most mushroom soups to shame, tastewise.


The desserts were wonderful. We liked almost everything. If I ever come back, I would focus more on the sweet than the savoury, along with the teas and coffee.


Again, small sized platters but a reasonable variety. Lovely cakes and bread & butter pudding. Yummy scones are in the far left silver container.



You got your fruits, your chocolate fondue, your mini shooters, cookies, truffles and even eclairs.


The difference with this high tea is that you get to relax in a lush, green, quiet environment. You can lie back on comfy sofas as you sip your tea. There aren't hordes of Singaporeans crowding the buffet. And service is impeccable. The lovely cheongsam-clad waitresses are discreet yet observant, swift in anticipating your needs and changing plates. They don't chase you away at closing time either. A classy joint.


The Rose Veranda believes in bringing back the elegant art of afternoon tea (click pic to see their philosophy). It has certainly managed to do so. By the way, the specialty teas served are also available for sale.

ROSE VERANDA
Shangri-La Singapore
Orange Grove Road
High Tea Buffet S$36++ per pax
12pm to 6pm Mondays to Fridays
12pm to 3pm; 3pm to 6pm weekends and public holidays (two seatings)
Call for reservations: 6213-4486

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13 comments

  1. Sounds like a wonderfully blissful afternoon : )

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  2. Wow, I love ur blog. So much yummy food post. :( how nice if its in Malaysia, I will definately pay a visit. But too bad its in Singapore. Makes me drooling from far.

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  3. What a nice spread of high tea items for a leisure afternoon.

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  4. Thanks! Not all the food is great but there's something for everyone's palate. :) I feel like trying more teas. And the Viennese coffee is really lovely!

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  5. What a feast, those scones look fab! Haven't tried any of the High Teas in Singapore yet... I remember you put a list together of the places offering it, any recommendations of the best?

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  6. Hi Greedy Glutton, honestly the Rose Veranda is the first high tea I've had in years so I'm still not the best-placed person to make recommendations. Perhaps some of our readers can chime in for that?

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  7. I used to like the high tea at Hotel Intercontinental, but it's been more than 2 years since I last went there for high tea - wife thinks it's fattening :-(

    What's nice about their high tea especially during weekdays was their high quality tea items on 3-tier serving plates accompanied by soft music from a harp - heard it's no longer there though. Scones, tea cakes, finger sandwiches, you name it. It's not a really big spread like what Camembera had at Shangri-la though, which seems to me to be almost like a full buffet lunch!

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  8. Hi Indigo, yes, I have heard good comments about the Hotel InterContinental high tea. I think it's still around. The staff told me during the Dec festive period, it's a special four-tier selection (ooh, even more fattening?? lol)

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  9. Nice! long time never go to a high-tea buffet already. might just be tempted to go there : )

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  10. Wow, everything looks so grogeous. Maybe will take mum there on her birthday.

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  11. Lovely photos...it reminds me that it has been a long time since I visited Shangri-la Rose Veranda for high tea. =P

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  12. Wow, based on the pictures.
    I prefer Rose Veranda.
    But my friend prefer The Dining Room.
    Since you tried out for both of them, do you mind to tell which one you prefer?
    If a person prefer sweet/savoury will go to The Dining Room or Rose Veranda?
    XD

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  13. Hi Yen.ney,

    In general, the Rose Veranda is higher quality stuff and features both Asian, Western and a bit of Japanese. Dining Room is mainly Asian/local food. Desserts at Rose Veranda also seem to be better although there may be less variety. Of course, Rose Veranda is also more expensive (S$36 vs S$28).

    But this might be the deciding factor - Rose Veranda is closed for renovations til Sept. They are temporarily offering tea at the Lobby Court. See website for details.

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