Tea. Boy, do I love tea….and scones. And what better time is there than to have it on a random day when I don’t have to shove people out of the way in a queue and fight for a table on a Sunday? Sometimes a girl just wants to have Afternoon Tea in the middle of the week and pretend to be a tai-tai. Even better yet, is being able to drag a part-time tai-tai and guy-tai (using the term tai-tai very loosely indeed) with me for a spot of gastronomic indulgence and a good chin-wag. The perks of having a flexible work schedule!
As an expat-Brit, I can say without a doubt, that a good Afternoon Tea is something that most of my friends and I are constantly on the look-out for in Hong Kong. Not that there is a lack of choices in our home away from home, but the hunt is always on, plus, I like admiring the tea sets (God, I’m turning into a granny..not to insult grannies, but you catch my drift). I realised quite recently that a friend of mine (also Brit) and I spend about 50% of our time together a) talking about b) making, and c) drinking tea. So you can imagine my delight when The Continental, a beautifully elegant, art-deco styled restaurant above Pacific Place, rolled out an Afternoon Tea set at a very reasonably priced $365 for two. Cheers to Rach of Through The Looking Glass who can always be relied on to scout for good teas!
The Continental, as the name suggests, is a little homage to European grand cafes with a menu that they say is, “Anglo French with a British sensibility”. The restaurant itself is gorgeous with a cavernous interior and classic bankers-lamp green leather booths that look good for a nap, and bronze orbed lights which always induce murmurs of, “Oooohh, so pretty!”. I dragged my friends to tea mid-week on two occasions, one including a baby in tow, and I was very impressed by how child-friendly this establishment is and how accommodating the staff are, especially with infant grabby hands and a penchant to crumble pastries and cake all over the table.
Tea was presented very prettily on a three-tiered cake stand with an array of savouries and sweets to tempt all palates. The Coronation Chicken and egg mayonnaise sandwiches were a hit and the most favoured sweets both times were the salted caramel chocolate bites, the crème fraiche mousse on shortbread and the green apple panna cotta. Part-time tai-tai friend made the rookie mistake of having a rather large lunch a mere 1.5 hours before tea, leaving me and guy-tai (also with absurdly small appetite), to clean up. I must say that although the tea is meant for two, it does feed three quite well! Best of all were the scones which were lovely and warm, a good size and not as heavy as some of its counterparts in other establishments. Baby E, on the second tea outing, seemed to enjoy the scones immensely, much to the exasperation of her dad who was trying to distract her with blander baby food. The only downside was the mini pot of frozen-solid clotted cream which was impossible to spread on the scones- this needs to be addressed toute suite, or else I’ll smuggle in my own cream.
Bellies and friends were happy and we all agreed that the atmosphere coupled with solid service and what is a frankly, decently priced afternoon tea for Hong Kong, makes The Continental a go-to restaurant for enjoying my Earl Grey and scones in style.
Chopstixfix rating: 3.5/5 (because of that solid clotted cream)
The Continental, Shop 406, 4/F Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong, +852 2704 5211 www.thecontinentalhongkong.com [Afternoon tea is served 3-5pm]
