TWG Tea Salon and Boutique, an unknown brand to me three weeks ago, a place I would love to go back tomorrow.
If money does fall from the sky, I would have ordered the Yellow Gold Tea Buds.
I step into this shop three weeks ago to buy two pieces of macaroons.
By the next week, I was there buying a present for my grandmother. And today, I went in giving an excuse to my self that I wanted to taste the tea I bought, but the real reason is as follow. I wanted to try the tea, have a taste of their finger sandwiches, and their best seller "Singapore Surprise" which I will surprise you later.
By ordering it individually, it will burden me with the total cost of my meals from Monday to Friday, so I decided to go during the 3pm to 6pm interval, where my to-eat-list of food comes in a set plastered with a cheaper price which makes me feel better. So, that's how you outsmart the menu. Go for the set meal! If the set meal exist that's it.
While waiting in the human chain, I saw my new classmate, which I never say "Hi" to, oops. I was seated fast, because I was alone. A table for one is easier to find, compare to a table for five for a group of aunties in front of me. And to my realization that most of the tables are set up for two, and a table for more than two is only achievable by joining tables the kopitiam style and grabbing the chair opposing me politely and squeeze it into the other table to make a table for five.
Okay, I am not here to bore you with my fascination.
This is the boutique area where a handful of good looking french men splurge their knowledge about tea on an amateur customer like me. Though non are in sight in this picture.
And the salon area, where your lips are inseparable from the tip of the cup, sipping the pumping hot tea and constantly serviced by a group of smartly dressed men with smiling faces as their pleasant cover.
I sat down and blinked through the extensive tea list. There are 400+ teas all together, ranging from 6 SGD per pot to wallet-boomz effect price.
I settled for the afternoon tea set called Chic.
- TWG tea from our extensive tea list
- A selection of 3 fine finger sandwiches from the list below
- Foie gras
- Chicken with Comptoir des Indes Tea infused cream fraiche
- Smoked salmon with Mascarpone and chives
- Green asparagus and whipped cream sprinkled with chives
- Roma and Moroccan mint tea infused sauce
- A choice of 2 homemade scones or muffins served with TWG Tea jelly and whipped cream or 1 patisserie from our trolley
The tea came first.
This special looking pot is meticulously constructed with the suitable materials to secure the temperature of the tea. The tea will diligently stay warm even after an hour.
I took a sip of my grandmother's to be birthday present, Green tea with ripe fruits. The fragrance of the ripe fruits triggered my senses, and I thought this was gonna be promising. But oh my, the pinch of tea's bitterness was there. But after resisting my temptation of sugar addition, it was lovely. The required sweetness was perfect to not remind you that you are sipping on tea. This is not any ordinary sugar from the kopitiam for your coffee.
In contrary to lipton tea where you can add the whole can of milk. Crystalized sugar is offered to satisfy the sweet tongue, and to protect the tea's taste from alteration. Adding milk like the uncle who runs the tea stall is a big no no too.
After a few torturing sips for the lip, the tiny sandwiches arrived.
I settled with the smoked salmon - my favorite, chicken - recommendation from waiter and foie gras - my excitement. And the menu never mention about this.
Green salad with a clown nose sized cherry tomato tossed with house vinaigrette, which I believe is also tea infused type of dressing.
For the smoked salmon, the bread are toasted lightly which achieved a delicate nutty crust on its surface. Smoked salmon has moist content, but the moisture is controlled to ensure the bread stays crispy.
I grab the chicken next, it was all right. No hard rock texture, very pleasant and doesn't taste like rotten chicken as I thought.
As a stranger to foie gras, on the first bite, I was blew away instantly. By the third bite, I wished all 3 sandwiches was foie gras. The great soft texture eases the melting in your mouth along with the fragile nutty crusted bread. What a great taste for a small piece of controversial meat. The salad tasted okay too, which plays second fiddle to this plate of minis.
Then my surprise, "This is it" I whispered to my self as the waiter place this in front of me.
The Singapore Surprise, I took a bite first only to realize I need to take a picture. The excitement grew, this is must try in TWG, I have seen good reviews about it, and I am pretty confident that the truth dont lie.
This jewel has a thin layer of torched caramelized sugar on top, berries cushioned within a custardy vanilla bourbourne tea infused mouse and the bottom layer of something mysteriously crispy. The texture of different layers vary, which might be a turn off. But the real surprise is that everything melts, the strong sense of vanilla explodes, and the diabetic potential of this masterpiece rise instantly. The different layers disintegrated just right, the custardy texture was major. This worth every penny you need to fork out. Its also listed as one of the most expensive cake in Singapore on soshiok.com
Just stare, picture speaks better than my long winded explanation.
While calming my excitement in this up class salon by sipping the best tea and being surprised, my butt was nailed to the chair for one solid hour mumbling away on the paper for my first draft of creative writing. A very productive afternoon tea session for me, while other tables was productively chatting, and a group of tai tai surrounded by an army of shopping bags gossiping.
You will never miss a glimpse of this shiny weapon for a cup of good tea at every table. And a few glass teapots are in sight too.
Keep a look out for this.
This is the first piece of the puzzle to a great tea experience. The puzzle will never be completed, because the crave for TWG tea will strike you back. It might not be the tea for non tea lovers, but the sinful pastries have a big potential to cling on to your cravings.
I walked out of this aquarium with a smile, but there was a bucket of satisfaction buried deep in me. "I will see you soon" I told to the friendly waiters who thanked me for coming.
The art of serving tea is delicately crafted here. The selection of tea leaves are chose from a handful of tea harvester world wide, to the type of pots to keep your tea warm as you chat away, or in my case as I scribbled. The education on tea was a bonus for me.
Serving tea is easy, but to serve the best tea is a delicately planned process.
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