Afternoon tea at the Conrad Centennial Hotel
Continuing with the afternoon tea theme, Lobby Lounge is the next venue to tempt my taste buds. This is what I experienced.
Lobby Lounge (Conrad Centennial, Singapore)
This is the second visit to Lobby Lounge for afternoon tea in 2 years. They have upgraded their tea selection to TWG Tea Company. There were some delightful teas on offer like Weekend in Moscow containing rose petals to simple chamomile tea. I remember a larger spread of hand-made chocolates and cookies on my first visit. This time, it has reduced by half. The waitress served our afternoon tea in the three-tier format with sandwiches in the middle and cakes/pastries filling the remaining plates. Lobby lounge has stuck to the classic afternoon tea sandwiches: egg, cucumber and smoked salmon. There were other sandwiches on offer including char siew (roasted pork) and crispy bacon with oodles of caramelized onion in a baguette. Bacon tasted so good!.
Overall, sandwiches are ok. The bread was very dry on the surface which meant that the kitchen has let the sandwiches out in the open for a while. Since it is a weekday afternoon buffet, the kitchen did not have enough sandwiches ready to keep up with the re-orders. We had to wait at least 20 minutes each time we asked for more sandwiches. Hence, I was very disappointed with the slow service.
There is one item on the menu that I look forward to is their souffle which is freshly made and served immediately. As a foodie and a cook, souffle is one dish that can work or fail at anytime. For me, souffle has to a super light and fluffy without tasting too much like an aerated sponge cake. The mixture is prepared by the kitchen staff and the souffle is then baked in a mini oven in the lounge for patrons to view. As soon as I dipped my spoon in the souffle, I knew it wasn’t what I know wasn’t what I expected. It tasted like a plain vanilla sponge cake to me. The pastry that I like best in this afternoon tea was their raspberry collection. One particular sweet was raspberry tart with custard. The fruit was bright red filled and burst with sweetness when you bite into them. Yum!
Aside from the slow refills of sandwiches and wanna be souffle, it was still a nice afternoon to spend with my sister and her daughter. A girlie bonding session indeed.
Cheerio from me!
Contact details for Conrad Centennial Hotel
Two Temasek Boulevard
Singapore 038982,
Tel:+ 65-6334-8888
CY Food Affairs 