Ritz-Carlton Millenia

It is true that a large, corporate and sleek business hotel like the Ritz-Carlton can't compare to the class and beauty of afternoon tea venues at Claridge's, the Lanesborough or the Balmoral in the United Kingdom. The large room we sat in was very much a business man's bar and more cocktails and light lunches were being served than afternoon teas. There was no live music and the decor was a little boring (reminding me of an uninspired airport lounge) despite the great Chihuly artwork bursting from the far wall.

However the afternoon tea was excellent and balanced finely between the traditional and the innovative giving an interesting twist to some of the savoury dishes but maintaining enough of the must have ingredients to still be highly enjoyable.

The tea was served in stylish white china, gold decorated teapots with a label on the handle to tell you what tea was inside. These pots were placed on a stand where tea lights burned to help keep the tea warm. They were accompaned with silver strainers on a swing base like the ones at the Wolseley. My partner had a superb, delicate Orange Pekoe and I enjoyed a fine Assam. Needless to say the tea was loose leaf and was refilled as often as we asked.

The tea stand itself was a beautiful circular shape and had three layers. The food offerings were very savoury heavy yet without a traditional sandwich in sight. There was a tasty salmon and salmon roe brioche, beef and tomatoe on a sweet tomato roll, a smoked chicken wrap filled with excellent chicken and a mini potato and muchroom quiche made with excellent lardy shortcrust pastry. The scones were in a corner of our second layer of savoury treats and didn't really fit in. The savouries were all delicious however and, as we had skipped lunch, we were quite happy to eat them.

The scones themselves were unfortunately a little dry. They were served with good cream and a lovely Parisian jam. It's a pity they didn't live up to their accompaniments.

However the final sweet layer was in a league of its own. There was a loquat glazed mini-cheesecake decorated with strawberries and a violet with an excellent biscuit base, a tasty lemon curd tart in a rectangular pastry shell, a delightful coffee millefeuille decorated with a gold dusted coffee bean and oh! that slim slice of chocolate cake. Two moist layers of dark chocolate cake sandwiched together with a creamy ganache and topped with a dark chocolate leaf. The chocolate was dark and intense and the cake light and moist. It is the sort of cake I aspire to making one fine day. In the meantime it on its own is worth a return visit to the Ritz-Carlton.