Doing High Tea at The Raffles in Singapore

August 22, 2012 at 2:23 PM | by jetflyboy | Comments (0)

High Tea has become one of the best litmus tests of how a hotel can impress its guests. Singapore's Raffles Hotel is no different. The entire hotel, a vintage colonial building surrounded by gardens and lush tropical plants, is one of the must-see attractions for visitors. Not only is it the original property of the hotel chain, it is a landmark building for the city.

Lots of planning needs to go into partaking in this tea service. No, we're not talking about which hat to wear or whether the finger sandwiches have crusts or not. Although very important, these thoughts can't happen until you make a booking for high tea. And The Tiffin Room at The Raffles takes reservations no more than three weeks before you want to partake in the pomp and circumstance. Fortunately, we planned ahead for our own tea time. Here's how it went:

After a short wait to enter the lobby dining room, we were graciously welcomed and then swiftly escorted to our table. We didn't have too much time to take in the grandeur of the lobby since a tiered plate of delicious confection and finger sandwiches were served and acted as a centerpiece for the table.

We were offered the choice of coffee or tea or for an upcharge of S$22 —about $15.50 US— a glass of French champagne would be ours for the taking. We opted for the bubbles to make this even more of a special day.

The preset price of 68 Singapore dollars, or $54 US, included a formidable buffet style lunch featuring sweet to savory and Asian and Western delights. Towers of bamboo steamers played fixtures for the end of the room, housing 3 different types of dumplings and steamed pork buns. Oppositely flanked with an equally impressive spread of tropical fruits. All presented against a backdrop of fresh scones, tarts and a modern take on the Austrian dessert, Sachertorte.

After a few more trips to sample the dumplings, we decided to imbibe on the signature Raffles drink, a Singapore Sling. Perfectly topping off an afternoon of cucumber sandwiches and delicious chocolate baked goods. The gin-based drink of pineapple juice and grenadine, topped of the perfect afternoon.

While a little pricey, the experience is well worth the planning and the wait; you wont be left with a grumbling tummy. Since the bookings fill up quickly, we might recommend to set a reminder exactly 3 weeks out from when you want to check out the luxury and splendor of the hotel.

If you decide that you want to stay at the vintage hotel, rooms start at $990 SGD, about $790 US, per night.

[Photo: Rayme Gorniak/Hotelchatter]

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