Thames Foyer, Savoy Hotel, London

I am still in Europe and in UK's capital, London for some afternoon tea at Thames Foyer of the Savoy Hotel. I was accompanied by my wife, who being the afternoon tea loving type, was very excited in being here.

Being a top hotel, the room where tea was held was in a large hall,  with glass dome ceiling with tables well spread apart and arranged around the centrally placed grand piano (where the pianists played an eclectic mix of songs from different genres). We were shown to our table as we had already made a reservation, which was all set up with the nice crockery and cutlery.

Table Setting

Our waiter was a friendly chap, informing us of the varieties of tea they have on offer and the two different dining options, traditional and high tea. I chose the latter, which has more savoury dishes in lieu of scones and cakes.

The tea was served as a formal meal, with the sandwiches arriving as a first course. these arrived promptly after we ordered. There were five different fillings of Cucumber, Egg Mayonnaise, Chicken, Ham and Mustard and Smoked Salmon. All arranged in a pretty radial formation and formed a good 'starter'. The sandwiches arrived along with the Assam tea I chose. 

Sandwich First Course

After we made inroads into the sandwiches (which were replenished upon request) I was served my second course of Scrambled egg with Salmon. The egg was cooked well and salmon tasted nice after drizzling with lemon juice that came with it. It was also served with some thin slices of toast that I forgot to eat.

Salmon and Scrambled Egg Second Course

My third course was toasted Crumpet, which was accompanied with honey, orange preserve, and strawberry jam. These were more filling than tasty and to me crumpets are more of a breakfast item but they were not bad.

Crumpet Third Course

The last course was a choice of cakes for 'dessert' so I chose the classic Victoria Sponge. This was really lovely and a nice way to  end the tea sitting, of which I had sufficient. The sponge was light and there was a good amount of cream and sweet jam.

Cake Fourth Course

The scones came after the sandwich course for my wife and at our request they brought along the tray for presentation, as shown in the photo below. Below the scones on the bottom tray were the accompaniments of clotted cream, jam and lemon curd. My wife was generous enough to give me one scone, which was OK, but given as it was the end of the day, did not have that freshly baked taste. However, the lemon curd was lovely.

Scones with Jam & Cream

We were both really full and were able to take away the sandwiches and the staff were kind enough to give us extra slices of Victoria Sponge and chocolate cake.

The Savoy is not cheap and my high tea set cost slightly more than the traditional set my wife had, which had more pastries, cakes and scones.  Thinking about it that was probably better value for money considering the effort in making the sweeter items. However the grand hall is a lovely place to spend the (late) afternoon, where the service was very polite, helpful and attentive, the food is good and plentiful, with the standout item being the lemon curd.

Scores:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Setting: 5/5

Overall: 18/20

Cost: £42.50 for my Afternoon High Tea, plus a 12.5% service charge.

I ate: All of the my Afternoon High Tea set and one Scone.

I drank:  A lot of cups of Assam tea.

I wore: Smart Loake shoes I had not worn for 18 months.

Mark Greenaway, Edinburgh

This entry is located way outside the Hong Kong boundary limits as I am in my home city of Edinburgh. I was also in revered company as I was lunching with LQ's co-founder and the Istanbul's bureau chief. There were four of us in total and making up the quartet was a regular LQ:ED contributor.

The restaurant is located in an Georgian townhouse making the main dining room large and airy.

We all chose from the set lunch menu and for my starter I ordered Mushroom velouté. This was served with one mushroom and single ravioli in a bowl and the velouté poured on top. It was a creamy, bubbly soup that had a very nice flavour, with the mushroom and pasta adding body to the dish.

Mushroom Veloute

The main course I chose was the Pork Belly and mash. The pork was soft, tender and chewy with a crispy and crunchy skin, which sat on a bed of savoy cabbage. There was a sweet sauce to accompany the dish and little apple cubes for garnish. 

Pork Belly

For the dessert I went for the Fish Bowl. This consisted of strawberry, cream, shortbread, jelly and ice cream. It was a decent assortment of those ingredients served in a glass bowl, with the fresh strawberries and cream being enjoyed the most by myself.

Fishbowl Dessert

All dishes were presented beautifully as shown in the photographs. Everything I ordered tasted great, with the velouté being my favourite course that day. Service was very good from the onset, with an attentive waiter and maitre d' serving us. Overall a top quality restaurant that I would thoroughly recommend.

Scores:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 5/5
Service: 4/5
Setting: 4/5

Overall: 17/20

Cost: £20 for three courses, which was actually given to us for half the price as the menu was still on trial. However, we were treated by the generous P, thanks very much!

I ate: All of the above.

I drank: Sparkling water.

I wore: Casual top & jeans, a bit scruffy next to the sartorial elegance of LQ co-founder.

Cafe de Coral, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

I am back in Hong Kong for this lunchquest and visited a local restaurant Cafe de Coral in Saturday. They are a well established chain with a lot of branches around the city, serving fast, local based food competing against other similar chains and foreign firms like McDonald's.

This branch is located in an office building and Saturday lunch was busy, but not as much as it is during the week.

They operate in a fast food style way where you chose your order at the front counter, then make your way to the back of the restaurant to pick up your food at the kitchen counter. I went for a Shanghai spare ribs dish that was served with rice and ordered a Sprite as my drink. My money was taken and I made my way to the queue to collect my order. The queue was not large and there was a slight wait for my food but nothing too long. Quite a few seats were available and I sat myself down to eat.

My Order

The Spare ribs were coated in a crispy batter that was ok but the pork meat could have been seasoned a bit more. To the side of the pork were some fried string beans, which were nice and crunchy. There was also a Smoked egg in the plate, which did not that much of a smoky taste.

To accompany the meat was a bowl of Vegetable Rice with chopped pak choi mixed in with the rice to give it more character and colour.

I do come here to this branch and others quite often as they are dotted around Hong Kong. As they are popular a lot of things are standardised so the meals are very average but good value for money and served at a quick pace. Trays and dishes are plastic but they are clean, along with the setting of the restaurant. So overall, a convenient and decent eatery.

As I write this entry I am in Hong Kong airport waiting for my flight to the UK, where I will soon be in the illustrious company of LQ Editor in Chief, lunching with him!

Scores
Food: 3/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Overall: 12/20

Total Bill: $38, about £3.50

I ate: Shanghai Spare Ribs with Beans, Smoked Egg and Vegetable Rice.

I drank: Sprite.

I wore: Standard weekend Jeans & T-shirt