Afternoon Tea @ Angelina Paris

I feel like, over the past month, I've just let myself indulge in everything delicious.  For example, I completely devoured 85% of my gingerbread Christmas Tree in three days.  Every bite was a sugar rush.

This feeling could be a mix of pushing myself too hard to feel the Christmasy Spirit in Hong Kong…The major reason, though is probably because there was so much sweets and treats displayed all over the grocery stores.  Seriously, at every grocery store, there were displays of Ferrero Rochers, Cadbury(s), Lindts and all the rest just taunting passerbyers to buy them.  The special Christmas Sections were all decorated so amazingly with boxes stacked ceiling high!

The need to indulge could have also stemmed from wanting to experience the British Christmas traditions (alongside my American traditions) of eating minced pies, Christmas puddings and especially getting a milk chocolate treat daily from my Advent calendar. 

Though the feeling of guilt has slowly been eating away at me, today, I still found myself indulging in something worth insulting in!

To celebrate the holidays, my coworkers and I went over to the IFC Mall's Angelina Paris for a decadent splurge on afternoon tea treats.

Angelina Paris Info:
Location
Shop 3025 - 3026/ 3031 - 3070 IFC Mall
1 Harbour View Street
Central

The entrance to Angelina Paris is inside of the IFC's Lane Crawford.

Hours
10 am - 11 pm daily

Contact 
3188 - 0842

We didn't make reservations because it was a 2:30 pm on a weekday.  But, I would totally make reservations beforehand just to make sure to have a seat (because I am just that type of person).

We had got a seat right at the window, which was beautiful!  I felt so lucky that we could look out onto Victoria Harbour and enjoy our sweet treats.

The view of Angelina's decor was not bad either.

Because we were there for afternoon tea, we were mostly there to try out the pastries.

Most of the pastries were displayed in the front of the eatery, which the lovely staff were so kind enough to introduce to me when I went over there to take photos of everything.

One of my coworkers had been to the Angelina in Paris and said that it was famous for its L'Africain hot chocolate.  She said it was like drinking pure chocolate, which I was quite excited about.  But, to combat the richness that she told me about, I got a side of lemonade and water.

For the four of us, we split two servings of the L'Africain hot chocolate, which came with a side of whipped creme.  I could only get through one serving with my pastry, but it was the most decadent hot chocolate that I had ever tasted.  It was also perfect for the slightly chilly day!

Another thing that Angelina is known for is their signature Le Mont Blanc pastry, which is a meringue filled, chestnut cream topped delicious delight.  It, like the L'Africain hot chocolate, was rich beyond words…which is a good thing when you have a side of water!

I usually get whatever is the signature on menus…and I'm glad I did because it made me want to come back and try the other pastries.

Some other pastries we got were the Flore…vanilla mousse-filled and raspberry-centered pastry...

…the Negresco…meringue and dark chocolate mousse-filled…dark chocolate covered pastry…

…and the Tarte Citron…lemon creme filled topped with marshmallows...

Though the highlight was spending some quality time with my coworkers, it was such a nice treat for the holidays to take a trip into Angelina Paris.

This is most definitely a place that I'll return to for a bit of afternoon tea!

Afternoon Tea @ Dalloyau

What better way to celebrate an overcast day than to have afternoon tea with a friend at Dalloyau La Boutique in Harbour City. We'd walked by this place once before and it totally stuck in my mind that I had to try it one day.  And that day has come!

Dalloyau Info:

Location
Shop 403, Level 4 Ocean Centre, Harbour City
Tsim Sha Tsui

Hours
Daily from Noon to 10 pm

***Do make reservations:  3185 - 8338***

Dalloyau is a is a French culinary brand that has 300 years of history.  Reading up on it online, the Boutique offers a selection of chocolates, cakes, and pastries.  The Cafe offers light "French fare," afternoon tea (which we opted for) and a selection of non/alcoholic drinks.

We started out with petit sandwiches and a little puff pastry.  The highlight of the first tier, for myself, was the truffle sandwich.  I just love the taste of truffles, even if it is just an infusion into something.  There is just something about the flavor that takes me back to when my sister and I backpacked through Italy.  I just loved it!

The second tier was all lovely and tasty.  I couldn't really choose anyone that really caught my tastebuds, but they were all really delicious.

The bottom tier had a really nice chocolate ganache, which I really enjoyed.  We got a scone set a bit through the middle of our afternoon tea.  It was a nice little surprise…and break from eating all of those sweets.  The scones were quite nice.  I have no complaints about them.  The strawberry jam that it came with, though, was quite nice!

I saved my opera cake for last because it was the main thing that I had wanted to try after learning that Dalloyau was the inventor of this cake.

Fun Fact:  Dalloyau is credited with the creation of the opera cake.  The story behind this cake is that it was invented in 1955 by Cyriaque Gavillon.  His wife, upon eating the cake for the first time said that it reminded her of the opera.  Thusly, it was named an opera cake.  Cyriaque Gavillon had set out to create a new cake shape that had layers of chocolate, coffee, and almonds.  He had wanted to have all these flavors intermingling with just one bit.

Overall:
1.  I already have in mind to bring my mother here when she comes to visit in a few months.

2.  I love how the staff explained all the sweets and savories to us when they brought out our afternoon tea set.

3.  I really enjoyed the environment, though it was quite open seating (where you are pretty close beside another small party of people) it still felt quite private.

4.  I really enjoyed my afternoon tea.  It was filling and lovely and left me in a great mood!

Duddell Street Starbucks

'Tis the season to get back on the afternoon tea train.  My friend told me that there was a themed 1970s Hong Kong Starbucks in Central.  I thought that Mong Kok was the only place where there was an old Hong Kong themed Starbucks!  So, I was totally up for checking this place out.

This Starbucks is located on Duddell Street in Central.  It seems more of a tourist draw than a local draw, but it was more spacious than a lot of the Starubucks Coffees up here in the New Territories.

The unique thing about the Duddle Street Starbucks was the special menu featuring some of Hong Kong's famous local afternoon tea treats.  Egg tart anyone!

The inside of this Starbucks is totally old Hong Kong.

The cafe is split into two sections, the old section (pictured below) and the normal section (which is right next to the bar).

Everything from the tiling on the floor to the beads that drape over the doorway to the restroom are quite retro.

There is even a menu posted on the walls next to some 1970s wall art.

The cups, though, are the same…for this time of year.

We got a seat in one of the booths, which was really a great place to spread out.

Beyond the window panes of the "old section" of the cafe were some 1970s paraphernalia, which looks like you are looking out onto a 1970's Hong Kong street.

I would have never known this place existed.  I've been around Duddell Street a lot, but never thought that inside lurked a Starbucks so unique that it would make me want to trudge out here to get a cup of Joe when I am in the area.

I shall definitely be seeing you again!

Afternoon Eating: Harbour City

I found myself back at the Carolyn Robb The Royal Touch Cafe again!  Actually, it's been awhile since I've hung out at Harbour City.  So, it was nice to be able to walk the mall and also revisit some places that I really liked.

Instead of getting the afternoon tea set, I got an pineapple juice…

…and the fish and chips a la carte.

It was a nice little afternoon tea/late lunch meal.  I'm not an expert on fish and chips, but I sort of felt like the fish was a bit mushy.  I might be quite bias against fish and chips, but I have had better…especially from Spuds on Alki!!!

Ha!  I love how fish and chips reminds me of Seattle!

After shopping around the mall, we stopped at i Cremeria Dolce Giapponese.  It's a Japanese ice cream shop basically.

There is quite a bit of options on the menu, but I got the basic melon green tea ice cream mix.  And it was simply heavenly!  It's one of those things that make you really believe that THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR DESSERT.

I'd never been to this place before, but, like the Carolyn Robb Cafe, it had a really nice atmosphere.

Outside of Harbour City, the Christmas displays are being set up right now.  The weather is lovely and fine.  It's feeling like Fall and I love it!