Afternoon tea is probably my favourite meal of the day. (Ok maybe not, every meal is my favourite meal as long as I’m hungry). I’ve tried The Ritz Carlton’s afternoon tea in Tokyo and Hong Kong, and I loved both experiences. So finally, I managed to find time to have afternoon tea in Singapore’s own The Ritz-Carlton Millennia Singapore!

For The Ritz-Carlton Millennia Singapore, they have 2 venues for afternoon tea – Colony and Chihuly Lounge. Colony is a the hotel’s buffet restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner as well, while Chihuly Lounge is like their lobby lounge, named after famed American glass artist Dale Chihuly. In the evening they serve alcoholic drinks with live music. Ritz-Carlton also houses a Michelin starred Chinese restaurant, Summer Pavilion, and I do hope to try it one day!

Chihuly Lounge and Colony serves different afternoon tea menus, and the operation hours are also different – the former is between 12pm – 5pm (2:30pm – 5pm for weekends) while the latter is between 3:30pm -5:30pm (Mon -Sat), understandable because they need to cater to lunch and dinner service too.

I prefer my afternoon tea to be in a lounge setting on cosy sofas, so made my reservations for Chihuly Lounge’s 8 course Afternoon Tea ($49.00++) via email and they responded very promptly. You should always make your reservation in advance because sometimes the venue is booked for events and there will be no afternoon tea service for the day.

I reserved for 12pm so my meal could also serve as my lunch, because why not? The 8 course set had a fixed selection of food, and all we had to choose was our choice of tea. It was obvious for me – Earl Grey. To begin, the served a peachy fruity welcome drink which was really refreshing and a bowl of mixed crackers and sambal, presumably to show some Singaporean character. I love sambal and crackers so this is was a good addition to the usual afternoon tea spread.

They started by serving a portion of Slow Cooked Beef Short Rib, Pumpkin Puree, Five Spice Pepper Sauce. The protein made it satiating for a lunch meal.

Next up was the Tea Set Stand which consisted of:

Top tier
Traditional Scone, Citrus Scone

Middle tier (savoury bites)
Dill Cream Egg Salad, Smoked Salmon, Brioche
Turkey Ham, Cheese, Turkey Bacon, Wholemeal Bread
Tuna Mayonnaise, Cucumber Roulade
Tomato Confit, Burrata Cream, Almond Ring

Bottom tier (sweets)
Apricot Dome
Stone Fruit Crumble
Pistachio Cherry Cake
Lemon Variation, Hazelnut Praline

Scones are usually the highlight of my afternoon tea, but sadly these were way too bread like, not crumbly at all. it was as though the dough was overworked or too much flour was used.

After we were done with the Tea Set Stand, they served the Chihuly Vacherin – Lime Jelly, Mango, Pandan Ice Cream, Coconut Flake, which is inspired by the glass artwork by Chihuly Dale, hung up on the wall of Chihuly Lounge.

Lastly we were to select 4 items from an assortment of Chocolate and Cookies and by this time I was stuffed so I couldn’t really enjoy it. On hindsight I should have packed it go to.

The ambiance of Chihuly Lounge was really nice – bright and spacious. Live music started around 3pm so come at that timing if you appreciate live music. If you’re feeling fancy you could top up $19++ ($68 per person) for an additional a glass of Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut Champagne NV or $29++ ($78 per person) for a glass of Moët & Chandon Vintage Rosé 2009.

Food: 7/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: Decent food but lovely ambiance. One of my better afternoon tea experiences in Singapore so far.

Chihuly Lounge

The Ritz-Carlton Millennia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue
Singapore 039799 

Chihuly 8-course Weekday Afternoon Tea: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Chihuly Weekend Afternoon Tea Buffet: 2:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.