If you’re a tea lover then you can’t leave Hong Kong without trying the Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong Afternoon Tea. Before we headed back to London, we spent one more night in Hong Kong and had booked ourself into The Peninsula Hotel; one of the most iconic hotels in the world plus it meant we didn’t have to travel far from the lobby to our room while carrying our scone babies!
You can’t make a reservation for Afternoon Tea, you have to queue on the day and wait for a table (this is how it’s been done for decades and it’s not going to change) but if you are staying at the hotel then you will be given priority however you may still need to queue.
I will point out now that the Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong High Tea is exactly same as the Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong Afternoon Tea…while I’m reviewing the gluten free element, my other half eats gluten so you will be able to see what is on offer for both!
Sandwiches
The gluten free sandwiches had all the traditional fillings and the gluten free bread was the best that I ate in Hong Kong however it was still slightly dry – a problem we found with all the gluten free bread in Hong Kong.
Scones
They say never to judge a book by it’s cover and in this case don’t judge the scone by how it looks. Yes it looks extremely dry and the second photo proves this point however they weren’t crumbly and when I nibbled at them (expecting them to crumble in my hand) they didn’t and they were pretty darn tasty – basically they were’t as dry as they looked. They passed my gluten free scone test with flying colours – they were easy to cut into, I didn’t lose a tooth due to them being rock hard and they were yummy!
Pastries
At first glance the gluten free pastries looked a little sad compared to the pastries that G was provided with but I actually liked what they did with the fruit – they didn’t take the easy way out and just provide a fruit platter they actually jazzed the fruit up! I now expect all my future strawberries to come out with meringue hats on and my pineapple to be laced with alcohol.
For the Gluten Eating Monsters
Now if you eat gluten then I can show you exactly what is on offer as G eats as much gluten as he can physically consume…his shirt buttons may pop off on occasion! G enjoyed the Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong Afternoon Tea but he thought the scones were a little plain and needed a little zest to jazz them up.
Tea
We were given three choices for tea and ended up going for a white tea. After staying at The Peninsula Hong Kong, I can safely say that I’m now addicted to Jasmine Tea!
Atmosphere
The Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong Afternoon Tea is served in the lobby and it’s the perfect place for people watching especially when the iconic green Rolls Royce rocks up and everyone stops to see if it’s someone famous. There is live music played through the afternoon tea service.
Service
We found the service to be extremely attentive and I was treated like a princess, not a hinderance at all due to my gluten free dietary requirement – my mum would be pleased that her little princess was getting the royal treatment.
As I said earlier, you can’t make a reservation for Afternoon Tea at The Peninsula Hong Kong – my tip would be to avoid the weekend and also if it’s raining as the queues are extra long. If you’re gluten free then email ahead to advise that you have a dietary requirement and if they could cater on a particular date and time.
Would I recommend Afternoon Tea at The Peninsula Hong Kong – very much so, I think the Gluten Free Afternoon Tea was definitely the better of the two that I tried while in Hong Kong and the hotel is truly stunning.
Afternoon Tea costs 358 HK Dollars for 1 person and 628 HK Dollars for 2 person (not including the 10% service charge) / approx £60 for 2 persons at the time of our visit.
xx
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