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Cafe 103 at The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Address: 103F, The Ritz-Carlton, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon
Hours: 12:00pm~10:30pm, [chocolate afternoon tea] 3:00pm~6:00pm
Tel: +852 2263 2263
Website: www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/HongKong/
Price: 328 HKD + 10%/person
Visited on: 2011-12-23
Cafe 103 at The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong is a must-visit destination for chocoholics. While it is also open for lunch and dinner, the cafe (formerly known as The Chocolate Library) is most famed for its chocolate-themed afternoon tea. During its first few months of opening, it was impossible to get a reservation at the cafe, and you literally had to come 2 hours in advance to secure a seat. Now that the hype has cooled down a bit, I can finally see what this is about…
Cafe 103
The cafe is adorned with a warm ensemble of chocolate-colored couches, and even the waitress’ uniforms and menus are in the same tone.
The Chocolate Library
Chocolate-theme recipes books scattered here and there. I’d like to take a few home, especially this one by La Maison du Chocolat.
Chocolate chocolate chocolate
As it was Christmas season, we were first treated to a plate of Christmas cookies – a most delightful start. For my drink, it was tempting to choose the signature hot chocolate, but anticipating the avalanche of chocolate treats that were to follow, I opted for a pot of Apple Fantastic instead.
Christmas cookie and tea
In keeping with the library theme, the tea set (328 HKD + 10% per person) is served in a miniature bookcase. Lift up the cover and – voilà! – three savory bites and seven chocolate treats daintily presented on a wooden bookshelf. Different chocolates with varying percentages of cocoa content are used to create an ensemble of pastries in this tea set. The result? Layers of chocolate goodness.
The Chocolate Library Afternoon Tea
I love chocolate and fruit pairings and particularly fancied the chocolate orange confit macaron with Guanaja chocolate 70% cocoa.
Chocolate orange confit macaron (Guanaja chocolate 70% cocoa)
Likewise, I loved the chocolate framboise tart with Manjari chocolate 64% cocoa, which beautifully blended the chocolate’s acidity with the raspberry’s tangy sweetness.
Chocolate framboise tart (Manjari chocolate 64% cocoa)
Christmas dry fruit chocolate sphere (Caraibe chocolate 66% cocoa)
Ivory gingerbread verrine (Ivory white chocolate 35% cocoa)
Chestnut chocolate mousse (Caraibe chocolate 66% cocoa)
Marble cheese cake (Alpaco 66% cocoa)
Maple pecan tart
I was too full by the time I made my way to the finger sandwiches and wasn’t really able to appreciate them…but they look very nice, don’t they? The flavor combinations are also quite interesting. Cocoa nib chocolate bread with duck foie gras terrine? That’s a first for me.
Mint bread, smoked salmon, herbs cream cheese
Curry bread, rosemary ham, mini cress, tomato chutney
Cocoa nib chocolate bread, duck foie gras terrine
Chocoholics, you know what to do.
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The view