[Shanghai] Afternoon Tea at The Living Room, Park Hyatt (2)

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The Living Room at Park Hyatt

Address: 87/F, Park Hyatt Shanghai, 100 Century Avenue, near Dongtai Lu 世纪大道100号, 上海柏悅酒店87楼, 近东泰路
Tel: 6888 1234
Hours: [Afternoon Tea] 2:00pm~6:00pm
Price: [Afternoon Tea Set] 218 RMB + 15%, [Tea/Coffee] 60~65 RMB + 15%
Website: www.parkhyattshanghai.com
Visited on: 2012-02-24

I’m quite a fan of Park Hyatt’s afternoon tea set, but this time I went back to try their alluring array of à la carte desserts. Cream puffs, fresh fruit tarts, cheese cakes, mango puddings, chocolate mousse…ready for a sugar high afternoon?

The Living Room at Park Hyatt

The view

Caught this reflection by chance…please excuse the digression :)

Reflection

Reflected 

Voilà, here they are. Classic French pastries baked fresh daily, just sitting there quietly in their glistening crystal shields, tempting folks like you and I with their alluring colors.

Pastries

Religieuse

Religieuse (45 RMB/3 pieces) is a recent addition to the pastry lineup at Park Hyatt. What it is: a creme-filled choux pastry topped with a smaller cream-filled choux pastry, then frosted with fondant icing and decorated with butter cream. I’ve never seen religieuse in Shanghai before and was delighted to find these cuties at Park Hyatt. Flavors come in strawberry, green tea, caramel, and chocolate. A Sugared & Spiced rule: when in doubt, get all of them.

Religieuse

Actually, that’s a horrible rule. I really enjoyed the first two I sampled – strawberry and chocolate – but by the time I got around to caramel and green tea, they became too much. After all, I had to save room for all other items I greedily ordered…

Religieuse

…Like this strawberry tart (75 RMB), who can resist? Fresh strawberries, velvety custard cream, fragrant almond flour crust…Give me a piece of this with a pot of tea, and I’m happy for the whole afternoon.

Strawberry tart

Strawberry tart

I decided to try a piece of mille-fueille (45 RMB) as well – Sugared & Spiced was really on a roll that day – but wasn’t quite as impressed by this one. Perhaps because there was a bit too much pastry cream sandwiched in between the puff pastries? The first few bites were good, but after a while it got boring…maybe the cream needed a bit more depth in flavor, I’m not quite sure.

Mille Feuille 

Mille Feuille

Rose Petal Tea (65 RMB), my usual choice. Tea at Park Hyatt comes in chic tea ware from Médard de Noblat – I loved how they mixed and matched the tea cups and plates from different lines (tea cup: Ikebana, plate: Corail.) I’d like these for my next birthday, please :)

Rose Petal Tea

The only thing I complain about The Living Room at Park Hyatt is that it’s almost always full even on weekdays (oh and some of the waitstaff could use more smiles too). There are extra seats in the bar area (but it’s quite smokey there) and in The Pantry next door (but it doesn’t offer the same view and relaxed ambience)…So friends, come early. Nope, no reservations taken here.

Click here to see my previous review on The Living Room at Park Hyatt.

Park Hyatt