Afternoon Tea at The Four Seasons Singapore - Review

Location: Orchard
Price: ££
Value for Money: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
Perfect for: Special Occasions, Relaxing Afternoons, Chilled out catch-ups

I headed to this luxurious hotel to spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon enjoying their innovative new Afternoon Tea menu. This seasonal menu is themed on Kyoto in Spring, and served at The One-Ninety Bar and Garden.

The Decor

The Kyoto Afternoon Tea is served in the One Ninety Bar and we were seated in the outdoor space of the bar, Garden@One-Ninety.

This is a lush green space bathed in natural light and filled with classic rattan furniture and light fitting, as well as a beautiful array of plants. The space has all the perks of alfresco dining, but it is also well covered so we didn’t need to shelter from the tropical storm that was brewing outside!

Garden@One-Ninety is the ideal space to enjoy a relaxing morning coffee, craft cocktails in the evening, or a scrumptious plant-based lunch. I could tell the other diners were sinking into their comfortable seats and really enjoying their time here, and I couldn’t wait to try the afternoon tea here too.

Four Seasons Afternoon tea Singapore review.

Kyoto Weekend Afternoon Tea

One thing that drew me to this Afternoon Tea in particular was the inspiration it takes from Springtime in Kyoto. This is a beautiful time of year in Kyoto and the Afternoon Tea reflects this well.

This afternoon tea is served in specially crafted chinaware in earthy tones inspired by traditional bento boxes that open up to reveal a selection of sweet and savoury treats.

The Savoury Box

We were presented with an array of bite sized savoury delights to start with. This included a prawn chawanmushi served in a petit shot glass, an egg salad slider reminiscent of a classic egg sandwich and a Bottarga chive tart with caviar.

The savoury selection also includes some very unique bites, such as the grilled aubergine and eel sandwich, which was delicious and paired very well together. As well as a delightful Saikyo miso foie gras terrine and a smoked salmon wasabi sandwich. Although some of the above ingredients and flavours may seem unfamiliar to western palates, each of the bites were delicious, with well-balanced flavours with no overpowering taste.

I really enjoyed this savoury selection, in particular the way it doesn’t shy away from using traditional Japanese flavours and ingredients.

The Sweet Box

The sweet selection is always my favourite when it comes to Afternoon Tea, and at Four Seasons they didn’t disappoint.

Each specially created dessert is designed to evoke the essence of Kyoto in Spring through the use of aroma, flavour and a classically clean presentation.

The sweet box included a matcha mass sphere, subtly sweet sakura mousse cube, delightfully gooey strawberry mochi and a crunchy strawberry cranberry cookie sandwich.

My favourite was the yuzu white chocolate bon bon which melted in the mouth and was the perfect last sweet treat.

I particularly enjoyed the array of textures in this selection, as we moved from crunchy to gooey to melt-in-the-mouth. None of the sweet selection was overly sugary, which was also a nice touch.

Freshly Baked Scones

Accompanying this seasonal afternoon tea experience are specially created scones, including sakura scones. These are freshly baked to order and served with clotted cream, a tart yuzu posset and raspberry lychee jam.

These scones are thoughtfully served at the end of the afternoon tea, to ensure that they are enjoyed warm, which certainly makes a difference. As we slathered the clotted cream across the scones it began to melt and ooze into it, which made them even more enjoyable.

Specially Crafted Cocktails

The Kyoto Weekend Afternoon Tea also offers three bespoke cocktails specially crafted to be paired with it.

I particularly enjoyed the Melon Soda, a refreshing drink made with Nikka from the Barrel, Melon Liqueur, Green Tea, citrus and soda.

The Haru Sour is also an attractive and delightful cocktail, composed of Helios Rum, Sake Central Yuzushu, raspberry and egg white.

They also offer Gyakko Suru, which is served in a gorgeous teapot and poured into a coupe, resembling the tea tradition of Kyoto. Composed of Tatsumi Gin, Umeshu and Sakura Tincture, this cocktail does resemble sipping on tea.

Tea and Coffee Selection

I was impressed with the tea and coffee selection which accompanies the Kyoto Weekend Afternoon Tea. As well as the standard coffees, guests can also try iced Vietnamese coffee, drip coffee and a lemon latte too.

The tea selection is exquisite and especially hand-picked for the season. It includes a delicate Sakura sencha, as well as jasmine silk pearl, Shisho mint and Milky Oolong.

The Price

Guests can enjoy The Kyoto Weekend Afternoon Tea through two options. The first includes all the food, alongside 2 coffees, or teas for SGD 58 per person. There is also the option to add one cocktail, as well as 2 teas or coffees for SGD 78 per person.
The cocktails bought on an a la carte basis are SGD 26 each.

I enjoyed the fact that they included 2 teas or coffee in each of the options, as it allowed us to start with a coffee and then settle into a hot tea to enjoy with the scones.

Overall

I really enjoyed The Kyoto Weekend Afternoon Tea at the Four Seasons as it was evident that a lot of thought and preparation had gone into emulating the theme.

Each of the savoury and sweet bites were well-crafted and tasted delicious, in fact there wasn’t a single one that I didn’t enjoy.

In addition The Garden@One-Ninety has become one of my favourite dining spaces in Singapore, due to the laid-back alfresco terrace vibes, and it was a pleasure to spend an afternoon here.