I never seem to catch on the local craze for afternoon tea despite my love for all pastries, but I recently had a good one at Dr Fern’s Gin Parlour, a speakeasy-style bar hidden in the basement of The Landmark in Central. The place has slowly become my go-to place for a simple drink (or two) at night since they had an awesome selection of my favorite gins (well, that’s their specialty, as their name suggests) Often I would just hop by either for a drink after work, or just drop in after dinner for a quick nightcap.
But for weekend afternoons, they offer something entirely different. Bowls of chips as bar snacks and tall glasses of gin and tonic were replaced by multi-tiered trays of cute fancy pastries and porcelain tea cups in floral pattern on almost every table in this cozy bar (yes, a full bar drink menu is still available then – don’t worry you alcoholics). With the theme of “Mad Hatter Tea Party”, consistent with their eccentric décor of medicine and botanical bottles and wait-staff and bartenders dressed in long doctor’s coat, the afternoon tea set came with a number of sweet and savory items, neatly organized in a 3-level porcelain trays with names such as “Truffle Bonkers Sandwich” or the “Queen of Tarts”.
My favorites were the Tick Tock Roll, which is a lobster roll served with mayo and a slightly toasted butter roll, and The Cheesy Rabbit cake, a mini-version of the classic with cream cheese, biscuit crumble base and topped with an edible flower. For drinks, CYY decided to stick with the tradition of having a cup of tea while I went for my beloved gin and tonic. To me that’s the whole selling point of their afternoon tea offering – I ain’t going to sit in a saloon and sip tea in the afternoon! This time I went for the exotic-tasting Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin with heavy spicy notes, garnished with a slice of orange and additional whole peppercorns with Fentiman’s Tonic, offering just a right jolt to my mind of what was an unusually hectic Saturday.
Yup, this one is worth diving down the rabbit hole for.
When? July 8 2017
Where? Dr. Fern's Gin Parlour, Shop B31A, First Basement, The Landmark, Central, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin with Fentiman’s Tonic
(The meal was by invitation)
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