A symphonic serenade of mooncake desserts during Mid Autumn Festival season in HK.
Our experience
Whereas high tea is not a strong point in NYC, it most certainly is in many parts of Asia. As part of our “Best High Tea in Hong Kong” series, we visited the Island Shangri La Hotel in Admiralty this month to partake in the hotel’s mooncake hig tea in celebration of the Mid Autumn Festival season. Since the time when we last lived in Hong Kong more than a decade ago, the Island Shangri La Hotel has been one of these Dessert Correspondents’ favourite hotels in the city. We have particularly fond memories of a splendid strawberry-themed high tea from many years ago (see here). Ten years later, afternoon tea is still undertaken in the hotel’s lobby lounge, under enormous chandeliers that hang like glistening crystal stalactites from very high ceilings.
With a string quartet playing throughout the afternoon, Island Shangri La’s afternoon tea makes for a very relaxing experience. On our visit, the hotel crafted a specially-themed mooncake afternoon tea, comprising three savoury bites and three sweet nibbles. Of the former, a neon-orange egg yolk was dropped onto a piece of circular bread and sprinkled with caviar, a spoonful of prawn, avocado and pomelo was nestled within a taco-like creation, and a large quenelle of foie gras was disguised as a trompe l’oeil peach.
The highlight of the afternoon tea was of course, the mooncake dessert creations. These were done in a modern French patisserie style, with two being mousse creations, and the other a biscuit. First, a pearly mousse mooncake was embellished with a chocolate plaque of a rabbit leaping across a golden moon, and layered within with tropical flavours of coconut and pineapple. A second mooncake creation saw a green-hued one stamped with intricate patterns and infused with matcha and mochi. The third mooncake – labelled “Moonlit Harmony” – was the least aesthetically interesting of the three mooncake creations, yet it turned out to be our favourite. Sculpted from a shortbread-like cookie, strawberry jam and tea mousse laid underneath its chocolate medallion centrepiece. Scones were also served at the afternoon tea, and were appropriately plump and consequently cloaked with clotted cream and strawberry jam.
Our verdict
Almost every hotel in Hong Kong serves some variation of high tea, but with the greatest honesty, it is a significant struggle to find high teas that go beyond the same-old same-old colonial English style. While we have featured some of the more interesting offerings (from several themed sets featuring miniature pandas, balls of wildflowers, cultural heritage icons, fifty shades of pistachio and pandan, and even one displayed on a golden spiralling tower), these spurts of dessert creativty are far and few between. From ten years ago to today, Island Shangri La continues to offer a reliable and especially because of the presence of a string quartet, a particularly relaxing high tea. Yet, as one of the higher-priced afternoon teas, its somewhat sparsely-numbered nibbles left us feeling a little underwhelmed too. Our search for high teas in HK that truly transcend boundaries, flavours and patisserie technique continues.
Dessert adventure checklist
- ☑ Dessert destination: Island Shangri La, Supreme Ct Rd, Admiralty, HK Island.
- ☑ Budget: $$-$$$ (HKD 888 for 2 persons, plus service tax; approx USD $110 for 2 persons).
- ☑ Sweet irresistibles: High Tea.
- ☑ Must-eat: Modern Asian mooncakes.
- ☑ The short and sweet story: A symphonic serenade of modern mooncake desserts during Mid Autumn Festival in HK.
Dessert Correspondents 