It’s been a longstanding tradition to take Afternoon Tea as a special family bonding time, sans men. I used to do this with my mother, both before I had children, and afterwards with toddlers. Somehow dressing up the girls in fancy dresses to sip lemonade from tea cups put them on their best behavior, thought with a clock ticking for about an hour maximum.
When we are on vacation and there is Afternoon Tea available, typically in hotel lobbies, we also like to indulge. These days, we go out of our way to include Afternoon Tea while abroad, and this Singapore trip was no different.
My business school classmate, Alok, suggested the Afternoon Tea at Raffles Hotel as the place to be. He used to live in Singapore and knows the Food and Beverage Manager from the time they both spent working in Shanghai. The Raffles Hotel tea was the first place I checked to make a reservation. Alas, five days in advance was not enough.
I searched lists to find other alternatives and there were quite a few highly recommended Afternoon Teas, some with an Asian twist, some not. Again, it was hard to get a reservation for our last full day in Singapore so I gave up.
The day before I tried to book my daughter and I Afternoon Tea, she tried. She immediately got us a reservation at the Raffles Hotel. I assumed we lucked out with a cancelation and we rejoiced as our good fortune. But here’s the strange thing. When we actually went for Afternoon Tea, we noticed there were LOTS of empty tables. Tables that NEVER filled up and we were there until the end of tea time. Were there a lot of last minute cancelations? Or does the hotel just keep tables open for hotel guests? I do not know. But, I would suggest if the reservations are full online, to take a chance and show up.
Here’s our lovely tea at the Raffles Hotel. We highly recommend it. Thanks for the tip, Alok!
How about you? Do you enjoy Afternoon Tea too? Where do you recommend (anywhere in the world)? Thanks for sharing!
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