antique patisserie

My favourite activity as of late has been trundling up and down the roads of Central Noho/Soho, especially around the Wellington/Gage/Graham St areas. ‘Twas a mere coincidence that I came across this lovely little tea room in all its pastel-coloured glory while prying my eyes away from Tai Cheong Bakery’s famous egg tarts (located right across from Antique). Of course, walking up the steep steps of Graham Street in spikey heels had rendered me sweaty and red in the face (alas, too much eating, too little moving) and I deemed myself unsuitable to take tea that afternoon. I did, however, take a peek at the wonderful display of cakes and macarons just inside the door. Delectable looking macarons with creamy complexions waited languorously inside their bell jar-like confinements to be devoured (“saucy little minxes”, as Bill Bailey would say); the assortment of little cakes vyed for my attention with their cute and creative designs – the chocolate cake with the three little macarons caught my eye and two days later I dragged my mom there to indulge a bit.

With a tinkle of the door, we were in. The waitress who showed us into the tea room was absolutely charming – soft-spoken and very hospitable. Reading a few reviews afterwards, it seems quite a few people have become quite enamoured by her (though less could be said about her colleague, but more on that later). The tea room is quite small, with around 6 tables – three on one side of the room with ‘antique’ styled chairs (I’m afraid my decor lingo is rather limited) and low tables, the other side held ivory coloured tables and chairs, very classy. Everything about the room was lovely, from the flock pattern on the armchairs to the (faux) crystal-trimmed lampshades.

‘Chocolate forest’ cake

We each ordered the cake tea set, which obviously included a cake as well as a pot of tea or coffee of your choice. I had the ‘chocolate forest’, as pictured above – a wonderful black forest-inspired gâteau with layers of raspberry cream and jelly, topped with three macarons of varying sizes (though their flavours were practically indistinguishable from each other). My mom had the ‘berry basket’ – a tart berry mousse-cake topped with various berries, including a very pretty physallis fruit.

She stuck with Earl Grey tea (which had a very sharp scent and tasted a tad bitter) while I pondered over the very-appealing sounding ‘Gorgeous Geisha’ and ‘Sencha Vanilla’. At this point we’d been sitting for well over 10 minutes and no one had came to take our order, so we decided to simply go up to the counter instead.

The waitress that served us eventually was simply rude – she acted as if taking our orders was a chore, and somehow throughout the whole exchange, had an expression on her face that made it seem like I was offending her with my very presence (!). When I asked her what the Geisha tea was made of, she said it was ‘just green tea’, as if it were obvious. Ah well, so I opted for the sencha vanilla in the end. She was quite short with us, and after we’d ordered there was a brief awkward moment where no one said anything and she just stared at us as if waiting for us to waste more of her time. Scary. Maybe she was just in a bad mood that day.

Other than that, we had a marvellous time. There were only two other patrons in the tea room for a while, followed by a small group of girls. Soothing classical music plays in the background that adds to the mellowing experience (and I liked it – often I find classical music pretentious and distracting, but this was pleasant). No one bothers you. And of course, the cakes are magnificent – I really enjoyed my chocolate forest, which was a nice contrast between the tart raspberry and bittersweet chocolate. Yum. Somehow it reminded me of that not-so-good raspberry star dessert at Ducasse, except it was so much better. Next time I aim to try their signature cheesecake and ‘misu misu’ (tiramisu). And the sencha vanilla tea was extraordinary. I drank cup after cup, just breathing in that wonderful light vanilla scent.

Their macarons also looked so delectable, sell for $11HKD each, and they also do a macaron tea set ($50HKD) that includes two macarons of your choice along with the choice of tea/coffee/hot chocolate. Did I mention that they also have a million other tea sets as well, including a scone set, as well as the full traditional afternoon tea set (a bit pricey though, I’d rather go to a hotel for that). Another large display is dedicated to Whittamer chocolates and truffles, which are imported from Belgium. And the tea is served in lovely bone china from Royal Albert. Dainty! All in all, a lovely destination for tea and cake lovers.

Antique Patisserie Tea Room
Shop 1, G/F, 46 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: 2542 2816

Antique Patisserie stores
Shop 309-310, The Lee Gardens, 33 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: 2907 2908

Basement 2, Sogo Department Store, 555 Hennessy Rd, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: 2573 6998