Even in summer, there's time for afternoon tea

Afternoon tea is being offered by a growing number of establishments in Metro Manila. Photo from Makati Shangri-La

 

And all these were happening in the spacious lobby with views of the garden, giving a relaxing ambience in the midst of the busy commercial district. “It's a very civilized way to spend the afternoon,” said Carina P. Galano, service manager of the Lobby Lounge. “You can have a view of the outside even when you're inside. We also do get a lot of meetings,” she said. Started six years ago, the afternoon tea service at the hotel starts at 3 p.m. and ends at 6 p.m. seven days a week. Customers range in age from young twenty-somethings to senior citizens. Curiously, it's the young people who order more tea. “The older ones prefer coffee,” said Galano. And the place is almost always fully packed on weekends. The afternoon tea sets offer a mix of Asian and Western items. The Classic set, which is based on the original British afternoon tea, has raisin and lemon scones (freshly baked without yeast) with clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam, and smoked salmon and roast beef finger sandwiches. The Filipino set has bibingka, vegetable okoy, beef caldereta empanada, and chicken adobo sandwich, among others. The Lobby Lounge Special, on the other hand, has foie gras sandwich—a winner, in my opinion—as well as smoked salmon croissant, lobster on ciabatta, and smoked turkey sandwich. All the tea sets (priced about P550 per set and up) come with Dilmah tea, and you can take your pick from black, black tea with flavor, green tea, herbal infusion, or oolong tea. There are also other teas that may be ordered by the pot, such as the Italian almond tea or the jasmine tea, which Galano said is highly popular, maybe because it is familiar to many of us dining in Chinese restaurants. Coffee drinkers may opt for Lavazza coffee. And should you prefer neither, there's thick hot chocolate, which is so comforting. German-Filipino Chef Dirk Fiedler said the classic and Filipino sets are very popular. At times they also offer special tea sets, like the upcoming one for Mother's Day, or the one they had last March for Easter. A break from shopping No doubt it's due to its location right across Greenbelt in Makati that New World Makati Hotel's The Lounge has been drawing in ladies who lunch or people killing time before dinner for its afternoon tea service. Since afternoon tea was offered in January this year, guests have been regularly coming in to lounge around and relax over tea, coffee, or even champagne.