After that wonderful lunch at Huize Van Wely, I couldn’t stop thinking of their desserts. So when I planned today’s post-lunch coffee and dessert with my friend K, I proposed that we have it at Huize Van Wely – in Pacific Place Mall this time.
My lovely friend K
Upon arriving I immediately notice a big sign with a promo for Citibank Platinum Card Holders. (YAY I finally get to use my card for a perk!)
It was a TWO FOR ONE on HIGH TEA! Weeee!
Hight tea sets are available from 2pm – 6pm
It’s Rp 175,000 (USD 18 est.) for high tea for one + tax and SC for a total of Rp 211,750 (USD 22 est.) for 2 sets of high tea for one. Awesome.
So many tea flavors! Green tea, Black tea, Red tea and Rooibos Bush
Decoding the teas
I love a good deal so this was perfect for me! K ordered the Fleur de Geisha tea (Japanese Green tea flavored with Cherry Blossoms), while I had a pot of the The Du Hammam tea.
My The Du Hammam Tea. They come with a yummy biscuit!
K’s Geisha tea sorta reminded both of us of cologne – not really out thing. But I did like my Du Hammam, it was fragrant yet subtle. I do wish that they would steep the tea and take it out after one minute instead of leaving it in the pot. Because by the end of the pot the tea is so bitter already.
These general guidelines should apply:
Green teas: 2-3 minutes
Semi-fermented teas: 3-4 minutes
Black teas: 3-5 minutes
White teas: 4-10 minutes
Tummy Time:
High tea comes with a selection of items from the patisserie (with jam, marmalade and cream) and assorted savories + salad and tomato soup (bottom).
Salad and soup – Of everything we were served I actually liked these two the most
The savories were okay…
…though I thought the mini-sandwiches had too much mayo. We couldn’t really figure out what the savories were made of because the flavors were not distinct. Beware of the quiche-like savory – it was not edible for both of us. (It was kinda gross actually). The patisserie items like the scones on the other hand were okay – nothing fantastic though. I guess my expectations were really high after my wonderful meal there with FFF (Fab Friend F).
My high tea tower
See that bright red cake on top? It’s called Kasteeltje (sponge and fruit mouse covered with marzipan) I was saving it for last because I thought it would be great (after the wonderful cheesecake I’ve had here before) but it really wasn’t to my liking. I only had one bite. It was marzipan gone wrong. =( But K’s pink cake (the first high tea tower above) which reminded me somehow of Salmon (Whuut?!?) was good. It was the Framboos Mini Taertje (sponge, raspberry mousse with chopped almond cookies and sour cream)
Sadly there is one other thing that I hope they can improve – the service. To get assistance for ordering I had to walk over to the counter, and repeatedly throughout the meal I had to do the same or wave like a mad woman so that the wait staff would notice us. For a room with high dividers in a high end restaurant such as this one, I would highly recommend that they station wait-staff in areas that are not visible instead of all of them hanging out and talking by the cashier. I would still come back though… but will choose a table directly in front of the cashier hehe!
I don’t have any regrets though, because I had an absolutely wonderful time nibbling on food and drinking tea while catching up with a girlfriend! Even if I think that the High Tea of Bizu is so much better, I am glad we got to experience Huize Van Wely’s high tea AT HALF THE PRICE! =P
And next time I think the CAKE SET will be a better choice. I’d love to try the GANACHE CAKE (pure chocolate with bitter mocha ganache) or the PYRAMID CAKE (Coffee and vanilla ice cream cake).
Cake Set and American Style Pancake
Click to enlarge: drink list
- Click here to read more about the proper way to steep tea
- I really loved this post on high tea from CrunchyTiger. Though it’s an old post, I really love her pics! Makes me wanna go to Park Hyatt Sydney!
- The Papillon Duo, Ground Floor,Pacific Place Mall, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Tel: 62-21-579 73645
- Fax: 62-21-579 73641
- www.huizevanwely.com
What a nice promotion!!! That’s so nice! I always see promotion for the local Indonesian card holders and I don’t have one, so I have always felt that I’ve been missing on a lot of good deals. I might qualify for the citicard although I’m not sure if we have a platinum card. 😛 BTW, I like that you have a little scissor icon in your subject. So cute! Great photos!
Hi Kaho, it is VERY difficult to get a local card and no matter how high your position is in the company they give a very low limit. We are just lucky that an associate had a contact at the back to help facilitate getting the card. Before that we were rejected several times. My friend who owns a company here has been complaining that he has to build credit ever so slowly. Can you imaging? I wish we could get a BCA card though it seem to have the most number of promos – but we are so lucky that we even have one credit card! Thank you for the nice compliments!