Afternoon tea at Park Hyatt Saigon

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Another rainy day just perfect for another afternoon tea at Park Lounge - Park Hyatt Saigon. We’d been caught in a storm before and when the tropical shower comes you better hide, at least that's what we’ve learned so far. This time, we reached our destination just in time and when the pouring rain started, we were already enjoying the afternoon tea at Park Lounge. The safety of this hall was soothing with the repeated strikes of thunder. The bowing plants outside the window were entertaining but my attention kept shifting to the sparkling crystal chandeliers. It is mesmerizing how the light brakes in all the pallets of the rainbow in the small fraction of the crystal. Those ornaments are perfectly suited for the Park Lounge at Park Hyatt Saigon and are nicely visible from the first floor as well. Yes, this was absolutely the perfect place to indulge in an afternoon tea. Time flew by and it was quite a feast, the tea set was utterly delightful and chic, just like the surroundings.

Hyatt Park Saigon and its lovely ambient

Tea selection

From the tea selection, I went for the Jasmin Chung Hao tea from Dammann Frères. It is made from mixed green tea of high quality with fresh Jasmine flowers, which gives it the distinctive flavor that I like so much. The tea was strong in character with a wonderful flowery fragrance and taste, it had an exquisite bouquet and distinct flavor.

Ian's choice was L’Oriental, also from Dammann Frères, a sweet green tea with the fruity flavors of passion fruit, bush peach and wild strawberry that were very convincing to him. The wild strawberry taste was more at the back, whereas the passion fruit really took over. Both teas were a great pairing for our food.

Tea

Scones

The tea was the king on the table just for a brief period of time. When the bites came, they got all our attention. In fact, they were so beautiful that we had to resist taking our first bite before taking a few photos. With every click of the camera, our taste buds were getting increasingly impatient. The Scones were the first victim, as we didn't want the warm pastries to get cold. The first thing that came to our liking was the taste and the texture, where the crust was crunchy with the compact crumb, which is exactly as scones should be like! Then came the homemade strawberry jam and whipped cream. Personally, we would have preferred this to be served with a heavier clotted cream, however, all in all, this first part of the afternoon tea was a good indicator that this was going to be a very enjoyable experience.

Scones Hyatt

Savoury

By the time we finished the scones, my jasmine tea had gotten stronger, which was still ok. The bitterness rinsed away the tastes still lingering in my mouth and wiping it clean for the next part of our meal. We started with the sandwich in which we could taste good quality ingredients like ham and mellow cream cheese. It was a juicy sandwich with fresh bread that rounded the tender flavors. The pâté with breadstick was next: the best part of this dish was the crunchy caramel topping, as it gave the smooth pâté a nice contrast. It’s too bad we didn’t like the pâté. For us, it tasted too much of pork and it could have used more seasoning. We added some jam from the scones and it was already much better. Quite to the contrary, the next course of coated bread with air-dried salmon was delicious. The fruit caviar and fresh mint lifted the gentle flavors and made for a very palatable canapé. I love miniatures in all forms and this tiny bun was my crush from the beginning. Ian wanted to eat it first, but I didn't let him. Certainly, it was just too cute and I had to look at both of them all the way till the end of this savoury round. The subtle fish taste was perfect with young chives and the sweetness of the crunchy onion. Those savoury bites were simply delicious.

Savoury

Sweets

Before the final part of our high tea etiquette, it was time to refresh my strong tea with some fresh water. Here at Park Lounge was staff happy to refill the silver pot. The sweets from house pâtisserie were absolutely delightful and nice looking. Allow me to describe each of them as they were very distinct. Starting with the biscuit cup, it was filled with dark chocolate cream and topped with a spoonful of cream quenelle. The combination of the brittle base with a rich chocolate topping made for a base slightly softened by cream. The Chocolate canelé had a dark caramelized crust with a soft banana flavor on the inside. The undulating shape of nutty filling made the profiterole more interesting, and with crunchy garnish, it was nothing short of excellent. The chef did a great job of using healthier ingredients for the macaron, and the taste was still spot on. The delicate meringue was made of healthy Matcha with red bean filling in between. The only thing that separated that macaron from perfection was a meringue that was too soft. Anyway, this was just a minor flaw. Our instinct was right to leave the rose jelly cube for last. It left us with the pleasant and long lasting aftertaste of roses. We are difficult to please with jelly, but this one made a good impression when it was melting in our mouths.

Sweets
The hint of elegance was present throughout the afternoon tea experience. It started with the character of Park Lounge and continued with the tea set, furthermore, we walked through the doors of Hotel Park Hyatt literally in roses. A very classy afternoon tea indeed - and not just classy, this is officially the best high tea in Saigon.

Hyatt Park Saigon high tea (49).jpg