Lobby Lounge @ Conrad Tasting Session

Lobby Lounge @ Conrad Tasting Session
2 Temasek Boulevard
#01 Conrad Centennial Hotel


Opening Hours (High Tea Seatings):
Mon - Fri: 3pm - 6pm, Sat - Sun: 2pm - 4pm, 4pm - 6pm



http://conradhotels3.hilton.com/en/hotels/singapore/conrad-centennial-singapore-SINCICI/amenities/restaurants-lobby-lounge.html

This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session, but I did pay the standard price during subsequent visits.
Attended with representatives from HungryGoWhere, The Hungry Bunny, and Chubby Botak Koala.



Good Pastries & Desserts

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 6
Value for Money: 7
Budget about SGD $60 ++ per person.


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The Lobby Lounge @ Conrad has recently revamped their British English high tea / afternoon tea offerings, offering more unpretentious food options, including an oyster bar and 2 meat carving stations! Of course, they still offer unlimited servings of Ronnefeldt tea, with up to 18 varieties to choose from.

Ambience at Lobby Lounge @ Conrad is cozy. The plush, well furnished interior below a 24-carat gold leaf ceiling features comfortable chairs, knee height tables, and warm colours of wood and browns, with warm mood lighting. Part of the appeal is the various open food stations, laid out around the Lobby Lounge @ Conrad, and you can walk around and examine the items on offer!

Lobby Lounge @ Conrad Table Layout


Cheese Table



Service at Lobby Lounge @ Conrad is friendly, polite, and professional. I find staff to be knowledgable on the food items displayed, and they initially cleared empty dishes quickly. The desserts chefs are able to name ingredients in each dessert, while the meat carving chefs mostly stand ready at their stations. I also like that staff top up the high tea buffet stations, so the food display always looks full. However, I found the manager to be rather brusque.

As befitting a high tea / afternoon tea, the buffet spread at Lobby Lounge @ Conrad has over 30 varieties of sweets and pastries, and a decent range of savoury items. Portions are all bite sized, allowing diners to sample many different items without filling up. Generally, in terms of taste, I prefer the sweet items over the savoury items here.

The Salmon Scone With Peas Cream was somewhat dry, and I didn't like that the texture was more similar to a bun than a scone, doughy instead of crumbly. There was a hint of salmon taste, but no chunks of salmon within, but the peas cream was smooth and tasty.

Salmon Scone With Peas Cream



The High Tea Quiche With Lobster, Spinach And Parsley was decent, with a crumbly exterior crust that shatters, and a warm, flavourful interior. I can taste the layers of spinach and crustacean, pretty good!

High Tea Quiche With Lobster, Spinach And Parsley



I loved the Quail Eggs Benedict With Truffles Hollandiase! You can taste the different ingredients in 1 mouthful, with the savoury ham, the runny quail egg, and the soft English muffin and spinach. The perfect eggs benedict in 1 bite!

Quail Eggs Benedict With Truffles Hollandiase



The Mussels Tempura With Wasabi Sauce wasn't that great, while the mussels were fresh, it had been fried till dry.

Mussels Tempura With Wasabi Sauce



The Gratin Of Scallop In Herb Crust were very good, plump and juicy, with a nice textural crunch from the herb crust.

Gratin Of Scallop In Herb Crust



I also loved the Mini Wagyu Beef Cheese Burger BLT, the beef was done till medium rare, and still juicy. The flavour of the meat shines through in this dish. and complements the freshness of the lettuce and tomato. There was a small rasher of bacon which added a little salty taste to the overall savoury burger.

Mini Wagyu Beef Cheese Burger BLT



Fresh Oysters, plump and absolutely lovely with a slice of lemon. Love the freshness of it!

Oyster Bar


Fresh Oysters With Lemon Slice



The Slipper Lobster Salad On Shell With Melon And Salmon Caviar was rather interesting. I can taste the freshness of the slipper lobster, and the salad sauce is light without being overpowering or slimy. But I couldn't identify the salmon taste in the dish, it tended to get lost in the sweetness of the melon. Still, a very good dish!

Slipper Lobster Salad On Shell With Melon And Salmon Caviar


Slipper Lobster Salad On Shell With Melon And Salmon Caviar



A spin on the traditional British English high tea classic, the Cucumber Sandwich, the version here is the Finger Sandwich With Cucumber, Cream Cheese And Baby Prawns. The cucumber slices are outside the bread, while the inside is filled with a mix of fresh prawn meat, diced, held together with cream cheese. Taste is refreshing, sweet, and savoury all at once. Very good!

Finger Sandwich With Cucumber, Cream Cheese And Baby Prawns



There are a multitude Selection Of Desserts, all displayed beautifully.

Selection Of Desserts



Loved the Flan Custard & Chocolate, with a custard top half, and a chocolate bottom half. Texture is properly smooth, with just the right amount of creamy and sweet.

Flan Custard & Chocolate


Flan Custard & Chocolate



I liked the Mini Pavlova, with its almost meringue like texture. The fruits on top add a burst of freshness.

Mini Pavlova



The Mixed Fruit Tartlet was decent, featuring a good mix of fresh fruits. The crust has a crumbly biscuit texture, and it's possible to eat this in 1 mouthful!

Mixed Fruit Tartlet



Didn't fancy the Pecan Nut Tartlet, as it turned out savoury instead of sweet.

Pecan Nut Tartlet



The Apple Pie Tartlet tastes just like apple pie, with the flavour of apples infused into the dough, despite there being almost no apples within.

Apple Pie Tartlet



A Selection Of Fruits, freshly prepared, looks so inviting!

Selection Of Fruits



The Lobby Lounge @ Conrad uses this unique Tea Pot, which can be placed in 3 different positions. Each of these 3 positions affects the strength of your tea, the most upright position gives you a stronger flavour, the leaning position ensures a decent strength of tea flavour, while the reclining position gives a more mild flavour.

Tea Pot 3 Ways


Tea Pot 3 Ways


Tea Pot 3 Ways


Tea Pot 3 Ways



The Sangria here is pretty good, enhanced with a good variety of tropical and citrus fruits. The alcohol content isn't too high though.

Sangria



The Chocolate Mousse Cake was very good, with a creamy and smooth texture, rich in dark chocolate taste.

Chocolate Mousse Cake


Chocolate Mousse Cake



A variety of Chocolate Blocks, chip at it with the hammer provided!

Chocolate Blocks



There were 10 varieties of Chocolate Truffles during my visit. Yes, you can totally indulge in as many as you want (I did), all of them are contain no alcohol. The ones I sampled here all had no nuts or dried fruits as well, mostly consisting of a flavoured ganache center, such as mango, orange or cherry, or a simple center of caramel, white chocolate, dark chocolate, or milk chocolate.

Chocolate Truffles


Chocolate Truffles



Overall, Lobby Lounge @ Conrad is a decent, quiet place for a high tea / afternoon tea, but it's recommended to go at the start of the seating, as that way, you'll have more time to savour everything.





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