Introducing this new section of 23km-down the rabbit hole blog, {teatime de ratata'} or #teatimederatata on instagram. Since my passion is to exploit the capitalist leisure phenomena, I usually spend my free time in a cafe or a tea boutique. With this regular leisure of mine, I've decided to turn it into something that may, or may not, be useful to people -especially afternoon tea lovers like myself- living in Thailand, or those who will be coming to Thailand.
Disclaimer: This series of blog entries/reviews are not aimed to discredit anyone, or any place. It's purely the writer's opinion and personal experiences on that particular place and time.
I do believe that, like all things in the universe, there is no place that is all bad, or all good. Just because some of these places got very low ratings does not mean the place is bad, it means that I didn't like it.
Just because I didn't like the place does not mean the place is bad.
Kay broh? lol
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001: St. Regis Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.
(February 14, 2014 | 3:00PM)
I arrived at the hotel via the BTS (skytrain, Ratchadamri Station Exit 4) at 3PM. My friend has booked a table for 3 at 3pm that day because, apparently, there won't be any tables for walk-in customers on special occasions.
Located on the 12th floor of this lavish hotel in the middle of Bangkok, the St. Regis Lounge was decorated with bronze and brown interiors. The moment I stepped out of the elevator, I was greeted by no one. The staff are busy serving tables (mostly foreigners) that they have ignored the existence of new customers. I was half expecting that the tables would be filled with people, but there are only 3 tables visible in the front and about 7 in the inner corner of the lounge. There were only about 4 to 5 staff members and I have to wait for about five to ten minutes for one of the staff to take notice of me and ask if I've already reserved a table beforehand. It's not their fault I am a socially awkward person in which standing in the middle of a tearoom, not knowing what to do, does not really help me to be less awkward.
The table the staff led me to was next to a pillar, in which it blocks all the view I was expecting to see. The only available set was the Valentine set. At the time, I didn't really care which set they have because I'm the type who could eat anything and will eat everything. When my friends arrived, we call the staff to order our set. There are about 6 to 7 types of tea available on the menu. I called the staff 3 times before they've noticed us calling for their attention. I asked them on the different types of tea, but they are only able to tell me if that tea is black, green, or red. I was quite surprise that a tearoom staff does not have the basic knowledge of the different types of tea they are offering, but not everyone is picky when it comes to tea. Most people would rather focus on the food, methinks.
I ordered the vanilla bourbon tea because that's the closest blend to my favourite from TWG (yes, St. Regis serves TWG teas) because the blend gave this soft and sweet scent of vanilla. I usually go for the Midsummer Night Tea because of its chocolate and mint scent. I prefer black tea, but red would do just fine. I also have my tea without any sugar because I don't like the sweetness of the sugar to ruin the sweetness of the tea itself. I love my tea black, like my soul.
There is nothing much to say about the tea because they are just typical TWG tea in which I think tea people are quite familiar with already. I was expecting more types of tea for a tearoom in a luxurious hotel, but they only have the basics such as earl grey, english breakfast, chocolate and vanilla bourbon. There are others as well, but not that various.
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| ❥ My Blanc shades, I love you. |
Now, moving on to the food. As always, we start from the bottom and work our way up. The 3 tier stand filled with pink deserts and food was served ten minutes after our order. There were 2 of each on the stand, and there are three of us.
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| Thanks to the filter grid app ❤ |
1st floor: The lobster sandwiches was nice. Actually, those lobster sandwiches were so nice we have to order more of those as an A La Carte. The rest? Inedible. The salmon smells like it has been in the fridge for a few days. The beef was quite alright, but I was expecting more from a very well known hotel chain.
2nd floor: SCONES. There were 4 scones, two plain and two rose scones for Valentine's day (yay for all my badass single ladies out there because even scones came in pairs lol) The scone itself wasn't bad, but the clotted cream ... are you kidding me. First things first, you do not leave the cream in room temperature for more than an hour because it will melt. Second things second, how are we going to eat one scone with one teaspoon of clotted cream? I purpose the hotel to give their customers the right amount of cream to the amount of scones. I have to call the staff over from their busy task for more clotted cream. I don't mind if you are using a thicker whip cream instead of clotted creams, but please put an appropriate amount on the table for us to eat, much appreciated.
3rd floor: The abomination of St. Regis' Valentine's day afternoon tea set. Everything was made of roses. Rose cake, Rose mousse, Rose this, Rose that. Each of us took one bite of each desert and shook our heads in disapproval. We gave up trying to finish the top floor of the stand. The desert looks so good, but tasted so bad.
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| The Lobster Sandwiches that cost 500 THB ☹ |
I was unimpressed by the food and also the service of the place, period. From the price I am paying for the whole thing, this experience was not worth it.
Rating: 4/10
Thumb ups:
- The utensils was easy to use and handle. I really love their knifes and forks. Their utensils are practices are beautiful, they goes well with their overall atmosphere and interior.
- The way their food looks. The food was well decorated and the lighting helps it to look good on picture. Do not let that fool you.
Thumb downs:
- The food, period.
- The service, and the amount of staff is too little that they cannot attend every customer when they are needed.
The Price:
- 2,500 THB (£50/$77)
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| ☁ The food looks so nice. |
PS: Thanks to Melody19s and Palayate for coming out with me on Valentine's day. Lots of love, xx
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