It was a typical Sunday morning but my ass was already at
Marina Bay Sands, although on most of such weekends, I would be lazing at home. The occasion was special as it was the farewell brunch for a colleague (now former)!
We wanted high tea at TWG yet decided on brunch as it didn't allow reservation on weekends and we figured high tea on a weekend is likely to have a long queue. Having been to Marina Bay Sands countless times, I am familiar with TWG Tea on the Bay branch as its open, classy colonial decorated concept has always been quite memorable for anyone who walks past. I had been to this branch before but it was just for some tea. Too many items on the menu made it so hard to decide and we figured that the breakfast sets would be the way to go. Since there were four of us, let's go for two gourmand and two signature, which would give us a greater variety for extra patisserie and macarons.
Table setting - simple for the pretty high class cafe. I am more a hawker person and fine dining doesn't quite appeal to me, especially given their so-called dining protocols! I burp after a full meal and I slurp my soup.
Freshly Squeezed Juices - choose from apple, orange and pineapple! The authentic deal as my orange juice was sour with just a slight tinge of sweetness, and I bet you can see the oxidization of the apple juice.
Tea - my pot of warrior's tea! Do note that they use tea leaves and not tea bags; hence, don't bother to add with hot water, as I had assumed I could do so. Love the teapot? You can get it from their retail shop nearby. p.s. tea was okay; I should have gone with my regular silver moon. Our four mains based on the four available selections; eggs benedict, croque salmon, truffle croque and wagyu beef lasagna. One for each of us although in reality, we all shared!
Eggs Benedict - those were flower petals on the salad. While I am an egg lover, I prefer sunny side up, omelette and fried eggs over eggs benedict. Furthermore, I am not a huge fan of smoked salmon. Hence, my review on this will be biased! Don't take my word for it.
Croque Salmon - like many of you, I have no idea what croque means. Turned out it was a French word that means "crunch" and refer to the texture of the bread for the sandwich. It's like warm, toasted bread with a layer of smoked salmon the middle. As the name infers, there was a layer of crisp before giving way to fluffiness. Love the bread and again, not so much the smoke salmon.
Truffle Croque - literally the same as the croque salmon with a change in the "filling", which was filled fungi like portobello mushrooms. Definitely prefer this over the croque salmon, especially given the addictive aroma of truffle!
Wagyu Beef Lasagna - looking like a cuboid of mish-mash ingredients, I am not expecting much from this abomination. Turned out it was the best main amongst the four. Moist and flavorful with chunks of appetizing shredded beef, what sealed the deal was the delicious pool of sauce surrounding the lasagna! Don't waste it; the accompany hard bread (missing form the photo) shall help to clean up the sauce!
Muffins and Scones - I might be ignorant but I do know what that bell-like container was for!
Containing cream, I am aware this would be for scones. Just like smoked salmon, scones have never appealed to me. A friend, frequent high tea patron and a lover of scones, told me the clotted cream made a difference. Sorry.... my hardly refined taste buds still can't discern much differences!
Our muffins and scones from the gourmand sets. I took a bit of scone, just to check out, and again, it failed to captivate. I do enjoy the TWG tea jelly though.
Chocolate muffin with a chocolate lava filling! Both muffins were fluffy but the other banana muffin was better tasting. However, I think too much baking soda was added as there was a metallic taste to the muffins.
Macarons - we can choose six (three from each signature set) from the ten selections on the menu. At four for S$10.00, it was a pretty economical price point given that TWG is not known to be wallet-friendly. Our choices - black tea & blackcurrant, earl grey fortune & chocolate, grand wedding tea, matcha, silver moon tea & strawberry, napolean tea and caramel. No complaints about the macarons; personally, they are not my favorite type of cookies and I don't understand the fanfare surrounding them.
Two more choices of patisserie! At this point, I noted that my companions were on the verge of bursting and it didn't augur well for me as I am the only gentleman and have a much larger appetite. Problem was; I didn't want too much calories!
Choosing the prettiest of them all from the patisserie display.
Strawberry Tart - pretty, it sure was and taste was acceptable. You know how sometimes you can taste when something was mass produced? That's how I felt about this tart. Hazelnut Chocolate Cake - the cake portion was a tad dry although that can be rescued from the artistic dollops of hazelnut and chocolate cream. Not bad tasting but didn't blow me away too.
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Overall, TWG Tea on the Bay was blessed with a great ambience that would be nice for a treat for loved ones. Service was fine for me although for the price point, I bet many would expected more; for example, tap water at no charge. Two problems for me though; one, it can get quite warm. And two, there were flies; the service staff did try to improve situation by lighting a candle and placing it on our table. p.s. you can buy the candle from their retail store.
Address
2 Bayfront Avenue, B1-122/125,
Singapore 018972
Map
As above.
Website
Pricing
Gourmand Breakfast Set - S$56
Signature Breakfast Set - S$62
(Subject to Service Charge and GST)
