My girlfriends wanted to meet for afternoon tea for a change. And with much reference to Her World’s article of ’15 places to go for high tea in Singapore’, we unanimously decided to go with Anti:dote. We were drawn to their unique presentation of using drawer sets. How cute!

And so, a booking for 8 people was made for a Sunday, with at least 2 weeks of advanced notice. While making the reservation, the staff requested for us to call should we decide to cancel our reservation. Else, they would have to throw the prepared food. Which I assured her we wouldn’t. Ha!

And on the day of our high tea, I was the first of our group to reach. However, I was told by the staff that they were still in the midst of setting up the tables and was redirected to wait at the main lobby. Knowing that the high tea starts at 3pm, I thought to myself that I was probably a little too early, especially after noticing that the place was empty too.

It would have been a nice touch if the staff had remembered to get me after they were done with setting up the tables. But too bad they did not. And when I reapproached the staff at 3pm with my other girlfriends who had reached, we were directed to a high table. We noticed the lower tables were given to equally big groups of 8 (but came after me). While we are an easy going (随和) bunch, we would have preferred the lower tables where we could sink into the low cushioned sofa. Hmm…

There are 4 sets to choose from the menu; ‘The anti:dote tea‘ ($38), ‘the oriental tea‘ ($38), ‘the regal tea‘ ($75) and ‘children’s tea‘ ($15).

Excluding the children’s menu, the difference between the 3 sets was the choice of starters. However, ‘the regal tea’ was more expensive at $75 because it included an additional glass of champagne. With no interest for champagne, my girlfriends and I ordered the ‘the anti:dote tea’ and ‘the oriental tea’ sets:-

1) Starter with options of:-

(A) The anti:dote black truffle scrambled eggs (above) – And this would be the starter for ‘the anti:dote tea’. While it was lovely to be presented with a slice of truffle, this was okie. The bread sticks were a little too oily though.

(B) Dim sum (above) – Shrimp har gau, chive dumpling, scallop siew mai. Starter for ‘the oriental tea’, these were impressive! So huge. In fact, one of my girlfriends arrived slightly late at 3.45pm and was told they had run out of ‘the oriental set’. So I guess if one really wants to order this, don’t come too late as it’s prepared in limited quantity.

2) Drawer (above) comprised of:-

(A) Top tier (above) – Petit desserts of i) strawberry gateau, raspberry, lychee pearl, ii) apple delight, almond crumble, iii) karukera chocolate mirror tart, iv) earl grey eclair, v) anti:dote rum baba, vi) macarons, vii) chocolate dipped strawberries and viii) handmade truffles.

(B) 1st drawer (above) – Sandwiches comprised of i) smoked salmon, crème fraiche, caviar, ii) Boston lobster roll, herb mayonnaise, iii) cucumber and dill salad, cream cheese, iv) prosciutto, onion jam, aged cheddar and v) coronation curried chicken.

(C) 2nd drawer (above) – Comprised of i) lemon, basil pound cake and ii) raisin and candied ginger scones. The plate of strawberry jam, devonshire clotted cream and lemon curd for the scones were placed in the 3rd drawer. And it was a disappointment that the scones were too dry.

(D) 4th drawer (above) – Cookie. A good idea to put these in plastic wrappers cause all of us ended up taking these home.

3) Drink with options of:-

(A) Coffee (above) – The coffees are priced at $9 if ordered a-la carte. I went with latte and was entitled to an one-time refill.

(B) Tea – For teas, choose from the range of $11 tea. Similarly, every pot could be replenished one time, but of the same drink of what was ordered earlier. Although it was tricky trying to get the staff’s attention once everything was delivered. Refills for our drinks took pretty long. If not, even forgotten.

The problem with us being seated at the high communal table was that our drawer sets were put on the (high) table. And the drawer set which had to be put in the middle become a ‘partition wall’ and disrupted the flow of our conversation. If one get to sit at the lower tables, an equally low table is provided separately to put these drawers on. Else, everything worked out well.

Portion looked okie, but was actually deceivingly huge. We couldn’t finish everything even though some of us came on empty stomachs. And although it was stated that the hours for afternoon is from 3 to 5pm. We managed to hang around till 6pm. That’s also when the lights were dimmed for the tapas session which was to follow after afternoon tea session.

High tea? I will definitely recommend Anti:dote. Nice ambience. Great variety of pastries and desserts. And wallet friendly prices! But if coming in big groups, one may want to request for sofa seats. =)

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