Afternoon Tea at Eastern & Oriental

Hi all! Did you have a fun and festive Lunar New Year?

We’re back in Hong Kong, back to work (and classes for me – oy, the homework!). Naturally, I’m aching for another holiday, so the next best thing is to reminisce with a blog post.

I didn’t mention it in the previous post, but the Eastern & Oriental Hotel is a beautiful old hotel, built in the colonial era. The English-style afternoon tea is served daily (to the best of my knowledge) in 1885, a restaurant named after the year the hotel was established.

The setting for our afternoon tea was gorgeous, with starched linens and fresh flowers. I don’t know if there’s a dress code, but to be on the safe side we wore our nicer clothes and shoes. However, while we were there, we saw that the other diners were dressed rather casually. Well, I still like to dress up for these things. It makes the whole experience more fun!

Here’s the tea set! It doesn’t look as dainty or as colourful as other tea sets, but taste-wise, it’s definitely one of the best we’ve had so far! As usual, we preferred the savoury items to the desserts.

It would have been better with more chocolate, but still good nonetheless.

The stars of the tea set were these babies. These were the best scones ever – not too hard, not too soft and cake-like, just perfect. With the strawberry jam and clotted cream, they really hit the spot!

That’s all for tonight! As usual, I’ve got lots more posts lined up, and hopefully I’ll have some time later this week. More than that, I hope that the weather will be fine this weekend so we’ll be able to explore the city a little bit. I’m getting just a little tired of this cold, and I’m looking forward to spring!

Eastern & Oriental Hotel
10, Lebuh Farquhar, 10200 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Tel: +60 4-222 2000

Eastern & Oriental Hotel Penang

Edwin and I stayed here for half of our Penang trip in December (for the other half we stayed at my grandmother’s place), since we hadn’t had a holiday together for more than a year, and we really needed some couple time in the midst of our break from work.

Our suite at the Victory Annexe came with a balcony and a partial sea view! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the view – oops!

There were two sinks in the room, which made everything really convenient. They even provided face and hand towels, which was a nice touch.

Swanky bathroom, and a gloriously deep bathtub perfect for soaking in.

We ordered room service for our first dinner in Penang (I wasn’t feeling too well so we didn’t want to go out). The spaghetti aglio olio and chicken schnitzel were pretty good!

For breakfast, we had a choice between dining in the main building or the lounge at the Victory Annexe. The restaurant in the main building, which was a short walk way, offered more choices for their breakfast buffet.

The nasi lemak was sedap (delicious), but the other items were mediocre at best. The lounge at the Victory Annexe fared better, and I preferred the ambiance there as well.

The main building also featured another restaurant/lounge where we had the best afternoon tea ever. More on that next time!

Another perk exclusive to guests at the Victory Annexe was Happy Hour at the lounge. Free flow drinks (including alcoholic ones!) and refreshments!

We stayed for three nights, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Service was excellent, and the hotel was conveniently located near several shopping malls. Though to be fair, Penang Island is rather small, and it doesn’t take long to get from one end to the other! Still, I wouldn’t mind staying here again the next time we’re in Penang!

Eastern & Oriental Hotel
10, Lebuh Farquhar, 10200 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Tel: +60 4-222 2000