Ion Insider Workshop – 3 Places to Go for Afternoon Tea at Ion Orchard

I was so excited when I was shortlisted for Ion Insider Preview Workshop hosted by Ion Orchard last week. Though it was only preliminary assessment to be an ion resident blogger, the opportunity of being shortlisted during the first round of assessment makes me over the moon! Oh yes, if you guys are wondering what I am talking about, I have joined a contest held by Ion Orchard Singapore to be their resident blogger last month.

Enough said of the contest, belowe are the restaurants that we had for food tasting session at Ion Orchard last week. An afternoon full of sweet treats.

SALT GRILL AND SKY BAR

Salt Grill And Sky Bar is located at top level 55 and 56 of Ion Orchard. You can take the private high speed elevator from Level 4 at the concierge directly to the restaurant. The scenery from Level 55 of the restaurant is spectacular. Salt Grill And Sky Bar now introduces afternoon high tea set from 2pm to 6pm at the price of $30++. The afternoon tea set is inclusive of choices of coffee or tea. Do make your reservation early as diners can request to sit by the window to enjoy the spectacular view while having afternoon tea.

Personally I feel that the price of $30++ is considered affordable for its location and awesome dining ambience. Definitely a great place for anniversary or birthday celebration with your loved ones. Now I have one more choice of places for afternoon tea with my girlfriends!

1st Tier: Raspberry macaron, Pate de Fruits, Mini orange tart

2nd Tier (Savoury Items): Smoked salmon, cucumber, chive, crème cheese on rye, Coronation chicken sandwich, and Ham & turkey Croque Madame

3rd Tier: Chocolate delice, Almond & cranberry Florentines and Chocolate & jam lamington

Scones With Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam

Love this rasberry macaron sandwiched with blueberries and jam. The macaron is not to sweet and the blueberrry filling gives the macaron more texture. A cup of tea really perfects the macaron!

NARA THAI

Have you heard of Thai high tea set? The 2nd stop for the workshop was Nara Thai located at level B3 of Ion Orchard.

Just this year, the restaurant had introduced the Erawan afternoon tea set that is inclusive of a hot cup of coffee or tea. To be honest, this was the first time I had heard of Thai high tea set and I was looking forward to what were the items being served and the presentation of high tea set. The Thai high tea consists of 11 different Thai ‘kueh kueh’ and savoury items beautifully presented in 3 tiers.

Thai high tea set in 3-tiers

1st Tier: Sticky Rice with Mango and Fruits Skewer

2nd Tier: Thong Muan (Coconut Wafer Rolls), Kanom Bueng( Thai Crispy Pancakes), Look Choop (Sweet Bean Paste in Fruits Shapes), Thai Coconut Pudding, Agar and Coconut Jelly. the fruit-shaped bean paste dumplings are hand-painted with food dyes!

3rd Tier (Savoury Items): Tapioca Dumpling with Chicken Filling, Chicken satay, Minced Chicken on Pineapple, and Thai Golden Bag.

Go for the Erawan afternoon tea if you are looking for something different from the usual high tea that we always have. The Erawan afternoon tea set is available at $12.99 from 2.30pm to 5.30pm daily at Nara Thai, Ion Orchard, #B3-21. The Thai high tea set presents all the Thai signature food/snack in a single 3-tier tower.

UNCLE TETSU CHEESE CAKE

The last stop for the Ion Insider Workshop was at Uncle Tetsu Cheesecake located at level B4 of Ion Orchard. Uncle Tetsu hails from Hakata Japan and has opened many outlets in Taiwan and China. This is their first outlet in Singapore at Ion Orchard.

The cheese cake is freshly baked daily. I have heard of the long queue in Taipei and Shanghai outlets and was wondering what attracts the people into buying Uncle Tetsu cheese cake. Honestly, I am a not a fan of cheese cake as I do not like the strong cheese after taste and some cheese cake tends to be very heavy and filling after eating a few mouthful.

The store manager let us tried some of the cheese cake they are selling. To my surprise, the cheese cake is light, soft and fluffy compare to the more dense New York cheese cake. The cake texture is moist and the cheese taste is not strong too. Recommended for those who loves cheese cakes but can’t stand too much of the cheese taste. This is what you are looking for!

Mango Cheese Cake $13.90

Strawberry cheesecake freshly baked from the oven!

Look at how well the strawberry cheesecake had rised. So light and fluffy!

Fluffy original cheese cake $9.90 that melts in your mouth.

The store manager also mentioned the secret to their cheesecakes is that they will steam the cheesecake before baking them and the result is a moist cheesecake texture compare to others. They do not add any preservatives in their cheesecake and it can only last for 3 days in fridge. Talk about freshness and their cheese cake is the real deal!

Store Manager preparing the freshly baked original cheese cake for us to bring home.

Each of us brought home a box of Uncle Tetsu original cheese cake to share with our family members with complimentary from Uncle Tetsu! The cheese cake was so delicious and addictive that it was finished up the next morning! Now I know this cheese cake is indeed worth queuing for. Uncle Tetsu opens 10.00am to 9.00pm daily.

Thank you Ion Orchard for having me in this workshop that was full of fun, sweet indulgence and new eats recommendation!