TWG Gurney Paragon

Given that Hubs and I were scone fiends, I kept harping about how I badly wanted to try the afternoon tea at TWG Gurney Paragon. The afternoon tea is served at 2pm and unfortunately, that is the time where the lines get impossibly long. One fine day, the stars were aligned, Bubs was peacefully napping in his stroller and since it was a quarter to 2pm, there wasn't a queue of people waiting.

The interior of TWG is elegant and understated with dark, marble floors, mirrored paneling and lush, warm lighting. The wait staff are discreet and attentive as they bustle along the tiny tea salon.

What is unique about TWG is that they have a very extensive array of teas to choose from. The canisters of tea literally stretch up to the ceiling, forming an attractive backdrop. You could spend a long time browsing around the different varieties of teas in beautiful packaging for purchase.

The patisserie corner has a mouthwatering range of delectable desserts, including macarons (also available as takeaway options at RM5 each)

Since we were there for the scones only, Hubs and I eschewed the mains and settled on the Fortune Tea Set (RM45.50) which comes with 2 scones, 2 pieces of tea croque monsieur, 3 macarons and a pot of tea. We also topped it out with a serving of Cream Brulee (RM17). It was close to impossible to pick just 1 tea out of the (literally) hundreds on the list and the waiter was very patient, trying to recommend what he thought would be a perfect complement for our food. I've also seen the waiter at the next table going so far as to bring over a few tea canisters for the customers to select. We decided to go with the 1837 white tea.

Voila - afternoon tea is served. For those that were wondering about the fabled gold teapot, the teapot itself is from porcelain, it's the outer cover that is a shiny gold. We were impressed with the 1837 white tea, it has a delicate and fruity taste that was refreshing to the palate. We were disappointed that the tea is non refillable and is good enough for about 3 cups. As the tea that streamed out of the pot was crystal clear, Hubs and I debated if TWG uses teabags (God forbid!) or whole leaves for customers. Hubs ended the argument by opening the teapot and peering into it, it was ... a mystery! There were no teabags or tea leaves inside the teapot, the tea was already brewed, strained and poured into the teapots. There goes our bright idea of refilling it with our own flask of hot water ;)

The croque monsieur was nicely done though I usually find savouries boring and skipped straight to the sweets. We selected the chocolate, caramel and mint macarons and I loved all 3 choices. I would come back again just for the macarons and can't wait to try other flavours. The scones were served with whipped cream (far too light, we would have preferred clotted cream) and tea jelly. The scone itself was decent though something you could have easily gotten from any bakery. The highlight of it was the tea jelly which was unique and had a nice tang to it.