Adelphi Hotel
187 Flinders Lane
Melbourne, VIC 3000
03 8080 8827
Website
Disclosure: Fatbee & I dined here courtesy of Om Nom
Zoe from Soda Communications invited me to experience Sunday High Tea at Adelphi Hotel. It took me a week or so to realise that the place in question is actually Om Nom dessert bar, somewhere that Fatbee was really keen on trying. I very quickly said ‘yes!’.
That’s how we found ourselves in Flinders Lane one Sunday in front of this quiet little boutique hotel. Look at that see-through swimming pool on the rooftop!
Om Nom is situated right next to The Adelphi’s lobby, we loved how quirky-yet-plush the interior looked. Very eclectic.
Sunday High Tea at Om Nom is priced at $65 per person, requiring a minimum of two guests to experience it. And it starts off with a very agreeable glass of Veuve Cliquot. Fatbee and I are not keen on champagne in general, but this one was actually very nice… tasty and well-rounded.
View from our window
I’ll be frank with you and confess that I’ve hardly ever experienced high tea much at all, Fatbee is more familiar with this affair than myself. So when I saw the number of different courses we were about to experience, I sort of thought it’d be a course-by-course type of thing.
And then five minutes later… *KABOOM*!! Everything arrived tiered up in this tower of goodies.
Ahhh… so that’s how high tea is like, it all comes at one go. I’m such a country bumpkin sometimes… ha ha!
Poached Bug Tail with Sweet & Sour Sauce
Vol au Vent with Mushroom and Asparagus
Foie gras macaron
So we embarked on a rather pleasant journey of flavours in neat little nibbles, which was collaboratively created by head chef Christy Tania and Pierrick Boyer from Le Petit Gateau. We started off with poached bug tails which came with a citrusy sauce, then a mushroom and asparagus pastry. Both nibbles were okay.
We were quite fond of the foie gras macaron though, they used pieces of foie gras escalope and it was paired with figs, sour cream and chives. It was significantly better than the (chewy and meh) foie gras macaron that we had at The Estelle the night before.
Vegetable Tempura, Soba Noodles, Dashi Broth
Pineapple Verrine
Our final savoury offering was a rather delicious minicup of Japanese buckwheat noodles in bonito-kelp sauce served with crunchy pieces of vegetable tempura. On this front, Fatbee explained to me that the savoury offerings at Om Nom are actually quite different to other High Teas, where the savouries normally revolve around toothpicked triangles of sandwiches.
Pictured left was a dainty little glass of fruit ‘trifle’ which we actually had as the last item. It was light, nice and not too sweet with lots of perfumed floral fragrance to it. A perfect palate cleansing finish for the sweeter cakes that we had below.
Mango and Shiso Profiterole
Peanut Butter, Chocolate & Raspberry Gateau
Monsieur Green Tea Gateaux
Before we embarked on our sweets, our waitress Sinead came with our choice of drink. Fatbee picked China Green Tea while I went for Peppermint Tea.
My personal favourite cake(s) were the peanut butter, chocolate & raspberry gateau (of course), and I thought the green tea gateau and a good level of matcha flavour in it too.
I was less excited by the frosting-topped mango and shiso profiterole but Fatbee actually liked it a lot.
Salted Caramel Macaron
After we finished the three tiers of goodies, our petit fours came served on a black platter… salted caramel macarons!
While I’m not all that familiar with high teas, I enjoyed this experience. The atmosphere in this hotel was quiet and peaceful and we enjoyed how different yet understated the High Tea food offerings were.
Fatbee thought the portion sizing was good too. This means that you can actually have lunch somewhere else, and then adjourn here for a quiet afternoon of champagne, cakes and nibbles. I also spied the desserts on the a la carte menu and they look very interesting. I think I’m going to be popping back in pretty soon.
