At last, we have arrived at what is supposedly the creme de la creme of English teas - the famed afternoon tea at The Drawing Room.

I consider myself extremely lucky as it was probably the first and last time I will ever set foot in Carcosa because it will be closed at the end of the month when the lease expires. It may or may not reopen, but even so things would probably be different then.

Unfortunately, tea is now held at the Carcosa mansion as the Seri Negara (other building) has been closed since October. So we didn’t have “afternoon tea, served in the elegant drawing room, or charming wrap-around verandah, overlooking the beautiful gardens” (wiki). Still, the dining room was extremely cosy and charming.

Seeing as there’s someone plucking strings on a harp (yes, I’m serious), I’m surprised that the price is even listed in the menu. Or even have a menu for that matter as you’d know what you’re into if you have a reservation. But I digress.

Tea was promptly served, and there were only a handful, maybe 10 popular types to choose from. And along with it, scones to start.

Fittingly, it came with fresh clotted cream and a dollop of jam. The scone was airy but overall firm and fresh. Slightly hard on the crust but otherwise a good combo. Judging purely on the scone, Westin was better. But I must say though that they got the cream just right.

The most notable thing on the tray however, was the fruitcake on a spoon. Doesn’t look like much but it will blow you away. Very moist and fragrant, I think I tasted rum but I can’t confirm (rum dried fruitcake?). And the yellow stuff you see on the spoon is custard. Truly decadent.

This fruitcake really made the afternoon tea, even more than the scones. It’s that good. Other offerings on the tray were the usual sandwiches, smoked salmon buns, cookies - leaning towards the traditional.

To wrap, I would say that tea at Carcosa has lived up to its reputation, and expectations. The only minor drawback would be that the staff wasn’t as accommodating as expected (for an establishment of this stature). But overall very good. Shame we won’t be enjoying it again anytime soon.

Tiered stand.

People.

Best. Fruitcake. Ever.

Goodbye.

Another unplanned review. Was at Coffee Bean and saw that they had scones. Actually, they’re the only fast-food coffee chain cafe doing scones. I know O’briens does sometimes, but I wouldn’t get anything other than a sandwich there. And Dome too, but it’s more of a restaurant.

So there are two kinds of scones - a raisin scone called ‘My Mom’s scone’ (for some reason), and a slightly more expensive cranberry scone. I had the latter because it was the only one they have left.

It had a very buttery, cakey quality to it. I’m not sure if scones are supposed to be more bread than cake - but I would lean slightly towards bread. And you don’t really taste much of the cranberry bits. At least I think they’re not as obvious as raisins.

The scone came with butter and jam, which is laughable but I had no expectations to begin with. One thing about jam is that it makes almost anything good by covering it up with its sweetness.

Overall, I was hoping for a surprise in the scone, like Dome’s, but it was not meant to be.

P.S: Their Dark Choc Peppermint Ice Blended was good though.

An improptu visit led me to try the ‘Heavenly Scones’ at Dome. Apparently this is a new item on the menu?

Anyway, it had great texture. Soft and light. Sometimes it feels like it’s melting in your mouth. However, the cream is a let down. It’s not clotted cream but some sweetened cream. And the strawberry jam was nothing to shout about.

If only it had the cream from Marmalade, this would be a great combo. Overall a good scone but slightly let down by the cream.

Over the weekend, I went back to Marmalade to properly review the scone that started it all.

I was dissapointed.

Well, the cream was good. Tastes like clotted cream but I can’t confirm this. One thing’s for sure, it isn’t sweetened, which is good. The scone also came with a small packet of strawberry jam, which is laughable.

You could taste an even firmness in the scone, which could be a good thing, but I prefer it softer. There’s also a staleness to it that they couldn’t hide with a minute in the microwave. Not surprising since it spent the whole day in the fridge.

Overall, it was mediocre at best. I still love the cream but the scone could’ve been better.

The search for the best scones in KL begins.

First stop - The Living Room at The Westin. This wasn’t my first choice, but it’s one of the many shortlisted. Weirdly, many places don’t offer Traditional English Teas on Sundays.

Also, this series will focus on scones. Although it may seem like I’m covering Hi-Tea/Traditional English Tea offerings, the main points will come from the quality of the scones. Everything else is secondary.

The Living Room offers a general buffet spread daily, but they have a relatively unknown English Tea menu called “An Afternoon Affair” that runs from 3-6pm. Be careful to order just one serving as it’s more than enough for two.

You can’t call the scones mediocre. But they’re not quite there either. And small. The cream was a let down too. It came with ‘fresh bulla double cream’ which was thick but less consistent and neutral than clotted cream.

However, it came with two jams which were superb to say the least - rock melon with vanilla jam, and passionfruit butter curd. Personally, I like the latter more. Random useless fact - double cream is 45% fat, clotted cream is 55%. Whipped cream is in the 30-36% range.

To be fair, An Afternoon Affair is a very rounded experience and the other pastries were awesome, to sum it up simply. There was a live band going from table to table serenading guests, a welcome surprise.

Other notable items on the menu include - the lobster, walnut and celery sandwich, oyster mornay, and the chocolate fondue at the end (which quenched my very long craving for choc dipped marshmellows).

On a sidenote, the teas weren’t much to shout about either. Sure it came in a tea press, but anything less would be a disaster. There wasn’t an extensive tea menu or anything, but then again, I didn’t care.

Overall, to call it good would be an insult - it’s amazing. But the emphasis wasn’t on the scones, and it didn’t standout despite being one of the few English items on the menu.

Creammmmmmm

The jams and cream


Mini frangipane berry tartlet and little white chocolate and raspberry crush eclair

Warm potato pancake with caviar