fedification.com

Remnants of a Scone and a Cup of Assam Tea

Bangkok, Thailand - Although Thailand was never colonized, it carries on some of the more elegant traditions of colonial past. Afternoon tea at The Oriental Bangkok, the first hotel in Thailand, has long been a tradition for the 130-year-old luxury hotel.  It is served from 12:00-6:00 p.m. in the light and graceful Authors’ Lounge, named after the string of literary luminaries such as Joseph Conrad and Graham Greene who have graced its rooms, where you can sit in high-backed white rattan chairs and sip Mariage Freres tea from dainty white cups.

The menu boasts an elegant selection of pastries, ice creams and drinks that can be ordered a la carte and pre-selected tea sets of scones, finger sandwiches and sweet and savory pastries served on a three-tiered tower along with your choice of tea.  From among the traditional, oriental and spa tea sets, my friend and I went with the standard English set.  It started off with a fabulous gin-and-tonic sorbet, followed by our tea pots set over matching ceramic vessels that held warming candles, and then a tower of delicate bites, including several kinds of tea sandwiches, a meat pie, warm scones and tea breads, cakes and pastries, creme brulee, plus clotted cream and three kinds of jam.  My favorite was the savory chicken meat pie with its flaky, buttery crust.  Some of the other offerings were less remarkable, but we sat in the lounge sipping tea until everyone else had left and dusk had set in.

If you’re not ready to leave the Oriental’s gentle facilities by 6:00 p.m., as we were, you can head over to one of its restaurants, some of which have excellent views of the Chao Phraya river, along which the Oriental is situated, or bars.  We settled into the Bamboo Bar, renowned for its live jazz shows, for a few drinks.  Although the cocktails weren’t perfectly constructed, the scenery was nice enough and the company even better.  Did I mention that John Cusack walked behind my chair while my nose was buried in a Manhattan?

Traditional Tea Set (Pound Cake and Fruit Cake on Top Tier; Creme Brulee, Cookies, Layered Cakes, and Panna Cotta on the Middle Tier; Chicken Hand Pie and Cucumber, Smoked Salmon and Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches on the Bottom Tier; Clotted Cream and Jams in Front)

Authors’ Lounge at The Oriental