Compared with five-star hotels such as Peninsula and Waldorf Astoria, the location of Cultural Oriental is slightly remote, and its afternoon tea is not well-known in Shanghai. Most of the people who come here are guests who stay at the hotel or who drive from the neighborhood. The lobby is cosy and elegant, with outdoor dining in the lush tropical garden, and the occasional hazy boat chirping of the Huangpu River, which is a good choice for business negotiations or a leisurely afternoon.
In a five-star hotel, a good afternoon tea should be backed by a good dessert shop. In addition to the riverside lobby bar in Shanghai, almost every Mandarin Oriental in the world has its own Mandarin cake shop, among which the Mandarin Cake Shop in Hong Kong is the best in the industry, and Shanghai is also doing well.
The afternoon tea snacks at the Riverside Lobby Bar are all made by the Mandarin Cake Shop, and most of the varieties are different from those displayed in the Cake Shop, compared to the popular Waldorf Astoria and Park Hyatt Afternoon Tea, the Mandarin Oriental has a more refined shape and a surprising taste. The four small sandwiches in the traditional English afternoon tea set show a little bit of it, in addition to the classic cucumber flavour, there are also three flavours of marinated honey salmon, smoked chicken sweet corn and egg dill. The ingenious combination of ingredients is classic and durable, and Mandarin Oriental is more understated than the Langham, which prefers high-end ingredients. The sandwich is about a finger long and the size is standard, and it can be easily picked up by the thumb and forefinger, making it an elegant eat. English afternoon tea is generally eaten without the help of knives and forks, and in order to facilitate the consumption of guests, other desserts in Mandarin Oriental are also very finely made, only one-third the size of ordinary desserts. The production is not only exquisite and beautiful, but also rich in categories, solidly full of plates, and the two-person set menu is enough for four beauties with a small appetite. Scones are soft and dry and fragrant, and they do not fall off, and the cream and jam that accompany them add a rich taste layer of sweetness, aroma and sourness to scones, which is very popular.
In addition to the traditional set menu, Wen Hua Hua also launched a themed afternoon tea set, which is updated about once a month. Most of the desserts in the set are no different from the traditional ones, but the famous madeleine and orange curd tarts from Mandarin Oriental Cake Shop in Guangzhou are often featured in this set and are worth experiencing. It's a pity that the themed set menu generally doesn't have scones that are most important to English afternoon tea lovers, and all snacks can't be à la carte, so choosing a set meal is quite confusing.
Mandarin Oriental doesn't have many English teas, only the most classic Darjeeling and Earl Grey teas. Chinese teas and herbal teas are abundant, and lemongrass ginger tea and bayberry soda are the featured varieties, so you might as well give it a try. The whole set of white bone china tea set is more ornamental, and the flowers and branches depicted on the utensils are elegant, echoing the scene of the sparse shadow clear pool outside the hall, which is very interesting.
The traditional and themed packages on the menu are for two people by default, there is no special list for single serving, and it is best to call the waiter in advance to arrange if needed. Both packages are 488 yuan, plus 15% service charge, which is also more cost-effective than other five-star hotels, and group purchase packages are launched from time to time, which is more favorable. However, Mandarin Oriental's production is not particularly stable.
Mandarin Oriental's service is of high quality and makes guests feel at home, and the Riverside Lobby Lounge is no exception. However, at the beginning of 2018, it seems that there were a few new people, inexperienced, and the reception was a little hectic.
