Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea is an English custom dating back to 1660. It is said that King Charles II and his wife, the Portuguese Infanta Catherine de Braganza, were the first to commence this elegant afternoon tea. During the 1880s upper-class and society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea, which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o’clock.

A little over a decade ago, afternoon teas, known as High Teas, were introduced at most of our hotels.  There was no such elegance when it first started over here, since the food was served buffet style with several tasteless items dumped into chafing dishes and sauce boats alongside. I remember seeing these vast tea buffets, laden with puff pastry with hardly any filling and other finger foods that were unappealing and revolting in taste. The mere sight of these wheat flour-based food would have caused gastritis without even taking a bite. Nevertheless our ladies and gents used to rush to these high tea buffets.  There, you could see them loading their plates like the leaning tower of Pisa, gobbling all of it down and heading back to the buffet table for seconds and to fill another plate with the desserts and cakes before the buffet table was shut down.   The High Teas brought out the worst of table manners in our people.  Then came the time when birthdays were celebrated at High Teas with the guests singing happy birthday at the top of their voices. Frankly, these were voluble and ghastly afternoons.  

Soon after, the boutique hotels began offering more elegant High Teas and one or two five-star hotels began to serve their High Tea on elegant three to four tiered stands, whilst some others got innovative and served the food in all types of receptacles, which were more acceptable to having an elegant tea.

Last week, I did go for an elegant afternoon tea at the Paradise Road Gallery Café, an occasion recently introduced. A limited number of savouries and sweets and a beverage of your choice can be ordered and all of it is served to the table, to enjoy an afternoon in the Café’s great ambience. I enjoyed my time, with short eats, sweets and a well brewed cup of  coffee. 
The Gallery Cafe never fails to impress.