Last Updated on October 24, 2022

Kopi Tiam Afternoon Tea, Orchard Lounge, Pan Pacific

The diminutive feisty pastry chef Cherish Finden, perhaps best known for her role as a judge on the TV professional baking show Crème de la Crème, first came to my attention when she was in charge of pastries at the Langham. Her signature pastries are always amazing. Tiny morsels of perfection, so detailed you wonder how they are made – as if the kitchen is full of tiny pastry fairies. They taste wonderful too – always perfectly balanced with crisp pastry and delicate fillings. When the Pan Pacific hotel first opened in London, Cherish took up a new role there as Executive Pastry Chef with a focus on producing more of her beautiful pastries and integrating the flavours and colours of her childhood growing up in Singapore.

The Kopi Tiam afternoon tea is heavily influenced by Asian flavours. Even the name, which translates to ‘coffee shop’ comes from Singapore – a place where guests can enjoy teas, coffees and light bites. A fusion of that concept with the elegant quintessential British afternoon tea sounds perfect to me – I was thrilled to be able to try Kopi Tiam at the Orchard Lounge. My treat came courtesy of Red Letter Days – it’s a great place to find some really special treats and if you are lucky enough to have a voucher, you’ll find it’s really easy to redeem it. Your only challenge will be deciding what to pick!

The venue itself, with plush velvet seating, wooden panelling and shelves lined with delicate orchids, is welcoming although we did need extra cushions on the comfy but rather low sofa. Flickering tealights under dainty silver covers actually serve the purpose of keeping teapots warm. We were genuinely surprised at how well they worked. On that note, the orchard lounge has an extensive fine tea list and my guest and I chose delicious but different teas to accompany the food. Malawi white peony from the Satemwa Estate in Shire Highlands was a fragrant, whole-leaf white tea with fruity notes and the aroma of hay. My Nepalese Himalayan Spring was a refreshing green tea which worked exceptionally well with the Asian savouries.

We also enjoyed a glass of 2018 Gusbourne Rosé – the hotel has a selection of English sparkling wines and Champagne by the glass and even offers the non-alcoholic French Bloom bubbly in both white and rosé. And we loved the little amuse bouche served in an eggshell. It wasn’t an egg, though my companion was seriously concerned about the prospect of eating one ‘raw’ so convincing was the presentation

In addition to Kopi Tiam, there’s a traditional English afternoon tea with sandwiches and scones. But both of us opted for the Asian version which starts with a platter of tiny dim sum – prawn, seafood and chicken (vegetarian options also available).

Just as dainty as Cherish’s pastries, I personally loved the fact that these miniature mouthfuls were really, really easy to pick up with chopsticks! They tasted delicious too.

My favourite of the savouries though was the Gai Gok – a crispy rice dumpling with chicken, pork and mushroom and I loved the cloud-like mushroom bao with its rich umami filling.

Of course, we shouldn’t have had seconds. But we did. And, one of the best things about Cherish’s teas is that everything is so dainty you really feel as if indulging is a necessity rather than a sin.

The sweet pastries come in two parts.

There are individual plates with two very special pastries that bridge between sweet and savoury. Taste of Umami is the first – a tiny, seaweed sesame shortbread biscuit filled with soya sauce caramel and decorated with a chocolate disk picturing two kissing fish. All topped with a tiny bit of gold leaf.

Second, a piquant lime flower filled with dark chocolate ganache and topped with gold leaf.

Then, the main event – a selection of pastries, each one immaculate and picture-perfect. Could I pick a favourite? No, although I marvelled at the butterflies hovering over ‘ Lychee’ (lychee chaux, crémaux, rose bandung sphere) and Chocolate’ (67% guanacoa, praline, chocolate brownies and crunchy pearl). Cheongsam with matcha, yuzu and black sesame was delicate and refreshing. Finally, ‘Coconut’ just made me smile – A chocolate coconut on shortbread filled with coconut mousse and topped with mango, with a tiny pink and white chocolate straw. These really are memories of childhood – for me (I grew up in Malaysia) too.