Afternoon Tea at Al Fayrooz Lounge

With so many luxurious hotels and venue, it is really hard to pick one to go for Afternoon Tea. The Al Fayrooz Lounge was a recommendation and we decided to enjoy our tea here.

The Al Fayrooz Lounge is in located one of the Madinet Jumeirah Hotels, Al Qasr. This means “The Palace” and the hotel sure does live up to the name. Every corner has lovely detail to it. I fell in love with the beautiful chandeliers and the floor tiles.

If you have a reservation at either of the Madinet Jumeirah Hotels you can get a complimentary water taxi from Souk Madinet. This on its own is a nice experience and was a great way to start the afternoon.

Al Fayrooz Lounge is on the top floor of the hotel. With and Arabesque charm and views of the Gulf, palm trees, pretty skies & the Burj Al Arab this was the perfect place to enjoy our Afternoon Tea. When we got there (around 3pm), there was a pianist and the music created a welcoming ambiance.

 

Once we got to the Lounge we were greeted by the manager who took us to our table which was located outside. Our drinks order was taken and the server brought some complimentary nuts to share while we looked at the menu. I think we went through 2 bowls of the wasabi ones because they were so moreish and we were starving.

 

Prices start at 233 AED with the Hendricks Gin Afternoon Tea costing 334 AED. It may sound expensive but for the setting it is worth it.

Between four of us we shared 2 Afternoon Teas and ordered additional savoury snacks and drinks. We do this on a regular basis ( not order an Afternoon Tea per person but share one and have additional sandwiches & drinks).

The standard Afternoon Tea package includes the following:

• Selection of sandwiches
• Hot Savoury Items
• Homemade Scones with clotted cream, lemon curd, rose preserve & strawberry jam
• Chocolate Fondue served with fruit and mini cakes
• Selection of sweet treats
• Choice of loose leaf teas and coffees

We started with a well presented Tiered Silver Tray of pretty looking savoury treats. We enjoyable everything but the really cheesy sandwiches.

After that was cleared a lovely display with scones and condiments was delivered to our table. The warm scones included plain, raisin and cranberry ones. My favourite was the rose preserve. It has subtle rose notes and was so fragrant with the plain warm scones.

We had our tea with the scones. I went for the loose leaf Japanese Sencha. Beautiful and delicate. I have recently discovered Green Sencha and love it – it is much more delicate in flavour compared to normal green tea.

The next course was a selection of fruit and mini cakes with some dipping chocolate. This was a nice twist to the Traditional Afternoon Tea. Something to mix up sugar overload I think.

We were pretty full now and thought that was it but then came out gold covered chocolate lollipops, tiramisu, macarons, mini Arabian sweets and brownies. We sampled a bit of all of them but could not finish them. They were all delicious.

To end the afternoon tea we had some Morrocan Night which was poured in style and served in little moroccon cups. The Al Fayrooz blend was with organic and fair trade gunpowder green tea and whole peppermint leaves.

The Afternoon Tea was definitely value for money. The attention to detail on the presentation was great.

The service was a bit slow and we were there until gone 630pm. My cousin was vegetarian and I had informed them beforehand however this was missed which resulted in long delays in bringing out the Vegetarian Afternoon Tea. Mirium, the Manager, was apologetic especially after looking at the email correspondences and gave us one of the Afternoon Tea’s complimentary along with a couple of drinks.

Ensure you make a reservation beforehand especially if you want the outdoor seating. When reserving via email try and get a confirmation of your dietary requirements too.

I would recommend visiting Al Fayrooz Lounge even if its just for a drink and a cake. The views were amazing and the setting is beautiful.

Neha

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