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Hi All. Sorry for the hiatus... life has been busy, and well, I just haven't felt like writing! XP But trying to get back into it. I'm gonna start with one of my birthday month celebrations back in April.
I love afternoon tea, high tea, tea and pastries, whatever you want to call it. But I mostly love the ones where the mini foods are served on tiered stands. A friend of mine found this place on Instagram and so I booked it for one of my many birthday celebrations. :)
Potpourri of Silk
317 N Zang Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75208
(214) 941-9941
www.potpourriofsilk.com
Price: $40 a person plus tax
A few things to note about this place...
- Tea time is available from 10AM-3:30PM.
- 24 Hour Advance Reservations is required.
- It is BYOB - $10 corking fee per bottle.
- A 15% gratuity will be applied.
- And no children under 13.
- When we went, they had a maximum party size of 6 people, looks like they've upped it to 8 now! Yay.
We went at the beginning of April. For some reason we had a freak cold front that weekend and it was freezing! Luckily it was nice and warm inside. The place is in an old-style house, the decor inside is more traditional, white linens, doilies, etc. Very cute. They had the classic looking tea pots and tea sets too... and the tiered stands! This is what I wanted!
We got to choose our own teas... the tea pots were huge, and I drank a whole one myself. haha. I liked that. I don't like having to ask for refills all the time.
Teas:
Apricot Rose Hips on Black. The other girls loved this one.
Earl Grey Lavendar on Red Rooibos
Japanese Sencha - this one was basically all me. haha. I'm a tea purist... and quite picky. I like the simple green or black teas. The other girls shared the other 2 teas.
These tiered displays are so cute, y'all. Yay. Happy Birthday to me! :P
Tea Sandwiches:
Chicken (diced roasted chicken, shallots, fine herbs, grapes, toasted almonds, aioli, and spinach)
Beef (roasted rosemary beef, cherry tomato, confit, swiss cheese). One of my friends was still hungry so she ordered a whole beef sandwich. They also do lunch here. So you can order sandwiches, and pastries a la carte.
Cucumber (picked cucumber, cream cheese, aioli, lemon, dill, spinach)
All these sandwiches were super tasty. After our last, disappointing tea outing (surprisingly at the famous French Room), our expectations were a bit low. My favorite was the cucumber!! It looks so simple and plain but it had really good flavor!
Short Breads (served with Strawberry Jam and French Buttercream):
Brioche. (the round breads among the sandwiches) Was a tad dry on its own, but cute, and worked well with the jam and buttercream.
Classic Banana Nut Muffin. Yum, we asked for more of this.
Cranberry and Chocolate Scone. I loved the scones. I think it was my favorite sweet item.
Patisserie:
Earl Grey Chocolate Ganache Tart. A little hard to bite into, but good flavor. Let the chocolate melt in your mouth.
Cream Puffs. It was filled to the brim with the sweet buttercream. Too much, too sweet. So I scooped some cream out and it was all good.
We had a really great time. The service was wonderful... very attentive and courteous. The food surprised us all, especially the savory ones for me. So far this has been one of my favorites in Dallas. It's good and still affordable in terms of High Tea. We will be back!!
And thanks to all the lovely ladies that shared this experience with me! Love y'all! :D
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I love afternoon tea, high tea, any kind of tea + dessert type events where you can relax, eat, and hang out with your friends. :) I went to a few tea places while I was in Vietnam in August, so it was fresh on my mind. So me and another blogger friend of mine decided to take action and actually plan one. We were searching for some options of places to go when I came across someone's Instagram post on the tea at Bangkok on Beltline. Now this was already on my radar, but I had for some reason forgotten about it. They only have high tea on Saturdays from 2-4PM and it's by reservation only because they have to prep all the goodies. The date we had planned was a Saturday so this worked out perfectly. And to our luck, the PR company for Bangkok saw my comment to that post and reached out. Yay!
Bangkok on Beltline - Thai High Tea
100 S Central Expy #108
Richardson, TX 75080
(469) 930-9755
http://www.bangkokatbeltline.com/
Price: $35 per person
Most of the group were already food bloggers so now we are being hosted! Woohoo!! All of us got half off the regular price. It was great, since we were initially planning this as just a casual outing with friends. Yay. Thank you so much for hosting us, Bangkok on Beltline and Red iD Agency!!
I had seen pictures, but it was even prettier in person. We arrived on Saturday and the table was decked out with three 3 tiered tea trays FILLED with beautiful and colorful creations. I think it took us a full 30 minutes to get all of our photos taken... haha. Food bloggers, amiright? :P
We then met the owner of the restaurant and he proceeded to explain all the different items and the progression of the tea service.
We started with the Bottom Tier and work our way up. It has all the savory items. It is also paired with a Chinese Green Tea. With unlimited refills. I think I had 4 cups of this. I drink a lot of tea.. haha. Especially when I'm eating sweets too. The tea is light and unsweetened. There are sugar cubes for those who wanted sweetness.
Pad Thai Croissant. What a creative combination! East meets West. I wished the pad thai was warm, but I think that's kind of hard to do since the tea trays have to be prepared before the party arrives. Also... we took forever taking pictures. haha. The pad thai had a sweetness to it which I wouldn't have liked if I was eating it for dinner, but since this is mainly pastries and desserts, it worked well with the buttery croissant.
Chicken Satay Sandwich. This was my favorite. It had really great flavor. Almost a curry flavor in there.
Yellow Curry Puffs (filled with potato). This was also really good. The crust was flaky, not dry. The potato had good flavor. I'm assuming this is a vegetarian friendly item.
Middle Tier:
This one is paired with Chrysanthemums Tea, one of my favorite teas of all time. When I go to dim sum, I ALWAYS have to order this. It's a flower, and you can definitely get the florally fragrance when you sip it. I lost count on how many cups I had of this one. haha.
This tier had most of the Asian influenced desserts.
Black Rice Pudding (with coconut milk, palm seed jelly on top). Reminded me of all those Asian desserts I grew up eating. I enjoyed the rice pudding texture and I love coconut milk. Can't say I've had palm seed jelly before though. Yay for trying new things!
Rice Crackers with Caramel Coconut Sauce. The rice crackers were Asian style... so there's basically no sweetness to it. Just the slight nuttiness from the rice. If you are expecting a rice crispies treat, this ain't it. You can spread some of the caramel sauce over the rice crackers. The sauce itself was quite interesting. It was almost more savory than sweet... reminded me a bit like peanut sauce in Vietnamese/Thai cuisine.
Sticky Rice (with Thai Coconut Custard). I still don't fully know what all is in this. But the sticky rice was inside a layer of pastry or something. I liked this a lot, especially the coconut custard.
Top Tier:
Unsweet Thai Tea was served with this tier. I was curious to try it because I've never had Thai tea without the condensed milk or sugar... I really liked it. It almost tasted sweet on its own without adding sugar. It went really well with this tier. Actually all of the teas were paired really well with their respective tiers. I was quite impressed!
Pistachio and Raspberry Macarons. Beautifully made macarons. The colors were so pretty with the Matcha Tiramisu. The textures of both macarons were both really good. I especially loved the pistachio's flavor.
Green Tea Tiramisu (with red bean). This was the favorite of the group. Not only was it beautiful, it was delicious. The matcha cream had a rich matcha taste. I was surprised to find a layer of red bean in there, which added an interesting texture. Again, this is where the Asian influences play into a typical dessert. Definitely one of the best desserts in the display. I wished I could've taken some home... but it was in a glass so I couldn't.
We also got some of their signature Flower Sesame Cookies. These are light and crispy and really cool looking!
We were all stuffed! Some people couldn't even finish all of the different items. A few of the girls came in and scoffed at the amount of food saying they were still gonna be hungry after. They ate their words. It was a lot. I would recommend eating a very light lunch or none at all before you go to high tea in general. You'd be surprised how much little sandwiches and cakes can fill you up! Plus you're drinking a ton of tea. Well, at least I was. I had to go to the bathroom twice!! haha. I think I drank well over 10 cups total.
We had SO MUCH FUN! It was a super unique experience with the Thai inspired flavors. I've definitely never had a tea experience like this before. For the price point, this is a great value in Dallas for high tea. Most other places I know are at least $50+ a person. I highly recommend you try this. Great for a girls' day out, or a bridal shower. I'd even do this for a birthday party! :)
Thanks again for hosting us!! :)
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value:
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
We were in Hanoi for 5 nights. I highly recommend our hotel: La Belle Vie. It was by far the nicest one we had on the trip. All the hotel staff were super nice, their roof top pool was awesome, and the daily breakfast buffet spread was top notch!
Our first night in Hanoi, we wanted to get BBH (Bun Bo Hue). So the hotel recommended a place. They said it's where the locals go. Driving up in the taxi, we saw a row of people sitting outside on tiny little stools and low tables, very local! We thought we were going to have to sit out front like everyone else, but luckily they had an inside, upstairs, with AC!
Bun Bo Hue O Xuan.
Bun Bo Hue. We all got the same thing.
They had a very small menu. But this is what they're known for so of course we had to get it. I did not know that BBH does not come spicy by default. I've only had it in Dallas and everywhere serves it spicy. I actually liked that it was not spicy. They give you a jar of chili sauce to add on your own. And that was SPICY!! A little scoop is more than enough. LOVE LOVE LOVED the BBH. I think it was one of my favorite meals of the trip. The noodles were perfect cooked. There was plenty of meat and it was filling. The broth had great flavor too. A great recommendation!
Of course we stopped by a boba place by our hotel. :P
Ding Tea
Classic Matcha 32,000 VND. Pretty good!
We went looking for pho one day cuz the only pho we've technically had was the hotel breakfast. haha. But we couldn't find the place we were looking for. But we found one that only served chicken pho. Why not?
Pho Ga 42
Chicken Pho (with or without gizzards).
Although I eat most organ meats, I don't like liver. So I wasn't sure what all they put in the loaded one... I opted for just the meat. I liked it. It was light, but still flavorful. There was lots of chicken. The portion size was more than enough. I actually like the pho in Vietnam. I've heard many stories from people saying the pho in Vietnam is not great. I think because it's not like the US where we get a ton of meat. And the flavors are quite a bit lighter. Which is better for me. I don't like things that are too salty. The only thing I don't really care for is the actual noodles. It seems to be a thinner noodle and feels overcooked.
Mr. Bay Mien Tay.
My friend wanted to come here specifically for a certain dish. But once we got there, they told us it was sold out. haha. Oh well. They had a pretty big menu.
Nem Nuong Lui (grilled mint pork in stick).
Bun Bo Nam Bo 60,000 VND. This is their signature dish. It was sooooo good. My favorite dish of the trip, I think. Sooo much texture with the peanut and crispy garlic chips and bean sprouts.
Banh Khot (dragon eggs pancake) 65,000 VND. Cute little bites. It's almost like a mini Banh Xeo in texture.
Jolibee.
My friends wanted to try this place cuz it was there, and they've never been. haha. It's a fast food place... and they have fried chicken. Wasn't cheap either..
Spicy Fried Chicken. Their spicy fried chicken was damn good. Way better than the KFC we went the day before. haha. (Just to try KFC in Vietnam, you know? Wasn't worth it.)
Vanilla Soft Serve (with chocolate hard shell). Meh.
Royal Tea.
The Royal Tea here isn't as good as Ho Chi Minh City, and the selections were different. Boo..
Guava Passion Green Tea 43,000 VND. The drinks were still good tho. But why didn't I get the cool cups?!?
Peach Orange Strawberry Oolong Tea 49,000 VND
Cari Truong.
We came here because my friends wanted broken rice plates. Only to find that broken rice is not popular in the north and so they don't have it anymore. So we just got regular rice plates. haha.
Com Suon (rice barbecue) 65,000 VND
Beef with Yellow Rice
Trung Nguyen Legend.
Have you heard of weasel poop coffee? Or the more popular one globally is the luwak poop coffee. But in Vietnam, it's the weasel. My friends wanted to buy the beans but couldn't find a place that wasn't going to rip them off. So they found this cafe that served it.
Legend Coffee 150,000 VND - mimics the "weasel" coffee.
The process copies what the beans go through in a weasels digestive system or something like that. So it's not REAL poop coffee, but that makes me feel better. haha. It's super rich and hella strong. But really good with condensed milk. I can see why people would pay a premium for this.
We did 2 tours while in Hanoi. Lunch is typically included and catered to more Western palates. Not really the greatest food.. haha.
Bike and Boat Tour
Halong Bay Tour. We had this lunch on the boat. It was cool.
Cucumber Salad
Steamed Prawns
Stir Fried Squid with Celery
Fried Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Fried Chicken
Fish with Tomato Sauce
Steamed Rice
Fresh Seasonal Fruit
Afternoon Tea Time - Green Bean Dessert, Tea, Pineapple
Hanoi Food & Drink.
After the tour we found this place just across from our hotel. Their food turned out pretty good. So I had them 3 times on our trip. haha.
Beef Sauteed with Mustard Greens
Crispy Roast Pork. They only serve this from noon-8pm or until they sell out. So we missed out the first night. But we got it to go and ate it by the pool the next day. It was awesome!
Beef Sauteed with Ramen. This is the dish I had 3 days in a row. haha. Got it to go to eat at the hotel room while I watched a movie. Total relaxation!
We wanted to do another afternoon tea since we had so much fun in Ho Chi Minh City. But this time we wanted to do an actual High Tea with the tiered carriers and stuff. We decided on the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel. It was highly rated for Afternoon Tea and the hotel is really nice.
High Tea 460,000 VND (per 2 people). This was by far the most expensive meal we had on this trip. And honestly, it wasn't even that expensive... but seemed really high since we've been paying so little for food. haha.
Pastry Stand:
Homemade Scones, Financiers, Madeleines
Finger Sandwiches,
Seasonal Fresh Fruits
It was not good. The display was meh. And the food was meh. I think they copped out with the fruit tier. And the pastries were lackluster too. Bleh.
Selection of Metropole fine teas
- Darjeeling de Printemps
- Mint Green Tea, Earl Grey pointed Blanch. This was my favorite one of the bunch. The mint was very mild.
- Quatre Fruit Rouge, The des Vieux Gancon
Fresh Coconut Juice 130,000 VND. The most expensive coconut ever!
Metropole Egg Coffee 120,000 VND. We've kinda been wanting to try this egg coffee thing, but gave up looking for it cuz none of the locals we talked to have heard about it. haha. But they had it on the menu so we got it. It's quite good. Super rich. And the candle underneath kept it hot. But we left it on the fire too long and it cooked!! Turned into coffee custard. hahaha.
Bun Cha Huong Lien.
My friend wanted to come here cuz apparently Obama came here? There are pictures to prove it! (This is supposedly a Northern cuisine? I don't know much about the regional cuisines in Vietnam, but this is typically found in the north. Just like the north doesn't do much broken rice, but we found it in Ho Chi Minh City.)
Bun Cha (grilled pork, rice vermicelli, herbs with broths of sugar vinegar fish sauce) 40,000 VND. You basically take a chopstick full of noodles and dip it into the broth. You don't dump the whole thing of noodles in there. Quite interesting. And the broth is cold. I was full so I only sampled. It was ok. Wasn't my favorite.
Fried Seafood Roll (prawn, crab, pork, vegetable) 30,000 VND. Way too big. Felt like it was very greasy.
Fried Crab Roll (crab, pork, vegetable) 7,000 VND
Overall, the food in Vietnam was good. I wouldn't fly here just for it though. haha. I DID enjoy the price point enormously. :P
~~ CHOMP CHOMP~~
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