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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 ~~
It's Saturday in NYC! And I'm so excited! I'm gonna hit up Smorgasburg in Williamsburg with a bunch of my friends. :) I've been excited about Smorgasburg for months! It's a flea/food market in Brooklyn that pops up every weekend until November. I'm so glad I got to go before it's over...
Smorgasburg
East River State Park
(90 Kent Ave at N. 7 St.)
http://www.smorgasburg.com/
It couldn't have been a better day too. Sunny, warm, clear skies, a little windy but oh well! Also, a bunch of my friends met up with me... some came up from Boston, others from outside the city. YAY!! We're ready for a food fest! :)
In alphabetical order of the vendors.. (since I can't think of another way of organizing the list... hahaha)
Bamboo Bites
http://bamboobites.com/
- Bacon Sticky Rice $7~
I loved the way they presented the sticky rice. In individual segments of bamboo! I'm thinking they cooked the rice right in there. Still very cool. You use the wooden tongue depressor things to scoop the rice out. The sticky rice was slightly sweet with the saltiness of the bacon. It was yummy.
Overall:
BeeHive Oven
http://www.beehiveoven.com/
- Pumpkin Biscuits (with maple butter) each $3~
This was one of the first things I saw when we arrived. PUMPKIN!!!! YEA!! Totally gotta get it. I got 2 and they put maple butter in it. OMFG! I do have to say it's a little pricey for a biscuit but I really really really wanted to try it. haha. The biscuits had great texture with a hint of pumpkin sweetness. I think there could've been more pumpkin and DEFINITELY more maple butter! But tasty all the same. By the time I got these, most people were pretty full so I ended up eating more than 1 by myself. XP
Overall:
Cocktail Crate
http://www.cocktailcrate.com/
- Lavender Bloom. They were giving out samples, so how can I say no?! The lavender was very fragrant, and lightly sweet. Could go really well with gin! I didn't buy anything here...
Deji
https://www.facebook.com/Deji.nyc
- Spicy BellyRoll Sammich (pork belly, kimchi relish, miso, perilla, apple, DN Balthazar Baguette) Half $6~
Pork belly is what drew me in. Duh! :P It smelled so good when they were grilling the meat. I liked the pork and all the toppings but we all thought the bread was wayyy too hard.
Overall:
Dough
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dough/147336885329768
This was the main stand I wanted to try. I've been dreaming about their donuts for awhile! Between the 10 of us that were there, we ended up getting 5 different flavors throughout the meal. They make all their donuts fresh along with the glazes as well.
- Passion Fruit with Cocoa Nibs. This came highly recommended so it was my choice. OMG delicious! The donuts are huge and super fluffy. I loved the texture. The passion fruit was in my top 2 for sure. The slight tang of the passion fruit paired so well against the sweetness. You can't taste the cocoa nibs very much but it did add another element of texture.
- Cafe Au Lait. This was the overall favorite. And it's in my top 2 as well. The crumble on top is what made it fantastic. Their donuts are definitely one of the best I've had (with no gimicks, that is..) I'd have to say I might prefer this over Doughnut Plant! *Gasp@* Oh man... totally craving one right now!
- Lemon with Poppy Seed. Pretty good. I like the lemon glaze.
- Hibiscus. This was the other flavor I really wanted to try, but it was ok. The color is beautiful but the hibiscus flavor was lacking. It just tasted like a sugar glaze to me.. A tad too sweet.
- Coconut. I'm not a fan of shredded coconut so I only took a tiny bite. The texture of the donut is just like the others which is awesome. But yea... eh on the coconut flakes.
Dough has a permanent location in Brooklyn. I'd say it definitely warrants another visit next time I'm in town!
Overall:
Lumpia Shack - Filipino inspired spring rolls
http://www.lumpia-shack.com/
- Sampler (3 pieces of each flavor) $9~ (from left to right)
- Peking Duck (hand pulled roasted duck; served with hoisin, sriracha, and ginger scallion sauce)
- Vegetarian Truffled Adobo Mushroom (three types of mushrooms: cremini, shitake, enoki; lemongrass, ginger, scallions; served with truffled aioli, pickled red chili peppers and microgreens)
- Original Pork (heritage breed ground pork, carrots, kamote leaves, ramps, shallots, garlic; served with housemade sweet chili sauce and pickled cucumbers)
One of my friends was Filipino and she said they totally gourmet'd this up. I liked the presentation. It's very clean. The flavors were pretty good too. I only tried the duck and vegetarian ones. I liked the duck better (partly because of the ginger scallion sauce on top that freshened it up.
- Halo Halo - "Mix Mix" (kettle corn, ube whipped cream, leche flan, ube - purple yam, milk bean, shaved ice, coconut jelly, sugar palm fruit) small $5~
My friend also suggested we try this. I've never had it before. According to her.. it's not that traditional since they added some flair... like the popcorn. haha. But I really enjoyed it. The coldness was great for this warm day. And it starts off pretty light in flavor, but towards the end I got more sweetness. It had so many different textures. And that's totally my thing. :)
Overall:
Mimi & Coco NY
http://www.mimiandcoco-ny.com/
- Teriyaki Balls - Japanese street food
(country sausage, juicy shrimp, or organic potato; topped with Japanese Teriyaki sauce, light mayo, tempura flakes and sliced almonds) 6 pieces for $6~
The outside is fried while the inside is still gooey. The traditional ones in Japan are Takoyaki's which are filled with a piece of octopus. If you've read my Japan posts, you know I don't like takoyaki's at all. haha. But these were definitely better. The inside wasn't nearly as gooey as the ones I've had in the past. I liked the sausage filled one a lot. The others were ok.
Overall:
Palenque - Homemade Colombian Food
http://palenquehomemadecolombianfood.com/
- Arepa Choclo (sweet corn, melted cheese) $5~ Slightly sweet, crispy crust. Yummy.
- Gallo (organic chicken, arugula, chipotle mayo, cilantro salsa, oaxaca cheese; on top of a corn arepa) $8~
This was really good. Not only did it have a bunch of different flavors but also textures. I liked the freshness of it all. But I liked the toppings better than the corn arepa. I found myself just picking off the top. haha
One of my friends loves this place. She's had quite a bit of Colombian food and says this is one of her favorite ones. I can see why!
Overall:
Ramen Burger
https://www.facebook.com/RamenBurger
- Shoyu Original Burger (ramen noodle "buns", USDA prime ground beef chuck patty, arugula, special sauce) $8~
Oh the famous ramen burger. I really liked the concept when I heard about it. I even tried to do a variation of it at home. I made a pasta burger (with spaghetti buns, Italian sausage and sauteed mushrooms/peppers/onions in marinara). It was delicious btw... We saw the long line as soon as we arrived. I was certain we weren't there early enough to get one, but a couple of friends decided to stand in line. After about an hour.. they returned with one. You are only allowed 1 per person and my other friend didn't want one. The packaging was totally cool. And it was actually the only good thing about it. :( Sad face. It was a huge disappointment. First of all, there wasn't enough of a crisp on the buns. So it was basically just cooked noodles on a beef patty. Second, the buns were completely flavorless. The meat was also quite bland. The only flavor was from the "special sauce" which was like a teriyaki sauce. Third, it was kinda messy to eat. The sauce dripped everywhere, despite the cool packaging. Booooo. Between the big group of us, we didn't even finish one. It wasn't worth finishing either since we just had this delicious spread. I would take my pasta burger over this any day!
Overall: (the extra .5 is for the packaging. haha)
Red Hook Lobster Pound
http://www.redhooklobsterpound.com/
- Lobster Roll - Maine Style (fresh picked Maine lobster meat, served cold with celery, spices and a touch of homemade mayo; served on a top split bun) $16~
Having Luke's Lobster the day before, I got to compare the two. They seemed to be about the same size but I do like that Red Hook had some fresh greens and chopped scallions to contrast the fattiness of the lobster. Although that also means that Luke's had more lobster in their roll than Red's. hehe. Honestly, I'm not the best person to judge lobster rolls. Both had fresh, plump lobster meat and the rolls are buttery. So I'd say they're pretty close. I feel like Luke's had a tad more flavor. But overall pretty close.
Overall:
Here are some misc. food pics (I didn't get to try...)
S'more Bakery
Krumville Bake Shop - Artisanal Gluten Free Baked Goods
Smorgasburg was everything I wanted it to be (minus the ramen burger being bleh). haha. And I wish I had more stomach space to eat MORE!!! Don't get me wrong, I ate a lot... people were impressed. hahaha. But I soon went into a sugar coma after from all the awesome donuts. :P
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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