I recently tried afternoon tea at Arteastiq @ Mandarin Gallery, Singapore, and was pleasantly surprised by some of their offerings. Now I should admit that when I first browsed through the menu, I felt that their prices were on the high side and was half-regretting coming to check them out. But after I had tried their food, and especially after I was served the drinks, I was impressed enough that I think their higher-than-average prices were warranted.
Most of the other foods we had were relatively normal, so I'll just feature their tea floats (which they called "dessert tea"). It's basically iced tea topped with tea-flavoured ice cream. Among my party, we tried two of their tea floats - pear tea ice cream with oolong tea (named "The Last Eunuch") and lychee tea ice cream with oolong tea ("Lady Yang").
As you can see in the image above of The Last Eunuch, each dessert tea came on a tray with a smaller cup of the pure tea without the ice cream, and three pieces of biscotti, with the flavour varying depending either on what tea you order, or on the whims of the barristas.
The Last Eunuch - Pear Tea Float
I was most impressed by the ice cream, which tasted just like iced pear tea... in the same vein as those commercial fruit teas sold alongside the typical iced lemon teas. For instance, aside from lemon, they also have iced blueberry tea, iced peach tea and so on. I thought that this taste was most reminiscent of iced apple tea and perhaps pear cider, with a more soothing and calming fragrance.
And even though it looks somewhat opaque, it didn't come across as creamy at all...perhaps vaguely. But mostly, it just tasted like iced pear tea slush.
Naturally, the pear tea's fragrance matched the mellow oolong tea's fragrance really well! Although in the tea float itself, the sweetness of the ice cream (which I would say is average) slightly overpowers the oolong tea's taste, although not in a bad way.
And I suppose that is why Arteastiq also provided a cup of the plain iced tea without the ice cream - oolong tea with a hint of pear juice. At least, that's what I think it was. There was a syruped pear in the tea float, and I think they may have squeezed a bit of its juice, or perhaps fresh pear juice, into the plain oolong tea. But it was probably less than a tea spoon - there was hardly any sweetness and the pear scent was a vague hint... which was a perfect complement to the delicate oolong flavour in my opinion.
Lady Yang - Lychee Tea Float
While the pear tea ice cream was yellowish, the lychee tea ice cream was slightly tanner and looked brownish. It also thus tainted the oolong tea with a redder hue.
I was less impressed with the ice cream, however, because it just tasted like lychee ice cream to me... there wasn't that fruit tea combination. (Perhaps a slight mitigating factor could be that my tastebuds may have been slightly desensitised to the tea flavours as I tried this second... still, I thought I could appreciate the oolong flavour even after this, so I don't think so...)
I also didn't really see how the sweetness and vague tartness of the lychee taste complemented the mellow oolong flavour... they seemed to contrast more than complement. But even in the contrast, I didn't really sense any synergy between the flavours, and the tea flavour seemed to just be overpowered by the lychee flavour.
Lady Yang also came with a cup of tea without the ice cream by the side... but they kind of bungled up the order a little because they served iced chai tea instead of oolong tea. I didn't mind at all, because that was a nice variation to the spread that our party had ordered... it's just that I can't confirm if there was a hint of lychee added to the oolong tea, and how that fared without the ice cream to interfere.
I also wanted to add that we came a couple of days after Mothers' Day, and they had very pretty leftover Mothers' Day-icing cookies, which they distributed to all guests. I thought that it was a very shrewd but also nice gesture... even though it was slightly belated, it was still within the season, and customers certainly don't mind a freebie, especially one so prettily decorated. (You can get a glimpse of it in the background of the image of Lady Yang).
Overall, I had a wonderful experience at Arteastiq... I would hope to visit again when I find another occasion to.
Most of the other foods we had were relatively normal, so I'll just feature their tea floats (which they called "dessert tea"). It's basically iced tea topped with tea-flavoured ice cream. Among my party, we tried two of their tea floats - pear tea ice cream with oolong tea (named "The Last Eunuch") and lychee tea ice cream with oolong tea ("Lady Yang").
The Last Eunuch - Pear Tea Float
I was most impressed by the ice cream, which tasted just like iced pear tea... in the same vein as those commercial fruit teas sold alongside the typical iced lemon teas. For instance, aside from lemon, they also have iced blueberry tea, iced peach tea and so on. I thought that this taste was most reminiscent of iced apple tea and perhaps pear cider, with a more soothing and calming fragrance.
And even though it looks somewhat opaque, it didn't come across as creamy at all...perhaps vaguely. But mostly, it just tasted like iced pear tea slush.
Naturally, the pear tea's fragrance matched the mellow oolong tea's fragrance really well! Although in the tea float itself, the sweetness of the ice cream (which I would say is average) slightly overpowers the oolong tea's taste, although not in a bad way.
And I suppose that is why Arteastiq also provided a cup of the plain iced tea without the ice cream - oolong tea with a hint of pear juice. At least, that's what I think it was. There was a syruped pear in the tea float, and I think they may have squeezed a bit of its juice, or perhaps fresh pear juice, into the plain oolong tea. But it was probably less than a tea spoon - there was hardly any sweetness and the pear scent was a vague hint... which was a perfect complement to the delicate oolong flavour in my opinion.
Lady Yang - Lychee Tea Float
I was less impressed with the ice cream, however, because it just tasted like lychee ice cream to me... there wasn't that fruit tea combination. (Perhaps a slight mitigating factor could be that my tastebuds may have been slightly desensitised to the tea flavours as I tried this second... still, I thought I could appreciate the oolong flavour even after this, so I don't think so...)
I also didn't really see how the sweetness and vague tartness of the lychee taste complemented the mellow oolong flavour... they seemed to contrast more than complement. But even in the contrast, I didn't really sense any synergy between the flavours, and the tea flavour seemed to just be overpowered by the lychee flavour.
Lady Yang also came with a cup of tea without the ice cream by the side... but they kind of bungled up the order a little because they served iced chai tea instead of oolong tea. I didn't mind at all, because that was a nice variation to the spread that our party had ordered... it's just that I can't confirm if there was a hint of lychee added to the oolong tea, and how that fared without the ice cream to interfere.
~~~
Finally, a couple of comments on Arteastiq in general. Firstly, I loved the glasses, china, trays, and overall theme of all the trimmings they chose... the white lacy look of the paper coasters, the warmness of the dark rosy wooden trays, the intricate golden handles and the double-glass insulated tea cups. It made for an experience that not only filled the stomach, but also the eyes and heart. I also wanted to add that we came a couple of days after Mothers' Day, and they had very pretty leftover Mothers' Day-icing cookies, which they distributed to all guests. I thought that it was a very shrewd but also nice gesture... even though it was slightly belated, it was still within the season, and customers certainly don't mind a freebie, especially one so prettily decorated. (You can get a glimpse of it in the background of the image of Lady Yang).
Overall, I had a wonderful experience at Arteastiq... I would hope to visit again when I find another occasion to.
Found this drink interesting? Check out more unusual drinks here! And more unusual ice creams here!
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