Pierre Hermé x Ritz Carlton - Infiniment Citron Afternoon Tea

Price: $$$

Cravingness: ★★★★☆

Pierre Hermé has been my favourite macaron producer on the planet. I was very excited over the collaboration between Pierre Hermé Paris and Cafe 103 of Ritz Carlton Hong Kong which they designed a summery afternoon tea called 'Fetish Infiniment Citron Afternoon tea'. The special tea set features desserts made with Citrons from Sicilian, Italy. Are you ready for a refreshing and tarty journey, my fellow Pierre Hermé's fans?

In honour of the event, Pierre Hermé Paris brought PH Japan pastry chef Regis Demanet over to Hong Kong to create a series of citron featured sweet pastries, while the savoury is designed by local chef Richard Long, pastry chef of Ritz Carlton Hong Kong.

As expected, the Fetish Infiniment Citron Afternoon Tea was held on the signature afternoon tea box of Cafe 103. The savoury treats were placed on a separate plate as the box was too small to hold everything.

As scones were absent on the afternoon tea (disappointed!), we started with the savouries first. The Herbed Smoked Salmon Dark Rye Bread Sandwich was a tad rough in texture with smoke salmon in pathetic portion. The lemon curd was delicious and was a great pair to bring down the greasiness of the salmon.

The Seafood Mousse Citron Bread Swiss Roll was rather fishy due to the presence of crab roe. The crab paste was tasty though, creamy with a strong citron note.

The Confit Duck Meat and Foie Gras Tart was interesting as they paired two strong flavoured items together, i.e. the duck meat and the foie gras. The foie gras mousse was silky but not particularly flavourful. The best part of this pastry probably lies on the buttery tart itself.

The Citron Egg Salad Brown Bread Sandwich was the only item I like on the savoury menu. I like how they mixed citron zest into the egg mayonnaise, which brought a refreshing element to the creamy and sweet based egg mayonnaise. Delish!

Move on to the sweet desserts, the first item that caught my interest was actually the ordinary looking Cake Infiniment Citron Pound Cake. This lemony sponge cake was heavenly delicious! It was moist, soft and dense with ample lemon and butter flavour.

The Choux Infiniment Citron was one of the best puff I have ever had. The filling, a mix of lemon cream and lemon curd. was fantastic. The chantilly was utterly smooth. The choux pastry on the other hand was also exceptional, with crumbly caramelised lemony coating and a soft airy inner.

The Cheese Cake Infiniment Citron was magnificent and packed with flavours! Composed in six layers, started with a crisp Pate Savlee, topped with a soft sponge cake, then a layer of light lemon cream, followed by a dense cheese layer with texture like New York cheese cake, finished with a glaze of tarty lemon jam and lemon zest on top. We found this irresistible.

The Pierre Hermé signature Macaron Infiniment Citron was very disappointing. The shell had ample almond flavour but was crackly and has a hollow inner. The said lemon buttercream had literally no taste. Definitely not the usual Pierre Hermé standard.

We left the Emotion Infiniment Citron to the very end of the meal and sadly it was melted. The lemon cream mixture tasted like a melted lemon ice-cream... Perhaps you should have this first.

In between the meal, the server also sent us a glass of Sorbet Infiniment Citron. The sorbet was one of the best citron sorbet I have ever had. Very refreshing and tarty.

The whole Pierre Hermé 'Infiniment Citron Afternoon Tea' is truly very citrusy, which was fantastic as I usually prefer tarty than sweet for dessert. The special Pierre Hermé 'Fetish Infiniment Citron Afternoon Tea' is available everyday at Cafe 103 of Ritz Carlton Hong Kong until 31st August. The afternoon tea is priced at HKD338 for 1 or HKD558 for two. The special Pierre Hermé afternoon tea also features a supreme tea called the Cérémonie, which is a Sencha green tea with almond, cardamom and jasmine. I am not too fond of almond so I did not order it, but if you do, do let me know if you like it!

Rating
Food - ★★★★☆
Service - ★★★★★
Ambience - ★★★★☆
Overall - ★★★★☆


Cafe 103

Address (E) 103/F, The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Address (C) 香港尖沙咀柯士甸道西1號環球貿易廣場(ICC)香港麗思卡爾頓酒店103樓
☏ 2263 2270
Opening Hours: Mon - Sun: 12nn - 10.30pm
Reservation Available? Yes
Walk In Possible? Yes
Bill in Total (Dinner inc Beverages) - HKD614
Bill Per Person (Dinner inc. Beverages) - HKD307
Website: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/HongKong

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