Afternoon Tea at the Four Seasons

Afternoon Tea at the Four Season

        

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Afternoon Tea at the Four Seasons can be enjoyed by anyone. During my visit I saw families with children there as well.

1. The portions here are very well sized 

2. Reservations are a must!

The Four Seasons Marunouchi can be found right across from the Tokyo Station.  Follow the signs for the Yaesu South Exit and make a right once exiting. It will be on the same side of the road as the station exit. 

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1-11-1 Pacific Century Place, Marunouchi
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-6277

Tel. +81 (3) 5222-7222

The best time to go for afternoon tea at the Four Seasons Tokyo is on the weekend. Reason being...they serve their "premium course" only on weekends which is just a couple hundred yen more than the regular weekday course. The premium course includes a seasonal smoothie, fois gras added to the wagyu burger, and truffle popcorn. 

Another important thing to note is that the start time is a bit later than usual beginning at 2:30pm. I would highly recommend booking a reservations for 2:30pm, as you can easily used the entire period from 2:30pm-5:00pm to enjoy everything. 

The afternoon tea at the four seasons is unique in that its primary focus isn't so much about the atmosphere and the view, but more about the variety and taste of the teas and food items that are available. More attention is definitely spent on the food portion of the experience. The most exciting thing for me were the churros...what other afternoon tea offers mini churros?

Afternoon Tea at the Four Seasons on a weekend will set you back 5000 yen per person. You can save 500 yen by going on the weekday, but some of the items you see below will not be served. 

Menu

Don't make the mistake I did and get off at this exit. When I initially read the information on the site I looked at the first bullet point I saw with the different train stations in the area and thought Kyobashi was the closest. It is not! Tokyo Station is the closest exit. However, the funny coincidence here is that we were running 10 minutes late to our reservations which was for 3pm on Saturday May 24th, 2014. 

After using google maps, construction workers, and police man to direct us towards the hotel...we finally found a sign pointing us in the right direction. 

We made it to the entrance approximately 3:15pm. 

The attendant ushered us into the elevator and pressed the button for us to floor 7. 

Unfortunately the first thing we noticed after stepping off the elevator was how dirty the carpet was leading up to the room that afternoon tea was held in.

The presentation of the table was quite nice!  

We were served our season smoothie within minutes of being seated which happened to be strawberry. I was very surprised by the portion and it did taste wonderful. My only complaint is that it wasn't chilled, and rather a little on the warmer side.

My first pot of tea was from the flavored selection: Queen of Cherry. Usually I don't go for cherry flavored anything, but I think the name of it, is what got me. It was good, but I don't recall it being "amazing."

Not longer after being served our first pot of tea, did our entire tray of goodies come out. Yes, it was literally a tray with a holder coming out of it. It was so much to take in all at once.

First up as always, were the scones. The looked gigantic compared to the scones I have tried at other afternoon teas. Besides the clotted cream...

Other toppings included honey and a strawberry jam that was literally tasted like a jar of candy. It was the best strawberry jam I have ever tasted.

 I decided to start with the chocolate chip scone, which was still warm inside. It tasted great, definitely something a bit different from the other usual fruit scone flavors

In between tasting the scones, I did have the mini burger, you can see the residue over to the left. Anyway, the plain looking scone was fantastic, although it wasn't plain. Can you see the bits of vanilla bean? It was a vanilla scone. I was quite surprised.

 In between devouring those delectable scones, I decided to attack my burger because I didn't want it to get any cooler. My burger was bit different because I am not a huge fan of fois gras. When making my reservations I told them I would prefer a different topping and I got a slice of prosciutto and sauteed eggplant in place of the fois gras.

It was quite delicious, although I could of done better with a well done burger. The sight of pink meat makes me a little uneasy. However, it was packed with flavor for such a tiny little thing. At this point it would have been nice if they offered to change out my plate, but no luck there. I didn't bother to ask because I was so focused on everything else.

For my second pot of tea I decided to try one of the organic herbal infusions so I went with the hibiscus blend. This infusion combined hibiscus,  fennel, rose hip, and lemongrass.

Other than its amazing aroma and taste, the beautiful pink color was an added bonus!

It probably would have tasted much better warmer, but the prawn and leek cream quiche was a tasty bite!

 Last on the "hot" plate was the Pao de Queijo or the Brazilian Cheese Bun. Although it was tiny and probably would have tasted better on a warmer note...this tiny little cheese bun was at best "okay."

Pictured here is the Tarry Lapsang Souchong Tea, which I might add was probably the best choice since I was moving into the savory items at this point. The first word that came to mind when I took a sip of these tea was smoked bacon. It had a rather unusual taste. Certainly nothing I have ever experience, but I have to say I did enjoy it. It had a very smoky wood flavor.

 Moving on to the "chilled" plate....

Oh! But did I mention the Truffle Popcorn? The flavor is amazing...however it might have tasted a tad bit better if it was brought out just after it was popped. Perhaps the heaviness of the truffle oil was weighing it down a bit.

I scooped us this spoon with the Green Pea Mousse with Crispy Prosciutto. It was a fun twist on green peas, which I was really excited to try once I saw it. The taste reminded me of split pea soup because it was surprisingly packed with lots of flavored.

I dabbled in the vegetable chips between finishing up the final savory plate and they were 

awesome! 

The presentation was very nice, with the breadcrumbs at the bottom of the glass. You can tell they placed each of the chips in the glass making sure they dug into the breadcrumbs. 

checkerboard sugar cubes? love.love.love!

 The Chicken, Bean Sprout and "Shiso" Rice Roll with Spicy Miso Sauce was up next. I really wished this were an entire roll and not just a slice...it was that good. So much flavor going on and whatever the dark sauce is in the middle really made it something special!

The final savory/sweet item on the chilled plate was the Fruit Tomato and Mozzarella di Bufala Pinchos. I thought this was the typical mozzarella and tomato appetizer, so I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary. I was wrong. I first bit off the tomato, which was absolutely delicious oozing with sweet juices. I mean the tomato tasted like a fruit? Sort of blew my mind, and then the mozzarella I ate separately, and I'm glad I did or I may have missed out on it's freshness and outstanding texture. There is not doubt that this mozarella was made from scratch in house. It was hands down the best mozzarella I've ever had. 

The first dessert I tried on the sweet plate was the English Tea and Cranberry Cake. I remember it having a distinct flavor, but it was a little on the dry side. No worries there, my next beverage order was...

Valrohna Caraibe 66% Chocolate. True to its percentage, this hot chocolate was not your typical nesquik or yahoo...The chocolate content was real, hence the giant marshmallow that accompanies it to add a bit more sweetness to the bitter cocoa flavor. I probably should have tore apart my marshmallow before putting it in the hot cocoa because it didn't dissolve at all as I was drinking it. 

The Kumquat Compote Tart was a nice addition to the sweet selection. It had slight chewiness to it with different textures. It was pretty yummy, and not too sweet.

Whats more fancy than gold sprinkles on top of a petit four? This Green Tea and White Chocolate Layer Cake was a nice combination! It was very moist and mild in flavor! 

The Royal Milk Tea was the last beverage to be served at the last call. I couldn't thank myself enough as it surely made my top 2 drink selections for the afternoon. With just one cube of brown sugar this tea was rich and packed an amazing flavor and creaminess. Can you see the cream on the edge of the pot? It was a great...highly recommended. 

The item I was most excited for to be quite honest were the Cinnamon Churros with Strawberry Dip. However, I have to say I was quite disappointed as the churros were cold and hard. Major let down, but I didn't let that discourage me as I moved on to my final dessert...

The Yogurt Panna Cotta with Seasonal Fruit Sauce. I couldn't really catch what the seasonal fruit was on the top but this was quite delicious, although I would have to add that it probably should have been chilled because it was a little on the warm side. 

 If your wondering what the atmosphere was like, those pictures were taken at the end since I was pressed for time arriving nearly 40 minutes after the start of tea.

 The afternoon tea room was located on the 7th floor of the hotel, so your view is pretty much in level with other buildings.

 There are a few types of seating arrangements here. Sofa style, bar style...

or table style!

 The bathroom was pretty ordinary but very modern.

Eat to Live - Live to Love - Love to Laugh.  - Kesia

PROS: The number one thing I liked the most about this afternoon teas was the variety. In total there were 15 very different food items that came with the afternoon tea set. Seven items were sweet while eight items were savory. Portions were rather large for the afternoon tea menu, which is something I didn't get from the other two afternoon teas I tried. I mean did you see the size of those scones!? I left feeling extremely full which probably could be attributed to the generous servings of tea and other beverages I consumed. Which brings me to my next point...the beverage selection. Unlike most afternoon teas, the Four Seasons served seven types of teas plus a hot chocolate and coffee. 30 different items to try total, as advertised.  I tried five different beverages, finishing nearly 2.5 full pots of tea plus the other beverages I tried. Another nice attribute was the ability for you to pour your own tea at your own pace without waiting for someone to do it for you. An added bonus of course was having the pleasure of drinking tea from the actual leaf being steeped rather than a tea bag. The staff were very attentive. They really monitored our tea pots and as soon as we were on our third cup, were quick to have us select another pot of tea to bring for us. I really appreciated the attention they paid to my request for "no fois gras on my burger." I called this request in when making my reservation, and from the time I stepped into the restaurant the host made sure to note that I selected not to have it on my burger. Again when I sat down, the waitress mentioned it again to double check. And finally when the platter was brought out, that person mentioned it one more time as he explained what everything was, which is another plus! It's always helpful when they point out and explain exactly what is being served since there were so many different items. Now let me focus on the food for just a second. I really enjoyed how it was displayed, however I am a suckers for the tiered plates, there method is a bit of a different approach. Everything is separated by savory/sweet and also hot/cold. The attention to detail on the food itself was beautifully done. Overall the presentation of every single items was gorgeous and so well displayed. 

CONS: Perhaps the biggest flaw as you may have been able to tell from my descriptions on the photos was the temperature of the foods being served. While I appreciate that the items are actually separated depending on whether they are served chilled or warm, it doesn't really help when the temperatures of everything flip flops due to the way in which it is served...which by the way...everything is brought out to you at the same time. I mean every single item all at once. There were two plates of hot items and 2 plates of cold items. Ideally, I would have preferred if the plate with the burger, cheese roll, and quiche were brought out when they were fresh off the grill or oven. Since the both cold items are meant to be chilled, I would expect both of these plates to come out with the serving platter along with the scones and popcorn which both should be hot as well, but were not. In fact, I was very disappointed with the truffle popcorn as this too was cold leaving it with a stale crunch and not as appealing flavor I was "sooo" looking forward to trying. A plate change midway would have been nice. While the burger was juicy...I'm not sure if I really wanted those juices mixing in my other items let alone my desserts. If you are looking for a quiet and laid back atmosphere this wouldn't be the place. If a luxurious and romantic scenery is what you want...this is also not the place. Unlike some of the other afternoon teas, the Four Seasons afternoon tea room is sort of separated from the rest of the hotel, so you won't really get the luxurious feel when you are there. Once you exit the elevator on the 7th floor your greeted with a filthy carpet and tiny room with low ceilings and a view of the middle of building...so don't expect a magical view. 

FINAL VERDICT: Don't let the dirty carpets and the off temperature food items fool you. The Four Seasons actually holds my number one place out of the three afternoon teas I have visited. While there were a couple of pitfalls it really made up for it with the quality and variety of menu items as well as the friendliness of the staff. I highly recommend trying the hibiscus blend and the royal tea as both were my absolute favorites, that I sort of wish I could take home with me. The well thought out attention to detail from the sugar cubes to the gold flakes on the dessert really make it worth a trip. And of course the excellent service that is provided by the host, waitresses, and chefs.