We went to Chino Latino for afternoon tea, and were expecting a Pan-Asian experience to remember since Chino Latino is an award winning restaurant serving sharing style Pan-Asian food which aims to create an 'informal yet sophisticated style of eating and drinking'. However, the afternoon tea we were served was not quite as we expected.
The restaurant itself is cool and inspired by Asia, with red chairs, red spot lights and black accents. Each table was set with chopsticks and wine glasses, setting the scene for an Asian meal. We took a seat by the window, for good lighting and city views.
We were offered a cocktail - which of course we had to try since the cocktail menu at Chino Latino is created by the restaurants mixologists using 'the finest and freshest ingredients'. We opted for the Dragon which was a mix of lychee, lemon and vanilla vodka - so good!
We were excited for our Asian spread - especially after having a look on the menu on the website! We were looking forward to trying the tenkasu tuna roll and the chocolate fondant. But, instead we were surprised to be served a very traditional, and not very Asian afternoon tea.
Despite the surprise, we enjoyed the afternoon tea. The variety of items was good and the presentation was appealing. We both agreed that the sandwiches were the best part of the selection. The bread was soft, and the fillings were generous and tasty. However, they weren't incredible. For me, the smoked salmon was the highlight of the tea as it was high quality, fresh and tasty. However we agreed that the salmon would have been better served on a blini pancake, or in a mini bagel since the white bread was too soft, and made the eating tough.
The cakes were good, but didn't blow us away. We thought they were a little dry and 'samey'. Even the addition of cream didn't really help. In addition to some moist freshness, we agreed that it would have been good to have had something crunchy, maybe a lemon tart or a biscuit. Saying all this, we both enjoyed the chocolate sandwich cake which had a nice burst of fruity jam inside. I also enjoyed the donuty cake filled with jam and cream as it was sweet, sticky and reminiscent of my childhood.
Overall we thought the afternoon tea at Chino Latino was good, but nothing to shout home about. We felt the whole thing was a little confused, and didn't fit with the decor or theme of the restaurant. We would thoroughly recommend that either Chino Latino alters the tea to something that fits with the rest of their menu - i.e. sticks to the afternoon tea menu that is posted on their website, or they move the afternoon tea to the hotel, away from the Pan-Asian restaurant.
We saw some of the other dishes served by Chino Latino and are keen to go back and try them, as we loved the look and smell of the dishes and are sure they would help to bring our view of the restaurant up.
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