Tea at Parlour by Ashley Isham

Having shopped at Ashley Isham's boutique and passing through his Parlour Cafe / Tea Room previously, Charliez* and I decided to hold our afternoon tea there today. Parlour is located at 181 Orchard Road, #02-07 Orchard Central, Singapore 238896, the number to stay connected is 6509 5408.

Ashley Isham is, by the way, a Singapore-born, London-based designer and his collection of high fashion, unique designs are simply marvelous, taking the fashion world by storm. Yes, his boutique is located on Level One of Orchard Central, and his cafe is conveniently seated one flight of elegant stairs up.

The interior of the cafe gives off comforting vibes in its white and silver glossy-ness - a modern, chic concept tea room encapsulating aromas of freshly-brewed teas and coffees. It was the sheer beauty of this place that drew us in, to begin with. 

As the savoury items were limited to sandwiches and wraps today, we decided to go for the wraps, after ordering our teas. Charliez* had a Hibiscus Rose Hip Tea and I had a Lemon Ginger Tea. The teas were served in dainty little transparent cups which in my opinion, was a little too tiny to be practical and when I asked for refill of hot water, the service crew seemed rather reluctant.

Charliez's* Spicy Chicken Avocado Wrap came first - flat rolls stuffed with peppers, minced chicken paste and mashed avocado - the taste was enhanced by the spicyness of the peppers, but other than that, rather bland and one could not really taste the chicken or avocado except a giant mushy filling within the skins. 

My Pepperoni and Feta Wrap looked slightly more appetizing than Charliez's*, but likewise, the beef and cheese fillings was a mushy chunk within the skin, and other than the spicyness of peppers in my wrap, the wrap tasted pretty average.

Unfazed by the less than ideal standards of the savoury dishes, we decided to give the rather delectable looking pastries a try, and also to see if we could make up for the awful food with a sweetened compromise. After all, we saw many people ordering their desserts.

So, Charliez* selected a slice of the thick Strawberry Shortcake. Surprisingly, the cake was good. Fluffy yet solid, the cake was stuffed with strawberries and cream between, and atop the pretty slice of high fashion. It was not too sweet, and redolent of buttery cream taste.

My Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Tart was lovely as well - a rather compact crust with richly concentrated dark chocolate fudge filling, and crunchy chocolate bits. The salted caramel sauce was spread beside it. I loved the combination of flavors and sticky thickness of the chocolate fudge in the buttery, firm crust base. 

Each of us spent SGD$21.50 for our tea time indulgence.