Afternoon Tea at Courtyard @ The Fullerton Hotel

1 Fullerton Square, Lobby Level, The Fullerton Hotel, Singapore 049178

Tel: 6877 8129

Website: http://www.fullertonhotel.com/dining/diningCategories_4-en.html

Time for catching up again with *Sharona, *Chantal and *Nadine; this time with the addition of *Chester and two cute babies. The selected venue was The Courtyard, situated in the elegant Fullerton Hotel.

The bright, spacious dining hall was nothing short of sophisticated, with cushy seats and tasteful decor. The service was quite good; they attended to our last minute changes very well.

So we all had the English High Tea sets (SGD$49.00 each), and the beverage was TWG tea in several flavors - I chose the Chocolate Mint Truffle tea today.

One of the specialities is the Scones, served in warm cloth tray - crusty, firm and slightly sweetened. The addition of raisins perked me up. The clotted cream and jam spread were lovely flavor enhancers, further boosting the taste of the pastry, though they were both a little runny.

The main hightea, though, would be the three-tiered tray of savoury and sweet dainty pastries - finger sandwiches, cakes and tarts.

The Creme Brulee with Blueberries was rather nice - break through the crispy layer of hardened caramel and the cream within is luscious and smooth. The pairing of blueberries gave it a rather sharp contrast.

The Chocolate Financier was solid but fluffy in texture, delicious with a distinctive chocolate aroma. The Chocolate Tart looked good, and I cannot believe I missed out on trying it!

The Red Velvet Cake was moist and soft, a little sweet for my liking and has no distinctive taste to it. I did not get to try the other cake - it looks like an interesting cake with sugared / flour coating and layers of kueh in it.

The Mini Burger with Stuffed Tuna and Tomato tasted pretty good - the mini bagels were soft and the tuna mayonnaise was rich.  The Multigrain Smoked Salmon Sandwich was scrumptious with a generous piece of smoked salmon that contrasted beautifully with the coarse grains bread it was sandwiched between.

The Open Face Smoked Duck Sandwich was rather nondescript save for the fact that the duck was tender but a tad salty in my opinion. The Mini Bagel with Parma Ham and Melon was a palatable combination - succulent but saltish ham balanced by the crunchy sweetness of the melon cubes.

Then we had the Cheese on Rye, which was light in flavor. I enjoyed the Open Faced Shrimp Sandwich - the shrimp was fresh and bouncy, coupled beauitfully with a sauce similar to mentaiko.

The Cucumber and Tomato Sandwich was a refreshing bite - all crunchy and juicy, with popping salmon roe adorning the simple sandwich.

Time for the sweets now. The Strawberry Shortcake was sponge soft, with real bits of strawberries inside the cake to give it a sour charm. The Pistachio Cream Puff is a very unique creation - the puff is cotton soft and moistened, with very delicious pistachio cream to give it that burst of flavor we don't expect.

Finally, the Berries Tart - lovely custard curd in a crumbly crust, flavors sharpened by the tarty taste of the berries. The next cake was rather nondescript. The dark chocolate was a rich indulgent, and the macaron was not too sweet or crumbly.

Overall, the hightea at Courtyard is lovely enough but not in-your-face impressive. The items are pretty normal save for a couple of them - pistachio puff and open face shrimp and duck sandwiches.