Lady Caine Afternoon Tea

As a common affair in Hong Kong, we have had a number of the city’s acclaimed Afternoon Tea indulgences. From the quintessentially iconic Afternoon Tea at the Peninsula, we stumbled upon another that’s worth sharing and writing about – the Lady Caine Afternoon Tea at Statement.

Police Headquarters Block

Intrigued, I researched whom the theme paid homage to. It turned out, Lady Isadora Caine was the wife of Captain William Caine, the Chief Magistrate of the first Hong Kong Police Headquarters located at the eastern end of Hollywood Road in Central. During their prominence, she was believed to be throwing the most extravagant afternoon tea parties in town. Eureka! Now that connected the dots.

The former Central Police Station is part of the revitalised Centre for Heritage and Arts called Tai Kwun. The triad of restaurants occupy a prime location just above the entry way to the 1st floor of the Police Headquarters Block – The Chinese Library’s door on the left and Statement’s on the right lead to Hong Kong’s British colonial past; and in the middle adjoining the two is The Dispensary, where we were ushered to enjoy our teatime.

3-tiered Lady Caine Afternoon Tea

With 3-tiered sweet and savoury delights, the Lady Caine Afternoon Tea was a distinctive depiction of Hong Kong’s colonial elegance – a commingle of Cantonese and English flairs. The attendant presented the delectable selection of food on the tray with ardor. Although some were unheard of, we couldn’t wait to have a taste of the unfamiliar.

As the lady attendant suggested, and most often than not it’s how we normally do it, we started with the scones. They were smaller than usual, but the authentic Cornish clotted cream set the experience apart. Not that the scones weren’t good enough on their own because they were, but the Cornish clotted cream complemented the homemade strawberry and orange-yuzu jams so well, making each bite a symphony of sweet-tangy-creamy goodness. As my daughter and I agreed, the sensation of flavour in the palate was similar to when we had Cream Tea at The Tudor Rose in Plymouth.

Chinese Mantou vs British Finger Sandwiches

The top tier was a juxtaposition of the savories of Cantonese Yum Cha and English Afternoon Tea. My daughter and I are now used to the Hong Kong-style mantou (fried and dipped in condensed milk; and we stared at the combination on the table when we ordered it the first time), but we had not seen them made into sandwiches until that very day. Stuffed with chicken teriyaki and beef cutlet, respectively, they were a good variation of the usual finger sandwiches.

Cakes and Pastries of Nostalgic Hong Kong Flavours

The middle tier looked like any other cakes and pastries, but we knew there was definitely a surprising twist. The modish touch on nostalgic Hong Kong favourites like the black sesame and tofu folded into a cheesecake, peanut butter mixed into a frosting, yuen yeung whipped into a mousse, and red bean filled into a tart – were truly ingenious East-meets-West creations.

The spiral metal tray was accentuated with butterflies which in my perspective were subtle hints of change or transformation (whatever suitable aspect they represented, I supposed). It was a little later that I distinguished 2 edible ones from those made of paper. I probed into the nearby trays and the butterfly-shaped chocolates were still untouched. They might not have noticed or left them there because they had their fill. I'd only speak for us though, but this kind of spread was too much for us to handle.

Royal Tea at The Dispensary

Raising the glass of Champagne

As a pat on the back for my decision to pursue postgraduate studies (after contemplating over the last few years), we proposed to fizz up the occasion with a glass of champagne – a toast for braving the uncertainties of the present, making peace with the past, fighting the future and the optimism in taking the leap into the unknown.

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