Throughout the month of September, MO bar at Landmark was offering a limited edition tea set created by renowned designer Marc Jacobs. Tables were booked out very early so initially I was planning to walk in to try and get a sitting, however that turned out to be unnecessary as I received an invitation from Mr. C to join him there for afternoon tea.
The MO bar is quite modernly decorated and the casual ambience it exudes made for quite a nice place for guests/diners to chill and relax for a drink or a meal. We arrived there for a 4pm seating, and were promptly seated upon arrival. Since it was nearing dinner time, we decided to just order a tea set for one to share with both of us opting for Earl Grey tea and an extra cup of cappuccino for Mr. C.
Our teas arrived first along with Mr. C’s cappuccino. His cappuccino looked quite nice, but according to him it was only so so. In regard to the tea, the MO bar uses tea leaves from JING and I must say it was pretty amazing. Soothing and fragrant with strong citrus tones, it was very comforting to say the least. I loved this~ However I wish I could have said the same for their tea set.
The scones were served first, petite in size they were served pleasantly warm with cream and both strawberry and blackberry jams. The scones were not scone like at all, rather they tasted more like buttery friands. I thought they were quite good, but a bit too sweet even without spreading jam on them.
The rest of the tea set arrived. The manager I assume as she was dressed in all black attire, served the sweets plate in such a swift and careless flourish that she spilled the little glass of bright blue apple juice all over Mr. C. Luckily, he dodged quickly enough, but most of it still splashed on his shoes. Although she apologised, it was said in tones that was a little snide and not quite sincere which I thought was not very professional at all.
However, back to the tea set. The savouries looked quite ordinary, and as the saying goes never judge a book by its cover, but not only did they also taste ordinary, some were downright unpleasant. I had never tasted anything so bad as the milk bun with cooked ham mousse. The bread was nicely toasted but the filling of ham mousse looked like a runny pink mess and smelled like canned food. The smoked salmon mousse on melba toast was light and airy enough, but tasted overly fishy. The ravioli made from thin sheets of beetroot filled with tartar and diced beetroot was an attractive colour, but tasted quite bland. Something else that was bland was the cucumber, chive and cream cheese on a sour dough cracker, but at least I expected this to taste unexciting. The best from the savouries was the mushrooms, spinach and smoked turkey quiche. Slightly warm with a moist centre, it was flavourful and the buttery crust was firm, but crumbled nicely in the mouth.
The sweets were very pretty and quite attractive to look at, but I only found a couple of them to taste good. The pistachio biscuit layered with strawberry mousse was light and the fragrant strawberry flavour complemented the subtle pistachio tones. I also favoured the manjari mousse on almond biscuit with chocolate marzipan as the mousse was smooth and the dark tones of the chocolate was quite seductive. Our replacement brilliant blue green apple and basil juice was not sweet and the flavour of the basil overpowered the apple. The layered cherry jello and vanilla panacotta was slightly runny and was a sign that it was not set well and it was just way too sweet. I did not try the lemon macaron, but Mr. C said it was nothing special.
As a special incentive all guests that made an advance reservation received a special gift from Marc Jacobs, but this was not enough to compensate for the fact that the tea was so disappointing in taste.
Also, when Mr. C paid for the bill, he found that his cappuccino was comped by the manager. She did not mention anything about this and she must have thought it was a generous gesture, but to be honest, I would have preferred her to be more sincere in her apologies rather than making it seem like we owe her gratitude for this action.
Just Something About Me 