Located in the historic Number 1 Martin Place building the team at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney are serving up an excellent afternoon tea.
Served in The Bar off the tranquil hotel lobby, the area is a sun-filled atrium in the centre of the heritage GPO building. A mix of regular tables, lower coffee tables and surrounded by planters it has an intimate feel. Yet being able to see the sky through the glass ceiling and the expansive sandstone building reaching up around you makes it feel grand and open.
Being a five-star city hotel there were wedding guests milling around waiting for their transport. We also got to sticky beak at a few brides as they came down with their entourages and were whisked away to their nuptials somewhere in the city.
The Fullerton Hotel Sydney has an exciting new Executive Pastry Chef, Louis Lee, who joined the hotel in December last year. Checking out his Instagram page he is producing some beautiful work and it shows in this signature afternoon tea.
The tea selection is from TWG in Singapore, plus they also have their own signature cocktail, the Sydney Sling. It’s a delicious and refreshing mix of 4 Pillar’s Gin, ginger, hibiscus and blood orange. It’s heavy on the ginger so has a spicy kick.
The stand arrives at the table and the first thing we notice is the range of colours across the plates. When dieticians say “eat the rainbow” we’re not quite sure this menu is what they had in mind, but hey, we’re going with it!
The star of the savoury plate had to be the lobster cup with scampi roe. They definitely didn’t skimp on the lobster which is held together with a light mayonnaise and popped into a crisp beetroot waffle basket, which surprisingly remained nice and crisp. I could have eaten a dozen more.
The sandwich selections were as pretty as a picture with fillings in the middle and also delicately placed on top as decoration. My two most favourite high tea sandwiches, cucumber and egg were served and both were great examples of why they’re such popular choices.
Moving on to the duck rillette, it was nice and rich with a good level of spice. Unfortunately, the sesame bun overpowered it somewhat to make the whole thing a little bready for my liking. I think the excellent rillette would be better served as an open sandwich, or even a toast round.
The cream cheese and pistachio tart was a nice balance of creamy, tangy cheese, delicate tart shell and a sprinkling of crunchy pistachio. Quite enjoyable.
With savouries done sweets were up next. I did a double take when I saw a chunk of fruit cake on the plate. Fruit cake? Since I started writing for High Tea Society way back in 2012 I’ve never come across a piece of traditional fruit cake – ever. Why such a reaction you ask? It’s because I really, really, really dislike it. People who know me (mostly my mum) will find it hilarious that I then had to at least take a bite! While the flavour was great, as per usual I just couldn’t get past the dried fruit texture. People tell me being dense with fruit is a great thing in a fruit cake, I’ll just have to believe them.
The pandan lamington was a cute little bright green cube. Even though it was a small bite the attention to detail was still top notch with a crème pat centre. I really enjoyed the citrus panna cotta too. The citrus came from the tiny jelly cubes and zest sitting on top of a silky-smooth panna cotta.
The last two sweet options were both tarts and I really can’t pick my favourite between them. While the menu says a key lime pie, what actually arrived was one of the best lemon curd tarts I’ve eaten in a long time. The curd was soft and silken and packed the biggest lemony punch to the palate, it was refreshing and decadent all in two small bites.
Finally, the pecan maple tart. Just wow. A dark chocolate shortcrust shell filled with a chocolate pecan mix with dark tones of molasses and notes of toasted pecans. It was dark and rich, nothing too sweet, it’s clear to see the pastry chef knows what he’s doing!
High Tea Sydney – find more experiences
in our High Tea Venue Directory
Reviews for this venue:
- 16 October 2020: Pink Afternoon Tea at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney
- 14 March 2020: Purple Themed Afternoon Tea at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney
