For Bangkok residents, the festive season often means more time spent shopping and the luxury malls dotting Siam and Ploenchit are the prime spot to pick up that perfect gift. The ideal post-shopping refreshment (and reward) for yourself is the new luxury afternoon tea at The Athenee Hotel’s The Allium Bangkok. 

Perched on the third floor, The Allium is a chic world-away-from-it-all with shimmering stemware, lush fresh flowers, cosy tweed couches and, of course, world class tea and Champagne. 

We sampled their fresh take on teatime and enjoyed it thoroughly. The luxury afternoon tea, available on Saturdays and Sundays only, features an array of premium sweet and savoury delicacies that are as pretty as they are delicious, and several kinds of Chaidim organic tea, with the option of a glass (or bottle!) of Veuve Clicquot Champagne.

The flowery Green Jasmine tea and the modern Silver Needle white tea were our choices and both charmed us, as did the service, with staff coming around to refill our shot glass-sized tea cups every few minutes. 

For the treats, fresh mini-scones arrived with actual clotted cream and tart housemade strawberry jam, a warm, carb-heavy welcome for the rest yet to come. The savouries included a lobster sandwich with duck liver, Iberian ham and truffle mayonnaise that was among our favourites, as was the beef tenderloin smoked in-house with potato salad and balsamic gel. The banana prawn served in a crispy seashell offered a wonderful hint of ocean waters while Thai mud crab salad with cucumber represented other bodies of water – those delicacies are native to mangroves.  

Sweet delicacies included a Chiang Mai brownie that was surprisingly thick and rich, a satisfying financier with coconut and lime, tangy orange tartelette with crunchy meringue topper and an absolutely gooey banoffee macaron.

 We can’t wait until our next shopping excursion to pop in again.

The Allium Afternoon Tea is served every Saturday and Sunday from 3pm to 5pm at THB 1,400 for two and THB 2,200 with a glass of Champagne each for two.