Embrace Spring in Style with CHAO Hotel’s Luxurious Pink Afternoon Tea

Hailing from the home country of this traditional British pastime, I have to admit that I love a good afternoon tea, so I was super excited to find out about the special pink afternoon tea that CHAO Hotel are currently running. 

Why pink you may ask?

Well, if you’ve ventured outside recently you will have undoubtedly spotted some of Beijing’s beautiful, pink springtime blossoms and it is this that has inspired the pink theme for the hotel's new offering.

Along with this there is a focus on fresh, natural ingredients such as fruits and flowers which combines with the spring motif. Jie Zhang, CHAO's PR director, also told me that they have made a concerted effort to reduce the amount of sugar used in the pastries and sweets to make the afternoon tea healthier.

Served in their sun-filled Drawing Room, the crisp, white table cloths and elegant place settings give you the allusion of being transported to an English tea room, which is the closest I’ve felt to home in quite a while.

There are two different options for the pink afternoon tea, which as per tradition are meant to serve two people, one option which comes with two glasses of rosé champagne and one without.  

Before being served the various tea time delicacies, you're invited up to the “tea table” where you can select the tea of your choice based on their fragrances and ingredients. There are ten different teas available to choose from ranging from fruity teas to more traditional English black teas. I went for a spiced black tea that had a similar taste to chai tea.

The tea is served in custom made, silver tea pots with an additional pot of hot water to top it up. If you are going for the more upscale champagne option this is also where you select which rosé champagne you would like, there are four varieties on offer varying in sweetness and dryness, you are able to taste them before making your decision.

Now, onto the main event, the food! Firstly, as far as the pink theme goes everything and I do mean everything comes with a distinct pink hue, even the sandwiches and scones have pink incorporated into them. Overall, it makes for a visually striking display, however Jie also emphasised that part of CHAO’s philosophy is to also ensure that their food tastes as stunning as it looks. 

As expected with an afternoon tea a three tier cake stand display is a must and this was no exception. The bottom tier consisted of a selection of three different sandwiches (two of each kind): chicken and peach, cream cheese beetroot and raspberry, Parma ham and fig.

The second tier was also made up of savoury items and had smoked salmon mousse, foie gras with strawberry and spicy prawn and mango roll (two of each item). These may sound like some rather unusual flavor combinations, but they all worked really well together I was especially a fan of the cream cheese, beetroot and raspberry sandwich and the foei gras with strawberry. 

Moving on to the sweets on the top tier there was strawberry profiterole, rose water macaron, grapefruit cheesecake and a peach tart. Along with this there was a plate with two pink grapefruit tartlets and raspberry madeleines.

To finish it all off there was sherry trifle and of course an afternoon staple: scones, fitting in with the pink theme these were cranberry flavored, giving them a slight pink appearance. The scones were lovely and light and the sherry trifle was packed with fruity flavor and a mild sherry aftertaste. 

If, like I was, you are feeling very satisfied but also very full after the afternoon tea and fancy a bit of walk, you can head down to the first and basement floors of the hotel to check out CHAO’s current art exhibitions which are completely free to enter.

CHAO Hotel’s Pink Set Afternoon Tea for Two is RMB 688, or their Pink Champagne Experience Afternoon Tea for Two is RMB 988. The pink themed tea will run until the end of June, after which a new seasonal themed afternoon tea will be announced. 

CHAO Hotel
4 Gongti Donglu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工体东路4号

READ: Get Hot Cross Buns in Time for Easter From These Shops

Images: CHAO Hotel, Katie Coy