Singapore 2016: Afternoon Tea at Raffles Hotel

Two of the “must-do” things I had on my list for Singapore was to experience having a Singapore Sling and Afternoon tea at the world renowned Raffles Hotel.  I had to make reservations for afternoon tea a few months in advance as it is really popular amongst Singapore residents and definitely worth it so that you can see the beautiful Raffles Hotel grounds.  Going early we first went to the Long Bar located on the 2nd floor of the hotel to grab an original Singapore Sling in the bar where it was created, the interior is reminiscent of the Indochina style with dark wood, wicker furniture and palm fans.  The Singapore Sling was delicious, sweet and went down like juice.  We then made our way to the Tiffin Room on the west side of the hotel facing a courtyard for our afternoon tea reservation.  This afternoon tea was a bit unique in that not only are you presented with the traditional English style 3 tier tray of tasty sandwiches (the egg, mayo and chives was the standout sandwich) and beautifully baked petit fours but also included is a buffet full of different scones, savouries, fruit, hot desserts, iced teas and a selection of dim sum items.  Items like: siew mai, spinach dumpling and mini char siew pau.  It was truly an overload of food (good thing I don’t make afternoon teas a regular habit ;)).  Because afternoon tea was so filling, we decided to skip dinner that night and since we were only in Singapore for 48 hours we really needed more time to experience hawker style food.