In keeping with the garden-in-a-hotel concept, Portman’s Bar is a nature-inspired watering hole nestled in the sun-drenched atrium on level 4 of PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay hotel. My friends and I came to spend the afternoon and try out their Go Lokal afternoon tea menu.
- Our order:
- Go Lokal afternoon tea for 4
- Spent: SGD$275.60
The place had a lovely ambience, with clusters of greenery and actual birds chirping melodiously in the background. There was also a lot of natural light streaming in, making the space feel bright and open.
There were two time slots we could choose from: 1pm to 3pm or 3pm to 5pm. We opted for the former since the latter was a little too close to dinner time. The cost per pax was $58++, with a minimum of two pax to dine. Although each person was only entitled to one non-refillable afternoon tea set and specialty drink, this came with free-flow coffee, tea and treats from a sweets wagon for 2 hours.
It was a pity that the service wasn’t up to par. Maybe they were just understaffed that day but it was really difficult to get anyone’s attention for assistance. On one occasion, when we wanted to order a second round of drinks, the staff only stuck around to hear my drink order before hurrying off, completely ignoring my friends. I managed to shout out to him to slip in an “iced mocha” before he disappeared, but he came back with iced water instead.
We commenced afternoon tea with our first round of drinks – two teapots of Eternal Summer (this had hints of citrus) and Bain de Roses (this was floral and light) TWG tea, an iced americano, a hot chocolate and an iced cappuccino. Later on, we ordered an iced mocha and iced latte to supplement this.
Then came the main event! The food arrived in their iconic presentation of a suitcase (albeit looking like it had clocked a fair bit of mileage already). Most of the savoury items were flavourful and delicious, especially the chilli crab wanton stuffed full of crab meat. The only thing that wasn’t too palatable was the cloyingly sweet fruit rojak. The sweet items were unfortunately less impressive, except the pandan tiramisu that tasted a bit more well-balanced. The scones were rather average and a tad too dense for us.
There was also a sweets wagon set up next to the bar with unlimited servings of macarons, local snacks, pralines and cakes. These were presented in a very appealing manner but weren’t particularly memorable in terms of taste.
My overall rating of the experience: 3 out of 5 stars. What this spot had going for it was its relaxing ambience, especially in the afternoon when there was plenty of natural light. The open space and generous distance between tables also made it an ideal environment for lengthy catch-up conversations with minimal distraction. Majority of the savoury items were enjoyable as well but their Achilles’ heel seemed to be their desserts, where just about all of them were largely forgettable (including the ones from the sweets wagon). It didn’t help that it was super tough to get proper assistance from the staff either, given how busy they appeared to be. In summary, I’d probably be open to revisit this spot for reasons other than afternoon tea as I did appreciate the soothing vibes of the space.
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
Dania Experiences 