Renku’s afternoon tea offers unlimited servings of food, coffee, and tea. What we tried, we liked and we enjoyed sampling the many blended teas by ETTE TEA. Durian tea, anyone?
Elevated and partially walled off from crowds in the lobby and restaurant, the Renku Bar & Lounge is a cosy cocoon for enjoying afternoon tea or drinks. Even better, hotel guests get a 25% discount. It’s a great choice if you’re hungry or just looking to indulge — the afternoon tea includes unlimited servings of food, coffee, and tea within each 1.5 hour-seating. The food selection varies, but what we tried, we liked. We also enjoyed sampling the many blended teas by Singapore-based ETTE TEA, many of which incorporate local flavours like durian, pandan, and nasi lemak (coconut rice).
Even if you prefer coffee, order some tea — if the tea master is around, you might get a little performance with your brew. With unlimited servings, you can sample more than one type of tea — and it’s not the near-ubiquitous TWG Tea served in most afternoon teas in Singapore. The tea selection here features blended teas from Singapore-based ETTE TEA, many of which incorporate local flavours like durian, pandan, and nasi lemak (coconut rice). Less exotic tea options are also available if you’re not in the mood for adventure.
We started our afternoon tea with the four savoury finger sandwiches available that day. We most enjoyed the mini-bagels with smoked salmon with garlic cream cheese — the garlic helped to cut through the richness of the fish and cheese. We also likely the tomato burrata with macadamia pesto, the creamy burrata contrasting well with the crispy toast. The beef pastrami with tomato and honey mustard wasn’t as savoury as we thought it would be, but we liked how it was balanced by the sweetness of the honey mustard. We were less impressed by the smoked chicken with chipotle mayo.
The afternoon tea also came with two types of scones — plain and with raisins — served with preserves, fresh orange butter, and clotted cream. We enjoyed both, but our favourite was the plain version with fewer distractions from its buttery flavour and soft crumbly interior.
The sweets were also excellent. The banana mango yoghurt delice looked big and pink, but beneath its thin white chocolate shell, the mango cream was light and soft with banana bits and shredded coconut inside. We also loved the balance of sweetness and acidity in the white chocolate Chantilly berry tart which was surprisingly light with a buttery and crispy crust.
Balance was also a highlight with the lemon calamansi meringue tart which was light and not too acidic. The white chocolate praline Paris-Brest wasn’t bad either — it was soft with layers of cream and pastry but light and not too sweet. Even the dark chocolate majestic cake with raspberry enjoyed good balance — it wasn’t as rich and heavy as we feared.
For something less rich, try the almond pecan cake which was sweet and moist. The lemon madeleines were light and sweet, but not as exceptional.
Even if you’re not a fan of Japanese mochi rice cakes, it’s hard to resist having one or two off the cart here just to admire how cute they look. The taste wasn’t bad by the way — they were filled with sweet white bean paste.
If you still have space, have some chocolate bonbons to finish. We liked both the salted caramel and lychee raspberry flavours available that day — with thin chocolate shells and generous fillings, they didn’t feel especially heavy. We also enjoyed the candied orange and lemon peels dipped in dark chocolate — we could taste the difference between their bright citrus flavours contrasting against the richness of the chocolate.
Lobby, Sands (Tower 1), 10 Bayfront Avenue, Marina Boulevard
+65 6688 5535
https://www.marinabaysands.com/restaurants/renku-bar-and-lounge.html
