Halia Afternoon Tea

Ah, weeks long forgotten pictures! Jian & I went to Halia for afternoon tea on the 2nd of July 2011, which was our wedding/dating anniversary (that's 5 years of dating, through thick, thin & awful parents on my side & 2 years of marriage. THAT'S something to celebrate isn't it?) because I felt like doing something a little different.

We got off a bus stop too late & had to trek through the Botanic Gardens the long way round, which was actually nice (I have NEVER walked around the botanic gardens in a leisurely way before) albeit hot. Luckily, I was wearing a breezy dress & I am alright with the heat, anyway. Jian was scooting around for every bit of shade the trees provided.

When we arrived at Halia, we were greeted by the pleasant smell of coffee & baking breads. I don't know if they really bake bread there, but the smell was there... I think eggs were in the air as well. YUM! There was no space in the air-conditioned area, so we sat outside, which was nice too. Well the view is better outside, obviously.

Ok, so I was busy checking out the eats when the 2-tiered tray arrived. We didn't have a bite to eat before 1530 hours! The cream & orange ginger jam is meant for the scones.

Front: little slivers of bread topped with gorgonzola cheese & a honey-coated walnut

2nd row: Scone, smoked salmon little thing (salty), ditto, scone

3rd row: foie gras little thing.

Jian, in general, does not really fancy gorgonzola cheese but I DO(!!), so after he ate one, the rest were mine. They were so tiny, I finished them in a flash. I only remember that the little salmon bite was extremely salty. The scones went very well with the cream & orange ginger jam. I was surprised that the ginger taste was nice & subtle. Jian plastered his scone with the stuff. He likes to do that sort of thing as he likes strong flavours. The foie gras bite was just... the little bit of foie gras down the hatch... Pleasant, but gone in a matter of seconds.

Front: Saffron macaroons in yellow & kiwi macaroons in green.

middle: banana wrapped in crepe. Think it's coated with caramel as well.

back: raspberry, chocolate cake.

Background: weird fellow

The macaroons were EXTREMELY sweet. I don't know how people enjoy eating these things! For the saffron one, I don't like the taste of saffron in general, I think, as I don't particularly like musky flavours. Nevertheless, I took a bite & I passed te rest of it to Jian, whom only later revealed that he wasn't keen on it as well. The kiwi one was even sweeter than the saffron one, but i ate it anyway. The banana wrapped in crepe was nice, but I wish we had eaten it before then macaroons. had I known macaroons were this sweet, I would have eaten them LAST. By the time we got to the cake, it was already in a melty state. Sweet too, but nicer (& less sweet) than the macaroons.

The afternoon tea set comes with your choice of a pot of tea. I think it was $28++ per set. You can also order one set to share. We ordered 2.

Don't forget to go for a leisurely walk around the gardens after your tea, when the sun is not as fierce. :)

Tex Mex @ Chili's

Chili's has a Sunday drink promotion of 141 premium margaritas. Very good for Jian. Check out his first nice, big margarita:

His initial comment was 'nice & strong' & I had a sip. It WAS indeed very strong. There was plenty of ice in the drink, so I would guess they probably mixed in the normal amount of alcohol, & the amount of ice was to keep the drink chilled, for people who sip margaritas like pussies. His was the Patron Margarita or something or the other. It's not in the online menu. (Jian says: It should be the Grand Patron Margarita.)

The drink, compared to his size!

We ordered only from the starters, as the portions are huge here. This here is the Triple Play, consisting of Southwestern Egg Rolls, Boneless Buffalo Wings & Chicken Crispers. This starter is not so impressive. The Buffalo Wings are not really 'wings'. They are more like buffalo NUGGETS (on account they are boneless I suppose :P). The taste is ok. I had one & Jian had the rest. The Chicken Crispers are battered cuts of chicken breast. Pretty dry on the inside, but the whole thing goes well with the yellow sauce. I think they purposely put the sauce that goes with the item, closest to the item. Makes sense. The Egg Rolls weren't what I really expected. I expected the skin to literally be made of EGG, but it seems more like a dough skin, deep fried. The taste was pretty good though, so I guess we can let it slide. It seemed like it would be soft & egg-like, according to the picture on the menu, but crispy is good too.


The Beef Quesadillas. You can choose chicken of beef, & I don't think they charge any extra for beef. Guacamole passes the taste test but there is so little of it, considering we are guacamole freaks (me more than Jian). You pay an additional $2.90 for the dollop of guacamole.


The rice & refried beans that came with the quesadillas. Beans were nice, rice had an interesting flavour that I cannot put my finger on.

We were super full by the end of it & had no space for dessert. Better to come here with 4 or more eaters. That way you can order a more extensve variety of food to share. We were tempted by the 4 mini burgers, but opted for the Triple Play instead, so we could taste more things.

The staff who served us (we were at the Tanglin Mall branch) were all friendly & smiley (I did spot a few black faces amongst the servers, but they didn't serve us).

Our bill came up to $67+ (can't remember the cents) for 2 starters & 2 margaritas (but don't forget it was 141 premium margarita day).

There is no service charge, only GST, but if you find the service up to par, do leave a tip. It makes everyone happy after all.