High Tea

High Tea originated from the British where a fairly substantial meal is served that includes tea in the early evening or late afternoon. Outside of the UK, people just refer to afternoon tea as high tea.

You may think I am kidding you but there is actually "low tea" other than high tea and I am not talking about golf here. Those golf tees - low tee and high tee are a different kettle of fish. Low tea consist of dainty food served on "low" tables hence the name while high tea was working class meals served on a "high" table at the end of a work day in the early evening. It was originally a meal of steaks, pies, fish, baked food, potatoes and cakes. 

Legend

The legend of high tea has it that it started in the mid-1800s where light from gas and oil was only introduced in wealthy homes so having late dinner around 8-9pm was the order of the day. There used to be only two meals a day during mid-morning (may be what we now call brunch) and late dinner. Over time, people felt fatigue and hunger pangs due to the long wait between meals so it was reported that the Duchess of Bedford started inviting friends over for snacks and tea and it later spread to the rest of high society and became fashionable, a past time and leisure especially for the ladies or what we might call "tai tai". 

As it became more popular, it spread further to different strata of society. In Singapore today, there are many places that serve high tea. As people gets very busy, they will tend to munch at different times of the day or when they could squeeze time in between to meet friends. There are many people in the world who are still dying from starvation but here you will get more people dying from over-eating.


So I was informed about an interesting high tea menu at Kazumi but I didn't had the time to attend but curiosity kills the cat so here I am. Look at it carefully- prawn cocktail, mini sushi roll, unagi maki,  next comes Aigomo sushi,  beef maki, oh yes foie gras on toast. Finally, Cheese cake, green tea mochi and lime jelly and "Free flow Mocha Ice Cream and Free Flow Coffee or Tea". All these for $18.

They are served like a three storey landed property. This is a portion for two persons. I do think it is really value-for-money.

 A closer look at the cocktail and sushi roll. Appetizing.

Smoked duck sushi and foie gras on toast. Savoury!

Cheese cake with red bean and green tea plus your favourite mochi. What's there not to like?

It would have been just nice for me for afternoon high tea except that I had something else earlier.

I really like the idea of high tea and plus the free flow of ice cream and coffee or tea, I just need to relax and enjoy. This especially good when meeting friends for a catch up, waiting to kill a little time in between assignments or appointments. A break from our hustled and hurried world. Let's do it again I say!