Cuisine: Local fusion
Address: 2 Orchard Turn, Singapore 238801
Nearest MRT: Orchard station (North-South line)

Violet Oon is a reowned local chef who has opened her own chain of restaurants. Her high tea sessions at available at the various outlets such as National Gallery, Clarke Quay and Ion Orchard. It celebrates traditional Nyonya cooking accentuated by her decades of culinary experience. After time apart from friends, why not schedule a catch-up over tea and a selection of petit sweet and savoury delights? From tarts and sandwiches to kueh, scones, and much more, this indulgent set is an ideal accompaniment to an afternoon of heartfelt conversations.

Diners get to choose between two teas on the menu – the Earl Grey or the Violet Oon signature tea with berries. We ordered one teapot each and had a chance to try both flavours. The tea is served free flow so you can always ask them to top up the teapot when you’re done.

First course was the scones. There were two plain and two gula melaka, served with clotted cream and pineapple jam. The scones were too small and too dry for my liking. I also found the choice of pineapple jam a bit strange as I feel that the scones would have went well with a berries jam.

There were quite a number of savoury dishes on the afternoon tea set. We were advised to start with the lowest layer and work our way up. First we had the Kueh pie tee, served with julienned bamboo shoot and turnip poached in a prawn bisque. The filling was cold by the time it was served to us but the deep fried “top hat” cup still remained crispy. The Chilli crab tartlet was also a delicious tart served with a quail egg and chilli crab in a cheese tartlet, with the rich aroma of the chilli crab making us beg for more bites.

I am not a fan of Tahu goreng in general, but since the focus of the afternoon tea was to infuse with local flavours, this dish does hit the right notes. It is made of friend beancurd on a bed of julienned cucumber and fresh beansprouts. The beansprouts were blanched but it still had the raw taste which I did not like.

Moving on to the second layer, we had the Egg Salad Tartlet with Pineapple Patchare which is essentially an egg mayo tartlet and I could not really taste the pineapple sauce. Next, the Coronation Chicken on Crispy Wanton Skin of which the waiter pronounced the ‘corontation’ wrongly. This diced chicken with mild curry mayo had a slightly sweet aftertaste. The Cream Cheese and Cucumber Openface Sandwich was nothing more than a cream cheese and cucumber served on a slice of baguette. As for the Otak on Belgium Endive, I liked the spiced coconut cream fish with a hint of spice and it was served on a banana leaf shaped tray.

Lastly, we move on to the sweet dishes. My wife does not really appreciate local sweets, unless it is ice cream, chocolates or macarons. Looking at the last tier, most of the dishes contain coconut which is a common ingredient in local cooking. There was Kueh Ko Sui which is the brown kueh coated with grated coconut, Kueh Beng Kah which is the yellowish kueh made of grated tapioca cake. The Sugee Financier is rich and moist, a typical European cake with semolina and ground almonds. There were two different flavours of the financier, one of pistachios and the other of dried fruits. The Orh Nee Cream Puff with the choux pastry filled with yam cream was the least of my favourite because I do not like yam or anything with yam. The Pandan Coconut Agar Agar is the green jelly made with coconut agar that was not too sweet.

Out of curisoity, we asked the waiter if we were allowed to change our drinks and surprisingly, it was possible to try different types of drinks at no additional costs. My wife had a cup of hot chocolate while I had an iced chocolate. After drinking the teapot of tea, it was time to unwind with a cold drink. I liked the slight bitterness of the iced chocolate because dark chocolate powder was used to make it. It was rich but not as thick as a milkshake.

The restaurant had a separate section adorned with various food items for takeaway. If you enjoyed certain dishes of the high tea, you can even buy something to take home, especially the sweet dishes such as the cakes. There is also a wide array of teas for selection.

Violet Oon has mastered the art of beautiful packaging which will entice customers to buy either for themselves or as gifts. The attractive packaging does help to promote their products and the brand name is really quite popular among locals.

On a personal note, I did not enjoy the high tea so much, maybe because I had read so many reviews about Violet Oon and my expectations were too high. Neverthess, this place is suitable to spend an enjoyable afternoon with your partner or loved ones. It’s time for you to be pampered. The high tea offered at Violet Oon has just the thing with its local-inspired tea menu guaranteed to make you feel like a tai tai.

From 3pm to 5pm, National Kitchen serves up its unique Singapore High Tea Set ($56++ for 2 pax). Reservations can me made by phone or online. Please note that reservations are recommended because the restaurant is quite popular during the dining hours.