Introducing two afternoon tea spots~~~ Both are cafés located in hotels. Ciao is the Italian restaurant and café of The Yangtze Boutique Shanghai, with an excellent location right at the Ping’an Cinema exit of People’s Square Metro Station. On my first visit, I thought it was a niche street-side café. It’s not very crowded on weekdays, and the seating consists entirely of sofas. Sitting by the window watching people come and go on Hankou Road is quite amusing. PS: Especially when it’s extremely hot/cold, windy, or rainy, sitting inside watching people outside feels so satisfying…~~
The 3-tier afternoon tea set is priced at 288 RMB, including the 3-tier stand and coffee/tea. Currently, there’s a group-buy deal for just 138 RMB, which is a great bargain.
3-Tier Afternoon Tea
The 3-tier afternoon tea consists of sweets, savory items, and pastries. The sweets tend to be overly sweet… not really my favorite… The savory items are usually sandwiches and paninis; they taste pretty good but fill you up quickly. As for the pastries, there are scones and cookies, which have a mild flavor, perfect for pairing with black tea~~
Sweets Section
Savory Section
Pastries Section
Fruit cup, served chilled, though not very fresh.
Fruit Cup
The large teapot is heavy… very heavy… but the tea tastes pretty good~~
Large Teapot
The other spot, Zpark, is located in the Renaissance Shanghai Zhongshan Park Hotel. It’s divided into two sections on either side of the 25th-floor lobby: one side is a café, and the other is a bar. Both areas have a nice ambiance, and it’s a rare opportunity to enjoy the view from Zhongshan Park… The weekend afternoon tea is 110 RMB per person, featuring a buffet of sweets and savory items, plus a glass of iced tea with one free refill. The iced tea is delicious, the sweets are mediocre, but the savory items taste great~~~ Hours are from 1 PM to 5 PM, and the buffet is substantial enough to even serve as dinner… However, the service here is rather average, not what you’d expect from a five-star hotel…
Sweets
Sweets
Savory Items
Savory Items
Iced Tea
View Outside the Window
View Outside the Window
Just caught a rainstorm
Indoors
Finally, here are two photos of Qianqiu Shanfang. I’ve been there many times but never took any photos before~~~~
The Three-Cup Chicken is really well done, and the Beef Wrapped in Flatbread is as delicious as ever…
Three-Cup Chicken
Beef Wrapped in Flatbread
Photos in this post taken with SONY NEX-5R + 35mm f1.8, post-processed in Lightroom.
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