Tiffin Afternoon Tea at The Langham Auckland, New Zealand
This post continues the series from Jac’s and my trip to Auckland earlier this year. Auckland has just been named in Lonely Planet’s Top 10 cities to visit in 2014.
We stayed at The Langham for our final night in Auckland. I made us a reservation for the Tiffin Afternoon Tea, which is served daily in hotel’s lobby bar called The Winery.
It’s an elegant setting, with an enormous chandelier twinkling gold overhead, upholstered high-backed chairs, tables a civilised distance apart, and friendly waiters in waistcoats attending to our needs. It’s the right level of posh without being intimidating; special yet relaxed. We worked our way through three tiers of sweet and savoury treats.
We’re not tea connoisseurs by any means, but part of the fun is reading the descriptions of the teas and deciding which one to have. We deliberated over The Tea Maker’s Private Reserve selection of tea blends personally chosen by Merrill J. Fernando, the founder of Dilmah. The Langham Auckland is the only hotel in the world that serves these exclusive teas. I chose Lover’s Leap black tea, with citrus, tropical fruit and floral notes; Jac chose Kandy Gunpowder Green Tea. There are also two special blends of The Langham Teas exclusive to Langham hotels, which are available for purchase in pretty souvenir tins.
L-R: Lover’s Leap black tea; amuse bouche – savoury cone with salmon rillettes, creme fraiche and dill
Top tier: sweets; middle tier: savouries; bottom tier: traditional and rum and raisin scones with fresh cream and strawberry preserve. We started on the middle tier, moved to the bottom tier then finished with the top
L-R: Petit potato salad with capers and chives and sliced smoked duck, champagne ham sandwich with tarragon butter; cucumber sandwich with chive cream, goat cheese in flaky filo pastry layers with sweet pepper jam
L-R: A kaleidoscope in a shooter glass – caramel and banana cheesecake; a small but bouffant Grand Marnier cupcake 
L-R: Chocolate and peanut mousse; apple and blue cheese macaron, with a surprise in the centre
L-R: Pistachio raspberry slice; scone with cream and strawberry preserve 
L=R: Two classic tarts in one: strawberry and lemon tartlet; soy flat white
The Winery bar
The Langham Blend tea, available for purchaseWe enjoyed the Tiffin Afternoon Tea. While the balance of sweet to savoury favoured a sweet tooth – typical of afternoon teas – the savoury offering was interesting and much appreciated; the potato salad with smoked duck and savoury cones filled with salmon rillettes were especially delightful*. It’s one of the better afternoon teas we’ve experienced anywhere, for ambience and service as well as the food and drink, but The Terrace Hotel Perth still holds a special place in my heart for serving curried egg sandwiches and lusciously thick clotted cream with its scones. Where’s your favourite place for afternoon tea?
Tiffin afternoon tea at The Winery
The Langham Auckland
Served daily, bookings essential
First sitting: 11.30am to 2pm
Second sitting: 2.30pm to 4.30pm
Tiffin Afternoon Tea
NZ$45 per adult
NZ$55 per adult on public holidays
Champagne Tiffin Afternoon Tea – with a glass of Louis Roederer champagne
NZ$65 per adult
NZ$75 per adult on public holidays
Half-price for children 5 to 12 years old. Free for children aged four and under.
*Jac has declared 2013 “Year of the Mini Cone”, naming The Langham Auckland’s savoury cone with salmon rillettes, creme fraiche and dill, and the G&T salmon with cucumber and cream cheese in an anchovy-flavoured cone at Jackson’s Restaurant as two of the best things she’s eaten this year.
Auckland and Waiheke Island trip – blog series
We had a brilliant holiday in Auckland earlier this year. There are more blog posts to come from the trip.
Posted so far (in reading order):
- New Zealand trip – sneak peek
- The Big Foody Auckland Tastebud Tour
- El Faro, Elliott Stables, Auckland
- Takapuna Beach Cafe, Auckland and ferry ride to Devonport
- The Kapiti Store, Auckland
- Food Alley, Auckland
- Waiheke Island: Le Chalet Apartments and The Oyster Inn
- Waiheke Island tour with See Waiheke
- Scenes from Waiheke Island
- No.1 Pancake, Auckland
- Tiffin Afternoon Tea at The Langham Auckland – this post
This trip to Auckland and Waiheke Island, New Zealand was planned by Jac and me. We paid for all meals, accommodation and activities; the exception was 1 x return premium economy flight Perth to Auckland, which I received at an Air New Zealand launch event last year. Everything I blog about the trip is based on our experiences and all opinions are ours.