Afternoon Tea at the Kahala Hotel and Resort

I’ve always wanted to try afternoon tea at the Kahala Hotel and Resort. I’ve dined at this gorgeous hotel many times, but never had afternoon tea. Luckily I had a gift card so together with my sister-in-law #4 we headed off to enjoy tea, pinkies up, on assignment for my blog.  

What is it about afternoon tea that I love so mucｈ? I think it’s that it combines everything I love: a pot of freshly brewed tea, a collection of teeny wheeny morsels of food, a relaxing time, girl talk, all in a beautiful elegant setting such as a five star hotel. It’s not just tea, it’s an experience, an escape from my hectic life which is not always as elegant and relaxing.

Tea is served daily from 2:00pm to 5:30pm in the Veranda which is an open air lounge just off the lobby at the Kahala Hotel & Resort, with sky-high ceilings and soothing sage colored decor. There’s seating both indoors and outdoors, and they have couches as well as tables (I prefer tables since I like my food to be at chest level, not knee level). We were led outdoors to our table on the balcony that overlooks the hotel pool and dolphin lagoon. It’s a little breezy out there, but the view makes up for it.

I decided on the Classical Tea Service ($28.00), their standard tea service with assorted tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and pastries. Sister-in-law opted for the Royal Service ($42.00) which includes all of the above plus a glass of champagne. Our server described some recommendations from the Mariage Freres collection, from which I selected Marco Polo, a caffeine-free Rooibos tea with fruity notes, and sister-in-law had the Eros which had floral rose petal flavors. Everything is served on the prettiest powder blue colored Bernaudaud chinaware (if I remember correctly, Halekulani also uses the same high-end brand for their tea service), but unlike Halekulani, the food is presented on a 3 tiered stand all at once.

 

At the top are chocolate chip scones and cranberry scones – yum!

On the next tier are the day’s selection of finger sandwiches: smoked salmon with a touch of fresh ginger, deviled ham with herb butter, “Maui surfing”(that’s what our server said it’s called; a cinnamon flavored bread with goat cheese and pecans), and Maui onion quiche.

The bottom tier holds the sweets: Chocolate dipped hazelnut biscuit, haupia cream puff, lilikoi tart, and lemon poppyseed cupcake.

Everything was delicious. Sister-in-law who is not that into sweets, said she wanted more of the savory items than the sweets, or at least the choice to substitute some items. As for me, I love my sweets. If you’re wondering how the tea compared to Halekulani, I’d say they’re very similar in terms of price, quality of food, presentation, and service (check out my review of afternoon tea at Halekulani here). Next on my list: tea at the Westin Moana Surfrider.

I can’t think of a better way to have spent my afternoon…

The Veranda at the Kahala Hotel and Resort
5000 Kahala Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
808.739.8760

Afternoon tea daily 2:00p-5:30p
$28.00 per person
Click here to view the afternoon tea menu on their website.