Tokyo 2024 Travel Log: Day 1 — Dinner Tasting Menu at Caffè (カフェ)

Took the shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo this afternoon. Of course, after lugging around our 20-pound carry-on bags all day, we were exhausted and cranky, so we thought we deserved a fancier-than-usual dinner. Thus, we decided to indulge in the dinner tasting menu at Caffè, an Italian-inspired restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Tokyo:

Amuse-bouche: Quiche Lorraine and corn puff pastry

Appetizer: Rice puff-encrusted seared scallop

Pasta: Garlic spaghetti with chicken, onion, and asparagus

Fish: Panko-crusted sea bass with herb sauce

Meat: Filet mignon with mashed potato and asparagus tempura

Dessert: Tiramisu with vanilla bean ice cream

You know, tiny portions are deceiving because after six courses, I was surprisingly quite full. (They do also give you two buns — an olive bread and a French baguette-type bread — but still, I'm someone that usually eats 5 slices of pizza or 6 tacos in one sitting.) The most disappointing course was the pasta — it was tasty, don't get me wrong, but not particularly interesting — but all the other courses were fantastic, especially the fish and meat. Apparently, the dishes change everyday so you never get the exact same menu, but the tasting menu always includes six courses (plus coffee or tea). We usually don't dine in hotel restaurants because they're so overpriced, but we thought this was entirely worth it at ¥8,000 (about $72 CAD) per person. In fact, we loved it here so much, we also made a reservation for their strawberry-themed afternoon tea on Saturday!

Caffè (カフェ)

Hyatt Regency Tokyo, Lobby/2F

2 Chome−7−2

Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku City

Tokyo, Japan 〒160-0023

+81-03-3348-1234

Windsor Arms Hotel: Afternoon Tea

Last Wednesday, my friend Cynthia and I went for Afternoon Tea at the Windsor Arms hotel. Groupon featured a promotion on it sometime in December, and neither of us had ever experienced an afternoon tea service, so we thought we'd try it since it was a discounted deal. The coupon expires in June, so we finally decided to go last week when we both had the day off. We got seated in the Purple Room, which is gorgeous. It's called so because of the deep plum colour of the walls and the matching plush velvet seating, but it's trimmed in white with cream marble floors and has plenty of sunlight coming in with a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a beautiful fireplace, so it looks chic and classy rather than drab or gothic. Tables of all sizes are lined with crisp white table cloths and set with adorable floral motif tea sets, and there's plenty of cheerful framed paintings on the walls. Almost all the tables were filled, which is pretty impressive given that it was a Wednesday at 3:00.

Dainty tea cup sets
A tea pot each
We started off with choosing our teas. Windsor Arms serves loose leaf teas only, so each person gets a strainer along with their tea cup. I decided on the Private Windsor Arms Breakfast Blend because I prefer black ceylon teas. I just think it pairs well with all foods; to me, it almost acts like a palate cleanser and makes the flavour of whatever I'm eating brighter and cleaner. No regrets on my choice with their Breakfast Blend; they describe it as "robust, hearty, and malty" and it tasted great both black and with milk and sugar. Cynthia wanted something fruity, so she picked their Passion & Envy tea, which is a passion fruit green tea. We each got our own tea pot; the Victorian-style one in cream and black is adorable, but we weren't so impressed with that white and blue Chinese patterned one. It looks like those basic tea pots you get at dim sum. 
Strawberry rhubarb and mixed berry preserves, and Devon cream
Three-tiered stand
Fresh scones and goat cheese and caramelized shallot tarts
Scone with Devon cream, mixed berry preserves, and raspberry preserves
And then the food came! As with all afternoon teas, it was presented over three tiers. The bottom tier featured their fresh scones, two per person (one plain, one raisin), and goat cheese and caramelized shallot tarts. The goat cheese tart was good, with the tang of the goat cheese working well with the sweetness of the onions, but it could have been warmer, and the shell could've been flakier. I don't think they were freshly baked at that point; it seemed like they were made earlier in the day and left to sit on the counter. The scones, on the other hand, are by far the star of the show. Warm, freshly baked, crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, with just a hint of lemon. A smear of Devon cream and a dollop of their housemade preserves just make them sing. I would come back just for those scones.

A selection of fresh sandwiches
The second tier featured a selection of sandwiches: potato blinis with smoked salmon rosette, pinwheel egg salad, vegetarian with sundried tomato paste and dill cream cheese, and Croque Monsieur. The sandwiches were a little underwhelming, to be honest. Not terrible, but not great. All the flavour combinations were wonderful, but they just weren't that fresh. The sundried tomato ones and the egg salad ones are rolled, which made the bread (like, typical Wonder bread) a little too soft, almost soggy. They both would've worked better if they were styled in a typical sandwich fashion (like filling in between two slices of bread). The Croque Monsieur was good, too, ('cause, really, you can't go wrong with a grilled cheese with ham) but they were totally cold and somewhat hardened by the time we got to them. I wish they had put the Croque Monsieur with the goat cheese tarts on a single tier, made them piping hot in the oven before bringing it out, and eaten those first while they were warm. There's so much potential there. The smoked salmon ones were by far my favourite; the salmon was fresh (well, I guess raw fish has to be, otherwise food poisoning) and the potato blinis were substantial enough to hold everything on top without getting soft or mushy. Honestly, I could've just done with a whole plate of those.

Petit fours
The third and top tier featured a selection of petit fours: hazelnut mousse in a dark chocolate cup, a red velvet cupcake, chocolate and hazelnut ganache, and a lemon meringue tart. None of these were anything to write home about, to be frank. They seemed like the kind of desserts you could buy in bulk at Costco. According to their website, they're "exquisitely hand-crafted on site," but it seemed like they bought them elsewhere and just added some adornments on top. The red velvet cupcake was particularly bland, and the cake was hardened. I don't know if this quality is typical for afternoon tea services, but I've definitely eaten way more impressive petit fours (haha, I sound like such a snob). Mostly, I just wished they had a wider variety of petit fours. Three of them were chocolate-based, and I felt like they could've incorporated different flavours, maybe more fruity or more mellow like vanilla.
Weirdly enough, a lot of reviews about the Windsor Arms afternoon tea complain about the service, but I thought the girl who was serving us was polite and pleasant, and as efficient as she could have been (she was actually the only server there, so she had eight tables to attend to). She stopped by at least three to four times to clear things away and ask us how our tea was going and to see if we needed hot water refills. All in all, it was a good experience and I'm glad I tried it out. It was my first afternoon tea, so I have nothing to really compare it to, but I think I'd want to try some other ones before making any conclusions. I probably wouldn't return to Windsor Arms just because there's just so many other hotels that offer afternoon tea service for the same price (I mean, even with our Groupon, it's still over $40 per person after tax and tip, which is pretty standard), but I don't regret trying it. 

Windsor Arms Hotel Tea Room 18 St. Thomas Street Toronto, ON M5S 3E7 (416) 971-9666

NYC — Spring 2012: Trump Soho

Last week, I went to New York with my mom to visit my brother (and eat and shop, of course). My brother, being the generous dude that he is, booked our hotel for us and decided on the Trump Soho, which is a ridiculously gorgeous place in a beautiful neighbourhood. As of right now, Trump Soho is probably the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at in my life.

The entrance from the outside

Stealthily took a picture of part of the lobby

A plate of macarons (chocolate, hazelnut, strawberry) to greet us in our room

Along with some delightful chocolates

The desk with a flatscreen TV and a serious-looking phone

The insanely plush bed that I totally jumped on shortly after taking this

The seating area by the most amazing view

The aforementioned amazing view of midtown from our room

An amazing view of Soho from our room

The bathroom (a.k.a. the room by which I judge all hotel standards by)

Yep, it's definitely fancypants

The Spa at Trump toiletries smell ridiculously good

The "minibar" that includes a Nespresso machine and a bottle of Kate Somerville Quench Serum

Truffles in cute little boxes on the bedside tables

Total celebrity sightings at the hotel: Rachel Zoe and Cobie Smulders (you can see the photo I snapped of her on my Instagram here — seriously one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen in real life). Apparently, the cast of The Avengers was staying at my hotel for the Tribeca Film Festival (perhaps Rachel Zoe was there to style some of them?), though, much to my dismay, I missed Thor (a.k.a. the main reason I will watch this movie). Also, Justin Bieber was randomly staying there. At least, according to the hoards of paparazzi and teenage fan girls (and boys, actually) crowding the entrance. Yet, despite all the hoopla, it was still the bathroom that told me I was staying at a fancypants hotel.

Trump Soho New York

246 Spring Street

New York, NY 10013

(212) 965-0008

NYC (Winter 2011): Room-Mate Grace

Shawn and I arrived in New York on Monday (February 21), and checked into Room-Mate Grace. We picked this hotel after reading tons of reviews online, because it had a consistently good rating while maintaining a relatively low price (we got it for about $150 a night on Expedia). We also liked the fact that it was a boutique hotel, 'cause it has more character than your typical Holiday Inn. Plus, the location is literally a block away from Times Square, which was a huge selling point for us.

One of my favourite things about this hotel is that each floor has a different look. We were on the 13th floor, which features a black-and-white wavy wallpaper design (the 9th floor featured a crazy red-pink-purple mod wallpaper, the 12th floor had a metallic gold wavy one). And each door has a room number printed on it in the biggest font possible, so you could be clinically blind and still find your room. Had I been high, I might have never left our floor.

We got into our room, and based on what I've seen online, this is what all their standard rooms look like. It's a very small room, but it's New York, so we came to expect it. But the small space didn't really bother us, 'cause they utilized the room fairly well. The bed (which is surrounded by seating "benches" covered in cream-coloured faux ostrich skin) was pushed all the way to the wall, leaving more space in the centre. I personally loved the mod wallpaper and the lamp above the bed, though some people may find it gaudy. And even though it didn't fit in the picture, there's a flat screen TV on the opposite wall from the lamp, so you can lie in bed and watch TV comfortably. The bed itself was phenomenal, so plush and comfy and warm. Our room also came with a seating nook by the window, a table, and a mod-looking chair. And a DVD player and iHome system! Had there been a kitchen in the room, we might never have left the hotel.

The bathroom is always the most important part of a hotel room for me. I can sleep on the damn floor, if need be, but a good bathroom is non-negotiable. And our bathroom was awesome. Clean, spacious (given the overall space of the room), simple, and modern. There's no bathtub, only a shower with a rainfall shower head, but it suited our needs just fine. And their mini toiletries come in the cutest containers I've ever seen in my life.

They also have a swimming pool beside the lobby. We didn't utilize it, but I had to take a picture because it's the coolest pool I've ever seen. There's a video of a waterfall always playing on one wall, and it's in a dark room so you can see the effect of the pool lights, which I thought was pretty epic. And on the other side, which I didn't get in the picture, are tons of cushy seating so you can just hang out and look at this awesome pool. Overall, a great hotel experience. And the staff is super nice, efficient, and accommodating. I would definitely go back to this hotel next time I'm in New York.