APIVITA afternoon tea at the MO Bar – honey to the bee…

For all those who are sick of eating cucumber sandwiches at afternoon tea, rejoice! The MO Bar at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong is introducing their new APVITA afternoon tea set this October and I’m proud to say that cucumber did not make it into the tea set in any shape or form. Plus, it’s themed around honey (it follows on from the fab APIVITA honey-themed spa treatment that Rach enjoyed earlier this year) and we all know how good honey is for you… Does this mean that I can say that I’m detoxing while gorging on yummy food? The more I eat, the healthier I will be, right?!

The crowning glory of this special tea set was the Mediterranean Quiche. I’m not a quiche fan and to be honest, I only knew the dish I loved most was a quiche after I ate it! It’s so light and yummy that I was tempted to steal the other piece for myself as well!

A very close runner-up was the crispy hummus and mint pita was topped with oh-so-pretty olive oil caviar. I feel like it’s so hard to find good hummus in HK so I gobbled that up so enthusiastically, someone somewhere should be ashamed of me.

For the sweets, I was slightly disappointed in the selection. I don’t like refined sugar at all, so I was hoping that I would fall in love with the natural sweetness that should be present thanks to the all-natural honey and Greek yoghurt ingredients. Alas, this was not so and I could still taste plenty of that refined sugar – I guess I’ll have to leave this tier for all the sugar lovers out there!

Nevertheless, I have to say that the panna cotta was a treat for the eyes. They placed such a pretty chocolate honeycomb on the panna cotta (it was even sprinkled with gold dust to look like pollen) that we almost decided it looked too good to eat… almost! And whilst the MO Bar may have skipped the cucumber sandwiches, scone lovers do not fear – scones are included!

Overall, if you’re on the hunt for a tea set with a twist, the APIVITA one should do nicely and you get an array of APIVITA gifts alongside your teatime delights too. Served up in the perennially chic and classy location that is the MO Bar, it’s definitely the perfect opportunity to treat yourself… just use the detoxing honey excuse like me!

The APIVITA afternoon tea set is available until the end of October 2012 and is served from 3pm to 5:30pm from Mondays to Saturdays and 3:30pm to 5:30pm on Sundays. It costs $200 on weekdays and $240 on weekends. All guests will be presented with an exclusive APIVITA box filled with Greek beauty secrets and a privilege voucher to enjoy APIVITA spa journeys at The Oriental Spa.