Fine Afternoon Set @ Another Fine Day

*Update: this post is about the main store of Another Fine Day. If you are looking for the review on Tea Saloon by Another Fine Day, please click here. :)

I told myself that I would write a review of Another Fine Day when I received this letter. The letter eventually reached my home in September 2012, but as you can see, I am only writing the review NOW. Sigh... 

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Back in early 2012, Terrible suggested we have tea at Another Fine Day. Having read about this little store in various magazines before, I hesitated to agree as I wasn't sure if I would like it. But for the sake of my readers (I can hear Hellish yelling "Come on, nobody reads your blog!! Your blog gets traffic only because I refresh the site every day!"), I thought I ought to review every tea place as far as I could. So in the end, I visited the place with Terrible and Wicked. 

We were greeted by the warm and buttery aroma of scones as soon as we stepped inside. The place was so feminine and cozy that it reminded me of a Victorian boudoir. It's the dream room of every girl (at the same time it's the kind of place which guys would like to avoid) - I wish I could spend a whole day playing Candy Crush reading on one of the sofas!

The shopping corner is no less beautiful. Here you can find teaware, stationery, toys, books, etc., all consistent with the store's girly and elegant theme. 

Bears and Little Red Riding Hood!

While everything is as dreamy as it can be, Another Fine Day is not a place designed for tea. It is intended to be, as I have read somewhere, a retreat for people in this high-octane city to pamper their spiritual selves. Here you will find "playshops" on tarot, crystal, vision board... :0 and also monthly "pet meditation sessions". :0 :0 :0 Hmm... better stop right here before I turn this post into a scientific critique. 

Afternoon tea is indeed served at Another Fine Day but it is a side dish rather than the main course. The store hosts a writing-to-yourself activity, which includes this exquisite letter set and a complimentary tea set in the price. 

Very pretty right? But sorry, the letter set means only the writing paper and envelope... box NOT included so you can't take it away. :( 

The complimentary tea set is nanoscopic. Shown here is the tea set for THREE <-- this is not a typo! Guess you now understand my earlier hesitation... but since I was totally prepared for this, I actually found the portion slightly bigger than I thought!

Scone with rose jam and cream: Ok but tasted a bit too floury, and it would be better if there's more jam!

Vanilla cupcake: I am hardly a fan of cupcake but this cute little cake was heaven! It was unexpectedly spongy, and instead of being sickly sweet it was done just right. :9 

Forest mushroom tart: Delish! Juicy mushrooms with a refined flavour. I appreciated that they used crispy filo instead of butter tart crust - look at the beautiful paper-thin layers! :)

Each tea set came with a pot of Fortnum and Mason tea. I picked Green Tea with Elderflower from the small selection and it turned out to be a great choice. I wasn't familiar with the scent of elderflower but the tea definitely had a flowery bouquet. There was also a soft undercurrent of honey in the cup. I noticed that Another Fine Day was selling F&M tea tins at over $200 each... I told myself that when I went to UK next time, I would definitely buy a few tins because each cost less than $100 there!

Let's not forget the main dish - letter-writing! The idea is to write yourself a "love letter", appreciating your own strengths and showing gratitude to yourself. The letter will then be mailed to you on a random day within the year. How sweet it sounds. However, the boyish me had absolutely no interest in such romantic activity... so rather than writing a love letter to myself, I wrote a review of the tea experience in the letter. I know, I am such a hopeless realist. 

Now you understand why I can only write this post after receiving the letter, haha... :P

THE VERDICT 

Afternoon Tea

Ambience: A+ 

Service: A-

Food: A--

Remarks: The whole place is magic. The tea set is truly small, but I won't complain because it's meant to be an adjunct AND it's free! 

Letter-writing
Value-for-money: D (The letter-writing + tea experience cost $198 per person. Since when has loving myself become so expensive!?? I guess I would be much more satisfied if the letter box could be taken home!)

Overall Remarks

Another Fine Day is a beautiful store and I am genuinely in love with the ambience. However, it's not a place I would go for tea. Nor would I recommend the letter-writing experience - you can do the same thing at your own home with your favourite writing set, so why should you pay so much for it? I was hoping that Another Fine Day would offer proper tea set some day instead of using the space for all those "new age workshops", and guess what, my dream has finally come true!! They have recently expanded and opened a tea saloon at another location, which I am going to visit very soon. I wish the new place would be just as lovely. Will keep you all posted! ;)

INFO

Another Fine Day (website / Facebook page)
G/F, 13A Prince's Terrace, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong
Opening hours: 11:30am - 8:00pm (Tue - Sun)