Anti:Dote Afternoon Tea Fairmont Review for Mother's Day

Whisk yourself away to a brilliant afternoon tea at Anti:dote! Believe it or not, Anti:dote is the best place to bring your mother for a wonderful afternoon tea this Mother's Day. The restaurant claims to be "a stylish and modern cocktail bar with a progressive selection of concoctions that appeals to the most discerning taste buds". Unfortunately, we weren't there for the premium spirits and housemade bitters. I was there, ready to be swept away by Anti:dote's new afternoon tea set, with nine other bloggers.

Anti:dote organic egg, sea urchin, salmon roe and caviar

As a starter, you get to choose either Dim Sum or the Organic Egg. This is followed by a four-level drawer filled with sweets, savouries, scones and biscuits. I shared my drawer with Ai Ling because we were both late, oops!

Selection of steamed and fried Hong Kong dim sum

Scallop Siew Mai, Carrot Cake and Taro dough fritter

The dim sum selection changes weekly. We had the siew mai, carrot cake's and some taro dough fritter. The carrot cake was really fresh and didn't taste too oily. The scallop siewmai makes it more chewy. I thought the dim sum selection was just average compared to better dim sum vendors in Singapore, though it may be because the dish was pretty cold by the time we ate it.

Dimsum selection

Organic egg, sea urchin, salmon roe and caviar

Personally, I prefer the organic egg, sea urchin, salmon roe and caviar because the flavours were really well-balanced, and the texture was quite interesting. You have the slightly sweet, mildly salty, brisk flavours with tiny 'balloons' exploding in your mouth. The presentation of the dish was also fantastic— I mean, who would have thought that an egg dish could look so stunning with a few stone pebbles? Quite interesting, I'd say.

Organic egg, sea urchin, salmon roe and caviar

What an awesome presentation

The Anti:Dote Sweet & Savoury Drawer

Four sets of Anti:Dote Sweet & Savoury Drawer

Dazzling, gorgeous, enchanting— these are just some words to describe the drawer. My photos aren't an accurate representation of how they really look in real life— such delicate sweets and mouthwatering savouries. Ai Ling and I took awhile to figure where to start from— some of my friends decided to start from the bottom. We decided to go with the second level drawer first.

Antidote afternoon tea— fascinating drawers!

Boston maine lobster, pickled cucumber, dill brioche

Boston maine lobster, pickled cucumber, dill brioche; Wild mushroom duxelle vol au vent

There were just too many to feature in the second level drawer! Anyway, my personal favourites are the lemon cream cheese wrapped with smoked salmon, and topped with Ikura roe. They were smooth and refreshing, slightly citrusy with a touch of acidity. This went really well with a neutral-tasting fish like salmon. I also liked the Boston maine lobster, and the wild mushroom duxelle vol au vent. I had my qualms of eating duck confit and foie grass because of the cruel videos I've watched on YouTube... *ugh*

From left to right: Smoked salmon, lemon cream cheese with Ikura roe; Iberico ham, seasonal truffle tart; duck confit, foie gras terrine

After what-seemed-like-eternity, we finally progressed to the sweets section! I already felt like my tummy was bursting through the seams of my clothes. Anyway, here's my favourite part:

Left to right: Cream cone; Black sesame macaron (milk chocolate); black sesame macaron (dark chocolate); Strawberry cream cone

Level 1 and 2 of Anti:Dote drawer

Left to right: Traditional Paris Brest, ; Lemon sable, grapefruit parfait; Chocolate praline; Mini strawberry cake, vanilla chiboust; Green apple tartlet; Coated Strawberry

In this section, we all have mixed reactions towards the different sweets. Some of us really loved the green apple tartlet, while the others don't find it quite fascinating. I thought the mini strawberry cake looks really stunning! All of us agreed that the lemon sable, grapefruit parfait tasted really strange.

Traditional Paris brest

I think the traditional Paris Brest stood out as it was light yet creamy. The layers somehow remind me of Ferror Rocher chocolate balls *grins*.

Warm chia seeds / Parmesan cheese square scones

My table preferred the warm chia seeds scones because the crunchiness from the chia seeds made the scones a lot more complex. We had a lot of fun dipping it into the various spreads (shown below).

Sugary biscuits with different spreads

Homemade raspberry jam, devonshire clotted cream, homemade lemon curd

At this juncture, we were too bloated with the top three levels of the drawer. Thank God these biscuits were wrapped in plastic bags! We all agreed to keep them for later snacks. Anyway, the devonshire clotted cream and homemade lemon curd were fantastic!

TWG Oriental Tea Selection

I've tried Grand Classic — French Earl Grey, the really popular Bellini, Pink Flamingo (Green Tea blend) and Holiday in Paris (White Tea blend). Firstly, I'm really surprised that TWG is a local brand. Secondly, all the teas were really fragrant and refreshing. Personally, I prefer the Holiday in Paris as it has a light floral taste. For stronger selection, you'd want to try the Earl Grey classic or the Bellini. Unfortunately, Bellini was sold out when Ai Ling wanted to order again.

The price / cost of the afternoon tea was $48++, inclusive of one pot of tea per pax (refillable once).

Special thanks to the following people who made the session really fun:

Ai Ling, Elle, Hence, Ivan,  Jennifer, Kris, Melissa,  Rachelle and Tiara!

Anti:Dote Singapore

Pastries, Coffee & Tea: Daily - 7.30am to 11am

Afternoon Tea: Monday to Thursday - 3pm to 5pm
Friday to Snday, Eve Of Public Holidays and Public Holidays 

12pm to 2pm (first seating)

3pm to 5pm (second seating)

Dress Code: Smart Casual

For reservations, please call +65 6431 5315 or email askus@antidotebar.com.