Blu Bar High Tea

Overview

Lovers of high tea will tell you that it's just as much about aesthetic as taste: the outfits, the adorable tiny food and the unmatched setting looking over the glittering harbour. Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney's new offering, Blu Bar High Tea, offers all of the above in spades. With sweeping views over the water and beyond from level 36 and resident pastry chef Anna Polyviou (otherwise known as the 'punk princess of pastry') at the helm, you can be sure this will be a little different than the typical civilised high tea experience. And, the best bit — apart from that epic view — is that the high tea is buffet-style. You know what means? All the sandwiches and sweet treats you can manage.

You can expect a bit of a twist on the usual cucumber and bubbly affair, starting with free-flowing teapot cocktails, filled with funky concoctions like Passion Tea-quila and Pink Panther. Traditional snack favourites like egg sandwiches and quiches will be on offer, and some not-so traditional desserts. Sweet treat flavours include piña colada (coconut, pineapple, lemongrass and Malibu), popping (caramel, popcorn and chocolate) and strawberries and crème (strawberry, mascarpone and vanilla). What forms these ingredients will take is anyone's guess given Polyviou's imaginative style.

This quirky high tea takes place in the hotel's Blu Bar every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from 11.30am–1.30pm and 1.45–3.45pm. It's priced at $75 per head on Friday and $95 per head on Saturday and Sunday and includes a glass of Champagne on arrival (Saturday and Sunday only) before you start on those free-flowing cocktails. What a civil weekend activity indeed.