The daily afternoon ritual of Victorian Ladies has now evolved into an occasion luxury treat as many leading hotels and restaurants serve it in the late afternoon. The French Kitchen has recently launched a new afternoon tea and called it "French Afternoon Tea". I had imagined it to be like the typical three-tier British afternoon tea set that is dominated by sandwiches, scones and cakes but I was totally wrong.
Firstly, everything from the savoury to sweet is served on a stylish black plate. Secondly, they were not the usual smoke salmon, egg and mustard cress sandwiches, or pound cakes where one can easily recreate at home. Those dainty bites were masterfully crafted and aesthetically more appealing than the canapés which appear in cocktail receptions. For instance, the pink dome on a crispy toast was a flavourful champagne salmon mouse with bits of crunchy cucumber. Next to it was mortadella rolled with rucola greens. It's my first encounter with mortadella, a traditional cured pork that originated from Bologna, and I thought it was well-balanced with the minty leaves. 
Instead of soft sandwiches, there was toasted French baguette with creamy shrimp, eggplant and basil sandwiched in the middle. While the baguette required more teeth strength than soft white bread, I loved its light crusty fragrance. As for the chicken terrine rolled in gelatinous chicken skin, I could not find any walnuts or hazelnuts inside and perhaps a little more salt would enhance the taste.
The desserts were the timeless French sweets such as Caramel Cream Flan and Champagne-infused rosé jelly with mixed red fruits and we ended with the petit three (macaron, pâté de fruit and Madeleine).
French Afternoon Tea @ The French Kitchen
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