Marco Polo Dining Experience – AFTERNOON TEA, Marco Polo Ortigas

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As a 5-star hotel in the Philippines, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila is a fifth-time winner of the Five-Star Award by Forbes Travel Guide. That’s why prospective guests are always curious to experience their very own Marco Polo dining experience.

In this post, we talk about our personal review of the afternoon tea set that Marco Polo offers to its patrons. This way, you can know if it’s worth the bang for your buck, or not.

Let’s get started.

• Connect Lounge at Marco Polo
• Marco Polo Ortigas Afternoon Tea
• Marco Polo Dining Experience

Connect Lounge at Marco Polo

Marco Polo Ortigas Manila is definitely one of the best choices out there for your afternoon tea experience. The hotel’s afternoon tea starts at 2 PM and ends at 5 PM daily.

You’ll get to enjoy your afternoon tea at the hotel’s Connect Lounge, which is directly opposite the Front Desk at the 24th floor of the hotel. Mirai and I love that it’s at the 24th floor, so we got to bask in the glorious views of Manila sunset while enjoying our tea and snacks.

I’m glad to say that Marco Polo’s Afternoon Tea set offers a wide variety of teas, sandwiches, pastries and desserts that will satisfy any sweet tooth.

Let’s talk more about it below.

Marco Polo Ortigas Afternoon Tea

For our 3 PM reservation, we went with English High Tea afternoon tea set.

First, we’re asked which we would like: coffee or tea. And since we get palpitations from brewed coffee, we opted to try their tea selections instead.

I got their Mango Vanilla tea, while my partner Mirai got their Earl Grey tea.

We’re both pleasantly surprised that their tea is served in a tea pot, so we have more tea to enjoy with their pastries.

Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed to see that Marco Polo doesn’t serve amuse-bouche with their tea set this 2022 anymore.

When Mirai and I went to try their afternoon tea back in 2017 (or 2018?), they served us with amuse-bouche at that time, so I was looking forward to it during our visit this 2022.

Setting that aside, it’s time for the afternoon tea set to arrive!

In the first tier, they included savory bread such as smoked salmon wrap, chicken curry vol a vent and roasted beef finger rolls.

Second tier is Mirai’s favorite, which had earl grey tea scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Finally, in the last tier, we got to marvel at the scrumptious-looking desserts such as chocolate nougatine, mango mini eclairs and hazelnut chocolate with strawberry.

Here is how Marco Polo’s afternoon tea set looks like, with the Manila skyline as its proud background.

Now that we know what their afternoon tea set includes, it’s time to share about our dining experience.

Marco Polo Dining Experience

We were pretty excited to try out the finger rolls, so that’s what we first ate.

And can I just say that it’s perfectly made?

The thin slices of cucumber enveloping the roll adds a touch of freshness to the dish. And when you bite into it and taste the flavorful roast beef, your mouth gets to enjoy both the intense flavor and mild sweetness.

Honestly, I could have eaten more of this. It’s a crowd-pleaser, too, since Mirai loved it — even though she doesn’t generally like cucumbers.

Next up is a sandwich, specifically the smoked salmon wrap.

A traditional combination, there’s a reason why smoked salmon goes perfectly well with cream cheese: it’s simply delicious. Frankly, though, it would have been even better if the pita bread were a bit softer and easier to chew.

Once we’re done with the first tier, we excitedly moved on to the second which had scones.

During our previous visit to Marco Polo, we tried out their afternoon tea and they served plain scones at that time. So I was looking forward to the earl grey scones that they’re currently offering.

Undoubtedly, we both think that the highlight to their afternoon tea set was the scones.

Scones should be golden on the outside and tender and flaky inside — and this is exactly what was served to us.

We love how crunchy the scones are on the outside, but when you cut into them, they’re soft and moist. I’m happy to say we polished off the scones, together with the clotted cream and jam that perfectly complemented the pastry.

By the time we arrived at the third tier, we were almost full, actually.

But who can say “no” to a bite (or two) of chocolate nougatine? 🙂

It’s such a nice way to end our little posh session of afternoon tea together.

Is there an afternoon tea buffet from Marco Polo?

No, there is no afternoon tea buffet from Marco Polo Ortigas. The hotel offers an afternoon tea set which is not eat-all-you-can.

How much is the Marco Polo afternoon tea set?

The afternoon tea set from Marco Polo costs ₱1,110 in total.

Based from their menu, it’s ₱888, but if you add the 10% service charge, 12% VAT and local tax for food and beverage, the total cost of their afternoon tea set is ₱1,110.

Final Thoughts on Marco Polo Ortigas Hotel

Was our dining experience with Marco Polo enjoyable?

Yes, the afternoon tea set was quite affordable and we particularly liked the view from the 24th floor. Service was professional, but not too hospitable, since we had a hard time asking for a second glass of water.

Nevertheless, we will be back.

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