A few cookies crumble at the Hyatt's high tea

By John Aglionby

JAKARTA (JP): Afternoon tea has been part of my daily diet ever since I was old enough to sit at the kitchen table and grab the homemade scones. Until I came to Indonesia that is. If I ask for tea here all that usually arrives is a glass of sickeningly sweet murky brown liquid.

So when the Grand Hyatt announced they were importing an English chef to cook English high tea my spirits soared. This was an opportunity not to be missed.

The meal did not begin auspiciously. On opening the menu the only choice appeared to be between a vodka martini, a pina colada or a Bloody Mary. Bloody heck, I thought. This is not the type of tea I had been brought up to enjoy.

Having established that we wanted tea and not tequila, the waitress took our order and I assumed we had to approach the buffet, a sideboard groaning under a colorful and mouthwatering display of cakes, pastries, savory snacks and strawberries.

But there were no scones, no jam and definitely no Devonshire clotted cream. I thought I was imagining things. Was there another buffet? Were we in the right restaurant? Were we even in the right hotel?

Eventually the penny dropped. The first two courses, finger sandwiches and scones, would be served at the table and only then were we meant to tackle the mountains of food tempting the taste buds and waiting to wreak havoc on the waistline.

The finger sandwiches were unspectacular and I had never had smoked salmon mixed with cigar smoke before. The only way to escape the latter was to turn around and have a crustless concoction of cucumber and kretek cigarette smoke.

Then the next course arrived and at first glance I could tell the chef knew his stuff. His scones were reassuringly reminiscent of a disfigured dumpling and were not pristine creations straight out of a plastic packet. They had obviously been made to satisfy one's stomach, not entertain one's eyes.

And satisfy they did. The jam seemed underset and I prefer my cream a little more clotted but such deficiencies were mere bagatelles compared to the pleasure of feasting on truly English fare.

Indeed by shutting my eyes, listening to the tinkling teacups and giving my imagination free rein, I could almost pretend that I was not 50 feet above pollution-belching buses but 50 feet above the English Channel in a West Country tea shop.

The buffet did not disappoint either. The wafer-thin sable cookies were delicious, as were the fruitcake, the shortbread, the Eccles cakes and the Welsh Barabirth.

This curiously named dish was an enriched loaf filled with sultanas and almonds, topped with a light almond glaze. I had never had it before and for me it was the highlight, almost worth the Rp 30,000 charge by itself.

All that was missing was Lardy Bread, a flat dough filled with raisins, sultanas and covered in lard. But as Bart Buiring, the hotel's food and beverages director said: "I felt I had to cancel it at the last minute because if someone had eaten it and then discovered it was full of pig's fat we would have been knocking on devil's door."

David Bestall, the English chef, is a man who visibly has a consuming interest in food. Second in charge at the Hyatt Carlton Tower London he has been making scones and cakes for five years. This is his first time in Asia but the journey has been worthwhile, he feels.

"All I brought with me was my recipe book and myself so some of the ingredients, particularly the flour, took a little getting used to. There were a few teething problems to begin with but hopefully everything should be all right once I've gone."

Bestall leaves on Sunday and responsibility for the tea, which will continue, passes to the hotel's pastry chef Markus Bohr, who is glad his English colleague came.

He said: "Afternoon tea represents a very unique timeframe in which to serve food and is not for someone who has just missed lunch. It also includes a very unique type of food and needs to be prepared properly.

"At the end of the day what will prevail is not the sheer amount of offerings but how authentic is what you're doing. David has given us the authentic touch and that is what should set us apart from the others."

I agreed with them both except on one point. To fully enjoy the meal missing lunch would be a very good idea.

English afternoon tea is served in the Fountain Lounge of the Grand Hyatt every day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.