I have been to Hilton twice throughout my stay in Adelaide and it was probably one of the few places which had exposed me to fine dining. Both visits were indeed memorable and it was a worthwhile experience for my companions and I.
Via Facebook, I was made aware that Hilton is celebrating it's 30th birthday and there were many offers up for grabs for the early birds.
I was fortunate enough to snag myself a high tea coupon for two for just $30.
High tea is available on weekends from 2-4.30pm and the coupon was valid for the High Socialtea menu.
Upon arrival, we were nicely greeted by the floor staff and were soon seated at our reserved table. However, it took more than 40 minutes before our tier arrived and none of the serving staff were even bothered to offer any explanation for the delay. To top it off, the couples whom were seated much later than us were served before us.
After some time, a waitress finally spoke to us and reassured us that the food would be served shortly. Once our food arrived, the same waitress quickly went off to serve the last tier to the other couple and to my dismal, she did not even bother to explain the assortment of delicacies on our tier to us but she did gave a thorough explanation to the other diners. My companion and I were left guessing throughout our entire afternoon here.
High Societea~ at $30 for two people compared to $39 per person, this would be the only positive side from memory.
Top tier: Baby doll cupcakes, fresh fruit tarts and French macarons. The tarts and macarons were a nice treat which probably made me mellow down a tad bit.
Bottom tier~ Sliced proscuitto, cucumber and cheese sandwiches, smoked salmon, dill and sour cream sandwiches, quiche lorraine, curry chicken salad puffs. I don't exactly recall seeing any smoked salmon, dill and sour cream sandwiches but it may have been excluded from the menu on that day.
Middle tier: Chocolate hazelnut petite four, berry friands, scones with jam and cream and mushroom pate pie with candied tomatoes. I like the little pie pieces and the chocolate hazelnut petite four slices. Was delicious and a nice addition to the menu.
Curry chicken salad puffs~ not bad at all.
After guessing what was happening around us, my companion finally braved herself and walked to the front counter to obtain tea for the table. Unknown to us, the front counter actually serves a unique range of Dilmah tea and you can get yourself a pot full of it if you like!
Haigh's Chocolate bar~ we were not sure if we could pinch some of the food off this section but after observing the other diners antics, we finally decided to go for it. The delicate chocolate "fingerfood" available were delicious but after finishing off our food, we could barely put anymore sugar into our system. Not that the chocolate dessert corner tasted awful or anything of that sort.
I am not usually that fussy when it comes to service but this is really subjective to location. I won't be terribly upset if I am only paying $10 for a bowl of noodles at a dingy outlet but if I am paying $30 for it at a fancy restaurant, I do expect service to be of satisfactory standards. I have had excellent experiences here before and I do hope this was a once-off "everyone-has-a-bad-day" moment.
1 comment:
Give me wholesome Aussie food anytime in a noisy but genuinely heartwarming atmosphere; anything is better than a cold and pretentious restaurant manned by snobbish staff deluded into judging their patrons as beneath themselves, which they certainly aren't. I will certainly give this place a miss, and gladly give my business to Mr. & Mrs Smith & Jones.
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