Review of Vegan High Tea at The Lobby Lounge by applepancakes

$98++ for two, with a 15% off during the month of march if you quote “Go Vegan”! overall I’d say the savouries are better than the sweets, desserts were too sweet for my friend and me whoops! but here’s the breakdown:

favourites:
- meat-free barbecue bun (aka char siew pau!): THIS WAS SO GOOD omg okay the filling didn’t really taste like char siew but it was still meaty and yummy nonetheless. I think missing the honey and roasted flavour of char siew! but the pau though 11/10. it was deep fried (the two little paus next to the scones), and it tasted like heavenly fried man tous but ELEVATED. it was so crisp and super light as well. really good balance between sweet and savory too, love this so so much, a favourite between my friend and I hehe.
- gyoza: woah this was so meaty?? the filling inside was SO JUICY and had such a great chew to it. tastes quite similar to meat but according to my omni friend, said it didn’t have that overly meaty flavour like meat that would make it jelak! skin was also pretty silk but a little doughy especially at the crimped area, but my friend and I like the doughy part so we were happy HAHHAHA sauce was like quality soy sauce with some sesame oil, citron taste was missing but that’s fine bc the sauce was so good anyway! love the pickled ginger here too, was pickled well enough so the spicy taste of ginger was subtle hehe
- lemon lime curd, lemon almond sable: my personal favourite dessert! the sable was really crisp and crumbly which I loved, had a really nutty flavour that complemented the lemon curd really well! lemon curd was quite little though, but enough to give it a refreshing kick. whipped cream was SUPER LIGHT and I loved it. the lightest dessert here and very refreshing
- coconut sponge cake with caramelised banana jam and lime whipped cream: this tasted like good banana bread and also coconut which surprisingly worked really well as a flavour combination?? the banana jam gave it a very warm and homey feeling while the coconut made the whole dessert more tropical-like. really like how this wasn’t too sweet, whipped cream was super light as well. the lime really cuts through the sweetness! but the cake was a little bit dry and crumbly though:/

not as great but still okay:
- siew mai: meh this doesn’t really taste like siew mai, but still good on its own though! but the skin was really thin and it was kinda breaking apart:/ meat wasn’t as chewy here as in the gyoza, and it just wasn’t as flavorful
- raspberry belgium slice: hmm this tasted like gingerbread actually! quite homey but the jam and icing on top was TOO SWEET so it just made everything very sweet and we got jelak after a while. had to scrape the jam and icing to finish the sponge part oops. also not really a sponge but more like a bar?? quite dense
- chocolate fudge with mango passion fruit compote: really like the light chocolate cream on top but overall too sweet as well. the fudge was really dense (as expected) but could’ve done with a more dark chocolate bc the bitter chocolate flavour was kinda missing
- wild berry bumper bar: hmmm was very confused what I was eating HHAHAHA kinda like a protein bar ish? like there was some nutty and grainy taste and then some random berries in it. I didn’t really like this, also too sweet:/ too dense and one-dimensional for me
- scones: hmm these scones were a bit too dense unfortunately especially in the middle:/ was a bit too doughy and the strawberry jam slightly too sweet as well. missing the clotted cream!!:”(
- sandwich: very meh and bland sandwich, with the bread so DRY and crumbly that it didn’t even feel like bread:/ capsicum was grilled alright but it was literally just plain grilled capsicum with cucumber and some greens. quite flavourless, but recommend dipping it in the shoyu sauce from the gyoza HAHA