Introduction

My last post of 2024 is of a visit to the Mandarin Oriental Lucerne just before Christmas for afternoon tea. The Mandarin Oriental is what used to be the old Palace Hotel of Lucerne. The building dates back to the Belle Epoque and sits right on the shore of Lake Lucerne, opposite the landing for the steamers taking tourists on the lake.

The hotel is nicely done up to look festive. There are Christmas trees and decorations around the lobby area and the restaurant.

The afternoon tea is served in the enclosed veranda, overlooking the lake. Shortly after we arrive, the weather takes a turn for the worse, which makes it even nicer to sit there in the warmth while there’s a gale blowing outside.

The Afternoon Tea

The table is nicely set, and the armchairs are incredibly soft and very comfortable. There is a menu with a detailed description of the individual dishes and the choice of teas and drinks available.

To start, there is a glass of the Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle. But I’m not in the mood for champagne, so instead they bring me a glass of sparkling tea, made with jasmine, white tea and a light black tea, which is sweet and refreshing.

This is followed by a spicy ice tea with herbs and honey, that is infused with raspberries and thyme and goes exceptionally well with the savouries.

There are three types of sandwiches: coronation chicken, smoked salmon with crème fraîche, and boiled egg with white truffle.

In addition, there’s also a slice if Silserli served with pastrami, pickled cornichons and truffle sauce.

Next, we have lobster with iceberg salad in a thousand islands dressing, which is very nicely served in a golden eggshell.

And to conclude the savouries, there’s beetroot with cream cheese and arancini filled with Hokaido pumpkin. The savouries are all exceptionally good. I think my favourite is the egg with truffle, which is pungent and full of flavour.

The savouries are removed and the server inquires about choices for the tea. Without even looking at the tea menu at the back, I just ask for an Earl Grey.

The sweets are brought out on several dishes. The scones are served together with little cinnamon rolls that are very cinnamony. I also like that they don’t even try to pretend they have Devonshire cream – instead, they have sumptuously rich Crème Double de Gruyère. With that, there are two types of jam: raspberry and apricot.

The confectionery has been decorated to resemble a white Christmas bauble and a brown wrapped gift. The white one is filled wirh pear and walnut and covered in cream, whereas the brown one is chocolate cream and miso paste with sesame, served on a digestive biscuit base.

And to conclude, there is also a sablé with lemon curd in the shape of a letter B, as a reference to Bulgari, who provided the Christmas decorations at the hotel this year.

A Small Parting Gift

As we leave, our server hands as each a voucher and informs us that with that, we can collect a small gift from the Bulgari boutique in the centre of Lucerne.

We exit the hotel and walk along the lake towards the centre of Lucerne. It feels very cold now, and even the top of mount Pilatus is only just visible through the snow and clouds.

The gift from Bulgari turns out to be a small box of chocolates fron the confiserie Max in Lucerne.

Conclusion

I think I’ve been really lucky with the afternoon teas I got to try this year. All of them were a nice and pleasurable experience. Some more than others, and I would certainly put the Madarin Oriental in the more caregory.

The staff at the hotel were friendly, and the service was swift and efficient. But they were also a bit weird because while they were obviously properly trained, some of them seemed nearly shy, which is just a bit inconvenient if you’re working in customer service of any sort.

What Remains…

This will be my last post in 2024. The next post will drop on 1 January 2025.

In the meantime, I’d like to thank all the readers and visitors to this blog for their interest, but especially those who also take the time to comment. Your feedback and support are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I will now leave all you good people to enjoy your well deserved downtime with family and friends, if you’re celebrating, and send you season’s greetings!

“We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on by body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography – to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience”.

Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient