Joakim Persson

Afternoon tea The Glasshouse, The Prestige Hotel review: After a round tour of the Penang hotel premises and discovering its fabuluous and quite feminine-designed rooms, one can actually harbour high hopes about the new Penang hotel’s dining offers. Here, we tried the ’Afternoon Affair’ at The GlassHouse restaurant, and which will certainly make customers happy – which is what we always strive for in terms of experiences. The attention to quality and details are second to none, and the setting is colonial-inspired and beautiful. And there’s a sense of romance and heritage permeating the grounds.

So, first a few words about this discerning hotel. The Prestige Hotel pays homage to Malaysia’s Straits colonial past, bringing local inspiration to life for intrepid world travellers seeking to experience local charm at its best. The hotel represents a contemporary colonial scene, with 162 rooms, an all-day dining outlet, an arcade with a mix of retail outlets, event spaces and a rooftop infinity pool – and with a slice of magic! Inspired by the brilliant art of illusion from the 2006 movie ‘The Prestige’, which is appropriately set in the 19th century Victorian Age, The Prestige Hotel presents a playful homage to magic. This is evident through certain details within the property – for you to disco ver! Also, the hotel draws upon its cultural relevance to the same era of its colonial surroundings within Church Street. The way this hotel represents modern heritage really stands out through the clever blend and beautiful interior design details. The hotel most certainly will appeal to the contemporary world traveller of today.

The Glasshouse is based on the ground floor (within the hotel’s Victorian Arcade), facing the road on one side and a small tropical garden on the other. It is described as a tropical Victorian Eden, and is a charming space indeed, with interior fittings that evoke the senses, including brass rails along the front of the counter. The setting has a tropical vacation/outpost feel. As the hotel’s all day dining restaurant this is also where hotel guests enjoy their breakfast.

Its white walls have a diagonal square pattern made with wooden strips. Furniture are made with rattan, wood and white-painted tables with blonde wood table counters, while colonial style chairs are made with light brown wood or painted white. Sections of the floor tiling consists in a white-grey-black classic – geometric – cube pattern. The saloons also have black ceiling fans enhancing the colonial feel. There is also a fauna theme, with the decorative pillows in hues of green, green-yellow and mustard. It’s an overall elegant atmosphere.

Street-facing, there are wall-mounted sofas with rattan and faux leather deep green padding.

The shining, gold-rimmed tea set has a similar green-hued porcelain for the large pot and cups (and the same goes for the three-tier afternoon tea stand), with a selection of teas from TWG.

The afternoon tea is served on weaved golden placemats, and when the afternoon tea stand arrives, filled with sandwiches, scones and pastries one has hard times to keep self-restraint. No, savour the moment and enjoy it all because this Afternoon Affair – priced at RM 78 for two persons – turns out to be exceptionally good, raking among the top ones! All pastries are done with passion and eye for details, looking sumptuous and tasting sinfully good!

The Scones – ah, those scones, can’t get enough of them while visting Penang! – come with sliced strawberry on a tiny bed of whipped cream on top, while the smoked salmon & cucumber with cream cheese also has a green garnish. There are Spicy chilli shrimps and roasted chicken with pesto and, on the sweet front, chocolate choux pastries and macarons. As gorgeus desserts the super fluffly tiramisu crunch has a hard crunchy layer at the bottom, and the honeycomb sponge gateu is a sensation! Tea cup after tea cup is enjoyed to consume it all. You’ll end full-filled…

Readers can expect that the pastries and the sinful desserts will change during different periods.