One of the great pleasures of a late night is the taking of a pot of tea midway through the night. Usually I go to the Westin due to its proximity and the giant pots of tea they have. However, sometimes you really want to see the great view from the 35th floor toilets at the Sofitel so you go to the Atrium Cafe. The view really is fantastic (and free!) but it was also backed up by a nice old-fashioned decor, free nibblies which may not always be eaten, but certainly appreciated, these awesome pots of hot chocolate, and $11 pots of loose-leaf tea that came in a silver service, although naturally without the kettle.
Lately, the cafe has been undergoing renovations and, as I discovered last night, a complete change in service and quality. The decor...its quite *cool and modern* looking - the colour scheme has changed from a reddish-brown and yellow colour scheme to black and silver. It looks quite nice but it makes the place look more like a cocktail bar than a place for relaxation before more partying. Or as Cam described it "It looks like Sydney".
The service - after initially being denied entry because one of the males in the group was wearing open sandals, we found the quality of service has decreased. Not only did it take a waiter a while to give us our menus, we did not receive the nibbles (not that we would have eaten them anyway), and things just seemed to have lost their sheen of quality. For one, Cam's Chilli Martini (which was really hot) was forgotten, and we had to remind the waiter for it. The cool little pouring pot of hot chocolate has turned into just a normal cup and saucer. I'll complain mostly about the tea since that's where most of my expertise lies.
You all probably had a heart attack at the thought that I have paid $11 for a pot of tea. Well, that pot of tea was usually pretty great. Not as gimmicky as the Westin with their tea-light keeping it warm, but the silver service set is a nice touch and they're pretty generous with the refill pot (although not as generous as the Windsor). I don't recall who supplied their brand of tea but I can say for certain that they are now using Lipton tea bags. And no hot water jug. I was a bit surprised that their new menu did not include which teas they had and I was downright fuming at the thought that I may have had to pay $11 for tea bag tea! The other tea-drinkers (peppermint tea) were not as incensed as me, although they too baulked at the idea of an $11 tea bag tea.
Well tea has now been downgraded to $5.50 so it wasn't so terrible but I'm still much displeased. Hopefully they'll pick up their game and my next visit won't be so full of horror. Lucky for them the view is awesome - that probably guarantees another visit.
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