I am a sucker for pretty, aesthetically pleasing sweets. Not those candies that you suck, but sweets, as in desserts or pastries.

That's why one of my favourite birthday gifts last year was from my dear cousin Angie - a box full of colourful cupcakes, topped with immaculate icing.

I decided to choose a cosy place which has pretty sweets for a catch-up session with Yue. So, the both of us headed to TWG Tea Salon & Boutique at Republic Plaza for tea, which is a secret gem amidst the fast and furious CBD.

Heard about this place from Huiching, who recommended us their macarons. Online reviews were pretty favourable too. Plus, they have pretty tea-infused patesserie like tarts, cakes... :)

When we stepped in, we were greeted by rows and rows of tea canisters. I felt like I was in the set of Oscar Wilde's play "Importance of Being Earnest", very Victorian, surrounded by mahogany chairs and cupboards.


TWG Tea Salon's specialty, as the name implies, is in tea. They have a really extensive list of tea blends with names like Happy Birthday Tea, Paris-Singapore Tea and Timeless Tea. Interesting names eh?

Spoilt for choice, we decided to ask their in-house tea specialist for recommendations. She asked us patiently for our preference and even brought down canisters of tea leaves for us to smell and choose.

Being a tea noob (unlike Yue, who at least, has a little knowledge on teas), I tried to follow what she was saying about black, white and green tea. One thing I learned was that black/green tea is refreshing (ie. energising) whilst white tea makes one relax. And to truly taste white tea, one must drink it before drinking black tea. If not, the black tea would overpower the lightness of white tea on the palate.

After smelling their tea leaves from the canisters the tea specialist brought down, Yue chose Golden Rose which is a black tea, which is a blend of black tea, roses from Southern France and gold leaves (!!!). As for me, I decided to try White House Tea, which is a white tea. Like duh~

We had 4 macarons - 1837 Black (the purple one. It is black tea-infused), Lemon Bush (the yellow one. It has a very funny name, I know), Camelot (the black one. It has a rich caramel filling - my favourite)and Grand Wedding (the pink one, which is tropical fruit macaron)

Another picture of their macarons and its fillings!


And also their fruit tart, generously topped with a berries and a zesty passion fruit custard-thingy. It had a good base which wasn't too hard.

This is Yue who is admiring the beautiful surroundings of the tea salon.




Behind me are columns and rows of canisters. In each canister are different tea leaves.


I enjoyed the time Yue and I spent together, talking about almost everything under the sun, catching up with lost time, and listening to her rants about me being hard to meet :X
Pity Char couldn't make it because her bf is in town.

In the end, Yue paid for everything as she wanted to give me a birthday treat.
Thank you muchies Yue! :D

We decided that we would come back to this place again. Even though this place looks very atas, the service crew entertaining us that afternoon were anything but.

Good service, good ambience, good tea, good pastries, good company... What more can you really ask for? :)