TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

If you are sick of the hustle and bustle of city and working life, you can check out the TWG Tea Salon & Boutique located at Republic Plaza.

(apologies for the lack of photos)

To get there, just follow the directions in the MRT station towards Republic Plaza. Once you're there, take the escalator up to level 1 and walk out of the building. At a most unexpected place, you will find a transparent sensor door that is not much wider than a typical home entrance. A TWG Company logo is placed in the middle of it and through the glass, a flight of wooden stairs, warmed by the glowing lights, invites you to enter.

The entrance hinted that I was about to enter a very different place. It seem like a portal. I took a deep breath and stepped in.

I ascended the narrow and enclosed stairways and emerged at what seemed to be a mezzanine in the building. Cylindrical tea containers, whose shape reminded me of the old tin milk containers Dutch ladies carried, formed the "walls" of the mezzanine. All I could see, besides the containers, was the tall ceiling decorated with crystal chandeliers and elegant drapery. The huge contrast with the enclosed and humble stairway created an amazing experience. It much reminded me of the experience of entering the grand sistine chapel (but with a touch of warmth and homeliness;)

At the top of the stairs, I was greeted by the store owner who peep over the counter a metre or so away.

"Hi" he said, "how can I help you?"

'Er... I'm just here out of curiosity?"

"That's good." he smiled.

"Maybe I can have some tea?"

"Of course!"

He showed me to the waiter at the platform half a mezzanine up. I stepped up and... I thought I was in a restaurant in France:

The place was filled with perhaps less than twenty tables, all European styled wooden pieces; the chairs were upholstered with a luxurious layer of cushion and velvet-like textile; the tables were covered with pristine table cloths, delicate plates and utensils. Some French music was playing in the background. The tall windows were covered with translucent silver curtains and the place was warmed with glowing light from the chandeliers.

I was shown to a seat in the furthest corner of the place and given the menus - a tea menu and a meal menu.

Being my first time in such a tea place, the menus thoroughly confused me: the tea menu listed all the teas with codes at the side (which later I found out they represent the grade of the teas) whilst the meal menu described, in too much detail and too much French, the food and pastries they have.

I decided to have a tea set comprising of a choice of tea and pastry. Other than that, I was lost. Thus I asked the waiter for recommendations for choice of tea and pastry.

I was served Bain de Rose Tea (an exclusive blend based on first flush Deejarling) and the Singapore Delight tart (a wild berry cream tart which uses some vanilla tea base or something. FYI, the desserts and pastries all had something 'tea' in them). As the waiter poured the tea into the teacup, a gentle rose fragrance filled the place. It was pleasant.

I sat in the shop sipping tea, enjoying pastry and occassionally glancing out of the translucent curtains into the cityscape outside. That was the only reminder that I was actually still in Singapore and in reality.

All in all, the experience and quality of food there was great.

The waiters and waitresses were friendly and knowledgeable in tea; they did not hesitate to answer my endless questions about tea and oblige my weird request to open the tea pot. And, they taught me more than I asked.

I spent some half hour there and left smiling and relaxed.

I will definitely go back again some day.




For your information:

My tea set costed me $22.35:
$16 (original price) + $3 (surcharge) + 7% (GST) + 10% (service charge)
The surcharge was because the choice of tea is capped at $9.50 and Bain de Rose Tea costed $12.50. Therefore I had to pay the difference.


Here's the address if you want to go:

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique
9 Raffles Place, #01 - 22
Republic Plaza
Singapore 048619

Tel: +65 6538 1837
Fax: +65 6534 1837

Opening hours:
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am - 8:00 pm