Afternoon tea at The Peninsula Hong Kong expands with new cafe offering Instagram-friendly sets and a less formal experience

The Peninsula Cafe, in the famous Hong Kong hotel’s basement, will open on May 28, serving coffee, ice cream and a specially designed afternoon tea set platter

The downstairs area has been converted into a retail space, bookshop and cafe where people can buy items like the hotel’s signature teddy bears and mooncakes

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The Peninsula Cafe, in the basement of The Peninsula Hong Kong, will serve a specially designed afternoon tea set platter, parfaits and coffee. Photo: Courtesy of The Peninsula

Published: 3:15pm, 26 May 2021Updated: 4:57pm, 26 May 2021

The Lobby at The Peninsula Hong Kong, a well-known place in the city for a spot of afternoon tea, will soon face stiff competition – from downstairs. The Peninsula Cafe, an intimate space in the Kowloon-based hotel’s basement, will offer customers a less formal dining experience than the one they’ve come to expect upstairs.

The five-table cafe is part of an expansion by The Peninsula Boutique, the hotel’s retail arm, of the basement area, which has been converted into a flagship retail space, bookshop and cafe that covers 3,500 square feet (325 square metres) – three times its original size.

“What we have now is just a boutique, but how do we stretch that to make it more experiential so [we can have a] tea tasting space, chocolate tasting, workshops – when it’s safe to do so – and bring in this cafe space?” asks Guy Riddell, general manager of Peninsula merchandising. “The world of pure retail space is evolving, so we wanted a place where we have space we can use for the next five to 10 years.”

Customers will be able to buy items like the hotel’s signature teddy bears, its popular mooncakes (which are available in the lead up to the Mid-Autumn Festival), XO sauces and teas. There will also be a lifestyle store featuring books from French luxury publisher Assouline, whose coffee table books sell for as much as HK$9,000 (US$1,160).

The interior of the cafe. Photo: Courtesy of The Peninsula

The existing boutique has always had a selection of cakes for takeaway but its individual portions, chocolates and macarons will now be available in the cafe – which one can’t help but compare to its older sibling upstairs.

“This is much smaller. We only have five tables – it’s a very different style of design,” says Riddell. “The Lobby will always be very opulent, very grand in style and can accommodate a large number of people. It’s world famous for afternoon tea. This is more of a cafe style – it’s less formal service [and a] more intimate space.”