High Tea at the Luxurious Aman Tokyo

Sleek, minimalistic and slightly mysterious. Built in 2014, Aman Tokyo is one of the city’s newest luxury hotels. Tucked away at the top of an Otemachi high rise a few blocks from Tokyo Station, it has an exclusive yet welcoming atmosphere. Rooms here hover around  150,000 yen per night… luckily for those of us with a tighter budget, there are other ways to enjoy this beautiful hotel!

Aman is a word found in several languages but was chosen from the name of a place in Thailand called Amanpuri, where the first resort was located, and means a peaceful place. Stepping into the enormous lobby of Aman Tokyo, you definitely feel a sense of peace wash over you. The charcoal slate flooring, the wooden furniture, the black grid detailing, and the pièce de résistance: a 30m-high shoji lantern-inspired ceiling made of washi (Japanese paper), together create a balanced and relaxing vibe. The enormous atrium is lit with soft white lighting, and brings a weightlessness to the room. Directly below the paper ceiling are two rock gardens and a water feature, an obvious nod to traditional Japanese architecture. Even though the decor is minimalistic, there’s actually so much to take in.

The Lounge

Centre water feature

Koto performer

West facing view of Shinjuku

“The Library”

North facing view

A waiter greets us and shows us to our reserved table… well, it’s more like a lounge with sofa chairs. We are here for their Black Afternoon Tea, a high tea service open to the public. We begin our afternoon with a glass of the most delicious passionfruit-orange champagne espuma. I didn’t even know champagne foam was a thing! With passionfruit my favourite fruit, I could have just spent the whole afternoon drinking this.

Moving onto the food, the highlight of the Black Afternoon Tea is a literal trunk of petit sweets, not surprisingly called the Trunk. Guests can choose which ones they like, and then they’re served on the 3-layer platter along with fruit, chocolate and savoury snacks. On the drink menu is a selection of Ronnefeldt tea, a high quality tea from Germany. I went with the very refreshing, seasonal ‘summer passion’ iced tea. Then followed it with a pot of Smoked China hot tea before finishing with a cappuccino. Gotta try everything!

I couldn’t get over how cute the presentation was of the fruit and chocolate on the top plate. It was such an interesting idea having the berries tumbling out of a chocolate trunk. And the pop of green from the crushed nuts complemented the red strawberries very nicely. My favourite items flavour-wise would have to be the pumpkin and pecorino romano cheese quiche, the peach and red current tart, and also the warm scones which I topped with jam and cream. It’s been such a long time since I had good quality scones and they always remind me of my childhood! But overall I found everything so delicious with great mix of flavours and textures, not to mention colours.

“The Trunk”

Top plate: berries berries berries (and chocolate)

Middle plate: the cutest petit sweets

Lower plate: savouries


Eye on the prize
Night falls on the city

Cocktail bar

High tea in this gorgeous hotel was an afternoon well spent. If you’re after a place to chill while trying some delicious snacks and drinks, then you might like to consider Aman Tokyo. More info can be found on their website.

Have you ever enjoyed a classy afternoon tea?