Golden Afternoon Tea at Mashrabiya Lounge, Fairmont The Palm

Afternoon tea on Palm Jumeirah can be a design experience too, not just pastries. At Fairmont The Palm's Golden Afternoon Tea, everything is served in a case styled like a jewellery box: gilded drawers that open one after another, each holding small bites. The tea is served at Mashrabiya Lounge, the hotel's lounge.

According to the hotel's website, Mashrabiya Lounge's design is arabesque and contemporary, and it looks out over the Arabian Gulf waters. It has large open terraces, where you can sit outside when the weather is pleasant. It's a lounge open all day: from 7:00 in the morning until 0:30 at night.

What's in the box? According to the hotel, the tea includes a welcome drink, 6 savoury bites, 4 handmade pastries, fresh scones, a palate-cleansing sorbet, and a selection of tea and coffee. The dishes incorporate touches of gold, inspired by the region's heritage and the hotel's arabesque design. The menu shown at launch included, for example, gilded brioche, smoked salmon with caviar, and pistachio-yuzu madeleines. The menu may change.

Mashrabiya is one of 11 restaurants and bars at the hotel, alongside Bask Beach Club on the beach, the Brazilian restaurant Frevo and the Asian restaurant Bā. During the rest of the day, the lounge serves pastries, small savoury bites and tea, and it also has a children's menu. So you can come to the afternoon tea with family too, and order for the children from their own menu separately.

The tea itself gets attention too. Mashrabiya serves a selection of tea from Japan, Sri Lanka and China. The scones are served with clotted cream and jam, in small gilded dishes. The pace is slow: you open a drawer, taste, drink, and open the next one.

The hotel offers three versions of the tea: Golden, Sparkling with a glass of sparkling wine, and Champagne with a glass of champagne. With us you can book the Golden Afternoon Tea, without alcohol. That makes it suitable for non-drinkers too, and for anyone coming with family.

Fairmont The Palm sits on the trunk of Palm Jumeirah, and it's a large hotel with a private beach 800 metres long. Afternoon tea here suits a Palm afternoon: after a morning at the beach, or before an evening in the city. Anyone who wants to keep sitting can stay on the terrace, where shisha is also served from 15:00.

Tea is served every day between 12:00 and 20:00, and must be booked 24 hours in advance. The late afternoon suits anyone who wants to sit on the terrace towards sunset. In summer, when the heat is heavy, it is better to sit indoors.