W Osaka LIVING ROOM HARRY WINSTON "The Winston Garden Maze"

#EmotionalCafe

I had a reservation at W Osaka, and I visited the MGallery at Hotel Naru Seoul, which opened last month and uses a similar tray design in Korea. If I had to compare the two, I'd give the MGallery a thumbs up. LOL

The lounge is called Living Room. It features a circular bartop in the center, reminiscent of a cocktail bar, and a DJ in a DJ booth on one side, spinning electronic music.

The low tables and dim lighting create a club-like atmosphere, obscuring the surroundings and leaving only the light illuminating my seat, creating a unique lounge atmosphere.

When I first walked in, I almost walked out, thinking it wasn't a lounge. 🤣 My afternoon tea was at 7 PM. Like the Peninsula at Lotte Hotel Seoul, this place offers afternoon tea late in the evening, which is why I made the reservation.

The first three afternoon teas per day begin like this. The day before, I met a Korean employee at Tawa Yuraku Kyoto. Here, a Korean student greets me as the server.

He speaks Korean fluently. His particles, sentence structure, and pronunciation are excellent. He also tells me I'm good at Japanese, and we're all complimenting each other. He told me he was visiting Seoul last week, and I hope he had a good trip!

He greets me with a tray filled with three drinks: a welcome cocktail, a glass of champagne, and iced tea. Perhaps because it's dinnertime, he even puts on a spectacular fireworks performance.

This season's afternoon tea is a collaboration with luxury jewelry and watch brand Harry Winston, so we receive original merchandise as gifts. The tray is smaller than expected, but it's still beautiful.

It consists of five savory dishes, six sweets, and two scones. The scones and savory scones topped with caviar are served separately from the tray, adding to the richness.

Savories, in particular, pair well with champagne, making it easy to adapt to the atmosphere and having a profound effect. The creams are also a well-established flavor, so even though this was my third afternoon tea in a single day, I never got tired of it.

It was a special time, immersed in the unique atmosphere and space, where my senses of sight, hearing, and taste seemed to play together, yet separately. Thank you.