The Cortile is the famous meeting point at the Intercontinental Sydney. Offering curated delicious seasonal treats at their weekend High Tea Buffet, which is great value.
I love visiting the Intercontinental, especially at Christmas time. The halls were decked with Christmas trim and the food was sumptuous they just know how to add a little Christmas magicš Make this your next hightea adenture, you will be amazed at the variety of savoury and sweeties on offer.
I have also tried the newly launched buffet brunch at the cortile, which is designed as a brunch mini buffet. Food offerings were limited, there could have been more savoury breakfast and sweet options, to dine on. Needs a bit more variety, to be worth the $60 odd price tag.
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The Cortile is located on the ground floor of the Sydney Continental Hotel. The closest way to get here by public transport is walking from the Circular Quay bus or train station. We booked the seasonal high tea via Lime&Tonic which ended up $45pp ($10 credit for new members & there was 2 of us) instead of $50 and $62 as the Intercontinental usually prices it. Included in the high tea is a glass of sparkling wine and tea of course to go with the high tea experience.
We didnāt realise it was an Easter themed high tea but it did say seasonal high tea and it ended up being a nice touch for Easter. The high tea overall was wonderful so Iāll just list the ones that we didnāt particularly enjoy. It was the salad cup and the chicken & mushroom pie. The salad cup didnāt taste the freshest and the chicken & mushroom pie was quite dry and we did not enjoy the flavour at all; it resembled dry chicken liver.
The Cortile was peaceful and made a nice atmosphere for high tea or if you just want to grab a bite to eat or sip a coffee or tea. Iāve attached an image of the menu for our Easter high tea below.
Can't really fault it! Amazing service, great selection of teas, everything food wise was tasty, delicious and beautifully presented, my favs are the tabouli salad, chicken sasauge roll w truffle aioli, scones w cherry jam and Chantilly cream, and vanilla macarons! Wish I could have eaten way more than I did!
The high tea has an absolutely massive selection of treats. Definitely go hungry because there is so much to try. Friendly staff and the chef was kind enough to come out and let me know what allergens were present. Beautiful decor. Also had a piano player which was a lovely addition.
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Height of hotel hospitality. A woman in a wedding dress certainly captures attention, even in a hotel (the Intercontinental) with a Vera Wang wedding dress concession. But the wonderful service at the Cortile can't just be about that, as the excellence continued once the bride had retired.
Oysters vinaigrette, champagne and super fresh sushi were the order of the day, a lovely light supper after a day of feasting and festivities. It all was top quality (with five star prices to match) but being looked after so well was a delight compared to a highly unedifying encounter with the reception staff (the subject of a different review). Service was polished, unprompted, thoughtful. And the cozy corner booth we were offered was perfect for our needs. The Cortile also hosts high teas each afternoon which looked luscious from afar.
If you want high end style with excellent service, this place should be on your list. It won't set the world on fire (although it might do that to your credit card) and it will offer elegant, sophisticated quality.
Itās a bit of an annual tradition for us to hit up the dessert offerings at Good Food Month and this year, we kicked off our Good Food Month adventures at the InterContinentalĀ Hotel Sydneyās Sugar Rush. The Sugar Rush is on in The Cortile, the plush lounge on the ground floor of the hotel which features deep leather seats and cosy booths. When it comes out, itās a whimsical delight with multiple layers starting with a smooth, tangy passionfruit curd, contrasted with a sweet rhubarb and strawberry compote, an intriguing cardomom crumble, French meringue, passionfruit souffle and a large tuft of fairy floss to top it all off. The dessert is pretty enough on its own, but itās served with a plastic dropper on the side filled with sticky sweet cassis syrup, which you drizzle over the fairy floss to Ā make it ādissolveā.
We came here to do a High Coffee with a large group of people and had a great time. Ā I'd never done a High Coffee before and it was pretty impressive. Ā The food they brought out was unique and tasty and the coffee was good (although after 3-4 coffee's I was buzzing pretty hard).
The whole ordeal took almost 3 hours so it is quite an event--definitely think you should try it out sometime on a lazy Sunday when all you feel like doing is eating and sitting around. Ā You will be incredibly full after the eating everything they bring out, I promise.
Three years later, D2D and I return to the Intercontinental Sydney Hotelās āHigh Coffeeā. A lot has changed in the past three years ā back then, I didnāt even drink coffee at all. Not even a mocha! Iām not sure how I ended up at High Coffee last time, but I suspect it was because I was invited along by friends and generally I trust whatever friends suggest as being reliably fun / good. That seems like a good approach right? Say yes and find out later what youāve signed up for!
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written by forfoodssake Alex: When one (I) thinks of hight teas, itās generally a bunch of ladies sippinā on some English breakfast as they laugh and scoff down some scones, talk about stereotyping much? There was none of that to be seen at the insanely magnificent Cortile Lounge at the Intercontinental Sydney. For starters, I am not a tea drinker, while I appreciate all the different flavours and what not, Iāll generally never drinkĀ oneā¦anywhere, unless Iām sick. So when I heard about the somewhat infamous āHigh Coffee Experience ā at the Intercon I was intrigued amused and uncomfortably excited. I hadnāt even had any coffee and I had the shakes! The Cortile Lounge offers both High Tea and High Coffee packages but for anyone who is serious about their coffee and enjoys a good amount of quality food that isnāt a buffet, then read on because this is gonna knock ya socks off! Before we began our seating ā Head Pastry ChefĀ Youssef Arderdour (who before starting at the Intercontinental worked with Alain Ducasse) informed us that the idea behind the High Coffee was that you were taken on a journey and each coffee that was brought out was made to compliment the different food so clearly by this stage we were like little lost puppies who were dying for some sugar. Our lovely waitress brought out the first coffee of the day,Ā The Cortile Espresso Martini made with Vittoria Single Origin Estate Coffee. I donāt understand how anyone could not enjoy an espresso martini, alcohol, and coffee, two of the greatest things ever. The martini was strong Ā but were a great accompaniment to our first serve of savoury delights. The first out of the three was the Quinoa Salad with heirloom tomato, basil, garden pea and smoked mozzarella. Light and aromatic with a hint of citrus. There was some contrasting textures that were enhanced by the juxtaposing flavours. Iām not a fan of seafood so they made this for me instead of the salmon croissant. A vegetable sandwich consisting of eggplant and
Located in the beautiful InterContinental Hotel, a few steps away from Circular Quay, The Cortile Lounge is a great place to gather the girls and enjoy a lovely afternoon with an abundance of pastries, cakes and, ultimately, plenty of tea. The service is as you would expect from a 5-star hotel and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. The dishes come out on a typical 3-tier stand and are accompanied by your choice of juices or water. The top tier has a range of different pastries and scones, the second is filled with sandwiches, salads and wraps and the final tier consists of various mouth-watering desserts and sweets. To finish off a delicious meal, the choice of either a pot of tea or a cup of coffee is provided. For a lovel
Cute little lounge area within a hotel.
Anyone can come and visit have a drink.
Myself and two friends booked in to eat at the high tea buffet which was around $60.
Many sweets were available and those of you who are chocolate lovers would be in heaven.
A gentleman was playing the piano while we are so the ambiance was lovely.
I visited here in January 2019 for high tea. The Cortile area is well appointed and has a very nice and relaxed feel. Lounges are very comfy.
Staff were friendly enough.
Food was presented well and they had a festive menu at the time.
My guest had food allergies, which I advised when booking 4 days earlier. We were a little disappointed with what she was given, not really worth the money. Some of the food served to her had cheese in it, which she could not eat and we had to ask nicely to have it changed. What's frustrating is when you give ample notice and they stuff up.
For those who eat everything the food was good. I have had better, and what would be nice is if they offered you more sandwiches.
Part of the package was a festive cocktail, we had mocktails instead.
Tea though was served to us after we finished our food.
Nice place overall but could use some improvement.
Extremely stuffed, freshly cooked cakes and great bunny treats for Easter :) very friendly staff and also has sub food for anyone with special dietary needs. Live piano !
Letās be honest here, fantastic ambience plus these really good tasting and looking desserts; served with refreshing mocktails - indeed the perfect pair!! šÆšÆšš¼šš¼š„š„
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