PICS: MARCO POLLO

Once upon a time�not too long ago in 2010�Ramalaya, the high-end interior design showroom, opened its Tea Room, where afternoons were spruced up with warm scones, open sandwiches and tapenades. Sadly, those wide-eyed days are over.

Today, connoisseurs particular about flushes and fannings will find Kathmandu's waterholes stark or at the very least�milky. But fair attempts have been made. Not quite to a T, the herbal preparations at the Tings Tea Lounge Hotel, tucked away on a quiet alley in Lazimpat, are extracted from one of a standard selection of ten teas from China, India, Japan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, such as the Green Snail Tea or Pi Lo Chun, a long green leaf from Formosa, China with a flowery aroma.

Tea without cake would be a very miserable unbirthday. Cake choices at Tings are sporadic. At the time of the review, banana was fortunately available, a slice that arguably surpasses Snowman's banana chocolate cake.

And the tea party ends there. No three-tier displays filled with delectable cucumber canap�s and ladyfingers to be seen. Grub-wise, Tings is more wine and tapas than proper high tea. Its sandwiches (chicken, egg, cheese, tuna or tofu) are served on a hearty sesame-seed brioche stuffed with sprouts, tomatoes and cilantro, but could go easy on the mayo.

Perfect with a glass (or better yet, a bottle) of vino, the tapas sampler boasts five offerings: shredded chicken, tuna-egg salad, saut�ed mushrooms, tofu marinated in ginger and sesame, and homemade hummus. Crunchy pizza bites like the Pizza Bianca topped with potato and rosemary are a shareable savory snack. The spicy papaya salad is a recommended favorite but is heavily drenched in chili sauce.

Owned by Danish ex-pats, the boutique oasis is cut and pasted from a Scandinavian design h�set or architectural revue. Set in a chic environment of minimalist living rooms, quaint garden seatings and an open terrace, Tings is a perfect kickback for the aesthetically conscious.

For tea and snacks in a 'see and be seen' atmosphere, the prices aren't too steep. Wednesdays, kitchen's closed.

North on Lazimpat Road, left on the alley just before Hotel Ganjong and fifty wide steps from the Nepali Chulo.