Review of past 6 months 2019

Well it has been a  very busy 6 months for afternoon teas since i started this blog in August 2019.
I have dragged my hubby to some which he had a little moan about i think he likes it really. Then my mum offered to come with me as she loves her cakes as much as i do.
My favourite afternoon teas from below would be St Pancras Renaissance, Podium Hilton Park Lane and of course the famous Savoy.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my reviews and looking at the photos. Let me know if you have tried any of them ?

August 
Montcalm , Marble Arch
Royal Horseguards, Embankment
Huttons Cafe, Wickford Essex

September
Cafe Concerto, Westfield Stratford
Rabot 1745, Borough Market London

October
Toby carvery, Buckhurst Hill Essex
Beagle bar The Manor House, Cotswolds
Savoy Hotel, London

November
Merry Fiddlers Pub, Epping Essex

December
Cafe Rouge, Loughton Essex
Waldolf Hilton , London
Podium Hilton Park Lane, London
St Pancras Renaissance , London

St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London

Monday 30th December
My last afternoon tea for 2019 which did not disappoint . I booked it via afternoontea.co.uk and it was priced at £45 each for Christmas tea with free flowing bubbles.

From the moment we walked into the hotel lobby i knew it would be good.......the lobby was huge and open plan. it is set inside the old original station and was like being inside a grand church with tall ceiling and arches. There was lots of comfy sofas and tables with armchairs and in the centre of the huge area was a bar and then various rooms including restaurants from each side of the old station.

We arrived about 20 minutes which was not a problem as our table for 2 was all ready waiting for us. It was small but the chairs were nice and comfy. Our waiter was called Bartholomew and he was very attentive and provided excellent service thought out our tea experience. He asked us a few times if we had any allergies to which i replied no but that i did not eat fish. My hubby will eat anything!!!! He then poured us a glass of Chapel Down Brut which was very nice. Instead of a clear glass we had a brass type goblet each which i thought was different and quirky.  He then got us our hot drinks and topped up our glasses.....this he did continuous throughout the  2 hours service.


We waited about 30 minutes for the sandwiches to arrive which came on a plate each. He did forget that i did not eat fish so had to change mine and bring a new plate out for me. The sandwiches on offer were as below



Egg & truffle mayonnaise with chives on spinach bread
Roast Norfolk Turkey, wild cranberry & thyme compote with watercress on walnut bread
Chapel & Swan smoked salmon, lemon crème fraiche & dill on dark bread
Cucumber, Maldon salt butter & mint on lemon bread
Crayfish, avocado, citrus mayonnaise & broadleaf cress on brioche

We both agreed that the Cucumber one tasted amazing with the butter and i really liked the walnut bread on the turkey one.

Next came a plate each of 5 cakes which looked lovely.....I thought it was good that we had a cake each and would not have to cut any in half !!!
At first i thought they had forgotten the scones which normally come after the sandwiches but my hubby pointed out that the scones are listed last on the menu.
The cakes were as below and the photo

Double chocolate Fondant Fancy parcel
Vanilla and raspberry celebration wreath
Strawberry and coconut bauble
Dark chocolate and mandarin mousse Christmas tree
White chocolate and cranberry opera cake

By now i was feeling rather tipsy and the waiter had opened another bottle for us which he left in an ice bucket by our table. It was also getting dark outside which you could see through the glass panels

 in the roof. The spot lights lit up the arches which looked spectacular. 

Lastly came the scones which were warm and freshly baked , a plain one  each and a raisin one each with 2 different jams and pot of clotted cream. Yummy as these are my favorite part normally but this time i think i liked the sandwiches best. 

We had such a lovely afternoon in this stunning hotel with excellent service provided by Batholomew our waiter. 

Nearest Station  : St Pancras  - Approx 10 minute walk.   
Best bits : Cucumber and the chicken sandwiches, lovely location and excellent service  
Worst bits : None  
Value for money : Yes defo considering how much we drunk and the standard of the food and service
would I go back?  :  Yes without a doubt 

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

Hi
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Enjoy your afternoon teas if you have had a chance to book one and treat yourself

Buyagift discount offer - 25% off ends midnight 17th December

Hi
Not had a Christmas afternoon tea yet ? Why not treat yourself and get a voucher via Buyagift with 25% off up to midnight 17/12/2019. Hurry need to be quick 

Just use code  COUNTDOWN  at the checkout

Podium restaurant Hilton Park Lane , London

Sunday 15th December

This is one of my favourite Afternoon Tea venues and the Christmas themed tea did NOT disappoint !!!!! I got it via Buyagift  when they were offering 24% discount . It cost about £44 for champagne tea for 2. Normal menu price  £49 each !!!!! BARGAIN.
Also i need to mention that the pastry chefs who created this tea won The bake off Professionals in 2018.



Upon entering the lobby you could not help but notice the extremely large Christmas tree covered in hundreds of fairy lights. And the entrance to the restaurant off the lobby was decorated for Christmas and on a table was a little moving village scene, loved the train going round the track.


We was shown to our table which had a little artificial Christmas tree on in a pot. The waitress checked for our allergies or dislikes and then asked if we wanted to start with the champagne...which of course was a YES from me.
First came the tray of sandwiches , i had chicken with lime mayo mini roll , cucumber and cream cheese sandwich and pastrami beef on mini roll. All of these were tasty but chicken was my favourite one. There were also 2 fish ones on the menu.

Whilst waiting for the cakes we ordered a cappuccino each. The restaurant was getting busy by now but the service was very good and plenty of waiters checking to see if we was OK and offering us more coffee and topping up our water glass.
When the cake stand arrived it looked amazing better than the photos i had seen.

There was 2 plain scones , 1 chocolate and one raisin with salted caramel spread, strawberry jam and of course clotted cream. The scones were still warm and we both agreed they were the best scones we have had for a long time......and we have had lots of scones recently !!!!!  They were so nice we had to ask for an extra one each to which they kindly brought us 3 , one of each type.
The cakes were decorated so nice and very christmassy and included Chocolate & Chestnut Tart, Passion & Coconut Log, Mulled Wine Bauble, Strawberry & Lime Parfait and Iced Christmas Surprise Letter plus Chocolate Christmas Tree sitting on a white chocolate decorated rectangle plate.

They all tasted good but i think my favourite was the Strawberry & Lime Parfait and Iced Christmas Surprise Letter.  The surprise was inside when you broke the biscuit in half to find a tiny chocolate heart, sprinkle shapes and edible paper with joke on.  The attention to detail was amazing and a lot of thought must of gone into designing this tea.
I loved the biscuit letter so much that cheekily asked if i could take one home for my son. They handed me a box with one in at the end to take home. 

Would defiantly recommend this Afternoon tea and they do different themes throughout the year.


Nearest Station  : Green park - Approx 10 minute walk.   
Best bits : Scones which were warm and fluffy and surprise Santa letter 
Worst bits : None to mention 
Value for money : Yes defo if you can get voucher deal but would still probably pay full price for this 
would I go back?  :  Yes again and again 

Sugar Plum Fairy Afternoon Tea - Waldolf Hilton Hotel London

Wednesday 4th December

So looking forward to this as booked it weeks ago via Bookatable . I went with my Mum and we thought it would be very Christmassy...........Not quite as good as we were expecting !!!!!! It cost £39 each .....£49  if we wanted a glass of champagne. Decided to just stick with coffee this time as my mum does not drink much anyway.

The hotel was nicely decorated and the afternoon tea was served in the Homage restaurant which was decorated to match the theme. There were white trees with fairy lights and little ballet dancer decorations hanging down and also in the large silver and gold wreaths on the white pillows. It was a large room with tables round the edge and a waiters station in the middle. on the opposite side to our table was a piano which a lady played throughout the tea .

Our table was small with a crisp white tablecloth and little glass vase with fairy decoration in. We informed the waitress of our allergies which i had already noted on the booking. We then waited ......and waited whilst they gave menus and drinks to other tables that had been seated after us !!!! My mum was not impressed as she was feeling hungry by now.  The waiter finally brought over a magical drink which was a small glass cup with blue liquid in. He then used a dropper to add another liquid which turned it purple. Next a clear glass teapot was put on our table in a tray , then dry ice poured around edge to create a magical smoke effect ..........All very dramatic i must say 


We both ordered a cappuccino and then waited about 10 minutes for the sandwiches to arrive only to be given the wrong ones after informing them twice no fish for both of us  and no mayo or mustard for my mum. The waiter apologised and after about another 10 minutes we got the correct ones. I had an egg mayo one , Cheese and chutney one and a beef sandwich plus three little coronation chicken ones on a round slice of pumpernickel bread. These were delicious and my favourite ...wish i had asked for more now as i noticed other tables asking for extra sandwiches.




Considering the restaurant was not that full the service was really slow and we had to wait a while for the cake stand to arrive.

The cake stand looked very nice with warm scones on the bottom plate and on the top little cakes. We had a plain scone each and a orange and raisin scone served with strawberry jam or spiced plum jam plus a pot of clotted cream.
The top plate consisted of a choux bun, opera cake, chocolate mini cake and cute sugar plum fairy iced biscuit. This was stood up in white candy floss.  Cakes were nice but more like a desert as mainly mouse and cream .

After asking for the bill the waiter brought to our table a little white piano with a tiny ballet dancer on which moved around the top to the music. Also on top sat two little macaroons which tasted lovely.
It was a bit quirky but a nice way to finish the tea and went with the whole theme

All in all OK but service could of been much better and would of been nice if they had played some Christmas carols

Nearest Station  : Covent Garden  - Approx 6 minute walk.   
Best bits : little coronation chicken bites and the macaroon at the end  
Worst bits : Service was very slow and they got the sandwiches wrong 
Value for money : I have had better cheaper ones
Would I go back?  :  Yes probably but not for the same themed one