Monday, 18 July 2022

Caffe concerto afternoon tea - 3rd time

 Saturday me and my mum had a nice afternoon tea at caffe concerto in Westfield Stratford. This is my second afternoon tea at this branch and my 3rd one at caffe concerto.




Every time I have got such a good deal by buying a voucher from Buyagift and using their discount code. The voucher on website last year was on offer at £29.95 but I used a discount code so only cost me £19.95 for both of us !!!!!

Currently on Buyagift it's £42 which is still cheaper than the menu price. 

I must mention that I had a bit of a nightmare trying to book it up. I tried calling and emailing the Westfield branch with no answer and was automatically transferred  to the caffe concerto customer service dept. 

The lady I spoke to said they were fully booked every weekend in the summer and that they only accept up to 4 vouchers a day. She was not helpful at all. 

I needed to return something to a Primark store so decided to call the branch at Bond street as there is a Primark store near there. They were very helpful and said they do not take bookings weekends but we can just walk in and no problem with accepting voucher for afternoon tea. 

Unfortunately we did not make it to this branch as there was a problem with the Central line trains so we ended up at Strafford Westfield in the end. We decided to just go to the caffe concerto restaurant and see if we could get a table. 

The waiter was very nice and said yes there was a nice table in the conservatory and that they accepted the voucher. So in the end it all turned out good and will bear this in mind next time !!!!

We looked at the afternoon tea menu and informed the waiter that no salmon and my mum no mayonnaise. He explained that the sandwich fillings are all ready made so my mum could just have the cream cheese and cucumber which was fine. 

Prosecco Afternoon Tea for two

Selection of finger sandwiches & mini brioche rolls: Cucumber with cream cheese - Egg mayo-mustard. Scottish smoked salmon & soft cheese - Chicken mayo & sundried tomato. Freshly baked raisins & plain scones with Cornish clotted cream & strawberry jam. Assortment of mini cakes. A choice of tea from our world selection.





 - Chicken mayo & sundried tomato. Freshly baked raisins & plain scones with Co

We had our glass of Prosecco whilst waiting for the tea stand to arrive. This went done very well as it was a hot sunny day and the Prosecco was nice and chilled. 






After about 15 minutes the tea stand arrived. I asked if there was some plan cheese and cucumber sandwiches and the waitress said there was two which had just cucumber so I requested some with cheese also as my mum could not eat the egg or chicken ones as these had mayonnaise in. A few minutes later she brought out two cheese and cucumber ones just for my mum. 




I got two chicken mayonnaise with sundried tomatoes which was really nice and two mini egg mayonnaise brioche rolls plus two chicken mayonnaise brioche rolls which I think we're the replacement for the salmon ones. 

They were all nice and fresh and tasty 😋





The scones were warm and a nice size. We got one raisin one and three plain one to share plus a mini pot of jam each and a very small pot of cream to share. Good job my mum does not like cream as more for me 😉 whilst enjoying the scones we ordered a cappuccino each.




 




Lastly we had the cakes on the top tier. We got a chocolate tart each and macaroon plus a strawberry mouse cake and chocolate mouse cake to share. 




The tart had rich ganache chocolate inside and was delicious as well as the rich light chocolate mouse cake.  

We both enjoyed this afternoon tea before heading to the shops. 

I would definitely get another voucher if on special offer again or if I have a discount code to use as there are so many branches in London we can go to. 


Nearest Station :        Stratford Westfield  - about 10 minute walk 
Best bits : The glass of Prosecco and Chocolate tart plus the chicken sandwiches were really nice    
Worst bits :  Nothing to mention apart from trouble with trying to book   
Value for money : Yes 100%  for the £19.95 I paid including glass of Prosecco each     
would I go back? :  Yes if I can get another good deal  







Saturday, 9 July 2022

Dalloway terrace afternoon tea

Today I had a nice afternoon tea with my friend Michele. It's something we do in July every year and I liked to go somewhere different each time. 





This afternoon tea is priced at £40 each and I booked it via www.afternoontea.co.uk. this is a website I used quite often as has lots of afternoon teas and it also shows the menus which is handy. However for this particular afternoon tea the menu was different to the one on the hotel website which has the new summer menu ...link below for the current menu offered

https://dallowayterrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/DT-Summer_Afternoon-Tea-min-1.pdf



Dalloway terrace is in the Bloomsbury hotel near Tottenham Court underground station. It has a lovely outdoor all weather terrace decorated with pretty artificial flowers. It has a canopy roof so can be used all year round. To get to the terrace we walked through the Coral room which is a lovely lounge  bar with comfy seating. I think they also can  serve the afternoon tea in here. 



Once seated we looked at the menu and informed the waitress we do not eat fish and my friend does not like coronation chicken. 

I ordered a red berry tea and my friend a cappuccino. We also got a glass of tap water as it was a hot sunny day. Even though we was in the shade under the canopy it was still hot . 





It took about 20 minutes for the tea stand to arrive and the 4 sandwiches each came on our own plates.




I liked the coronation chicken one best followed by the egg mayonnaise mini roll. When the waitress asked if we wanted any more I ordered another one of each of these two. 



My friend unfortunately did not like her sandwiches much so asked if she could just have plain cheese ones. These were brought out along with my extra ones. It's nice to know that they can make them up fresh to order and can cater for different requests. 

Before starting on the scones we ordered another drink each . This time I ordered a cappuccino as had had enough of the fruity tea. 



The scones were generous in size and we got a golden raisin one each and a lemon one each. Unfortunately they were no longer warm but still tasted freshly baked. We got raspberry jam and thick clotted cream to go with them . Both of us like lots of cream on our scones so we had to ask for some more. This was brought out to us with more jam too. 

Both scones tasted lovely and it was a nice change to have one with a slight lemon flavor.

Finally we tucked into the cakes ....we got four different ones each on our own plates. 



I must say I was disappointed with these as the flavors were unusual and tasted and looked nothing special.

We both liked the pink strawberry mouse one and neither of us liked the jelly one . It had weird texture and no flavor to it so we both left it. 

The lemon and basil cake sponge was hard and dry and the cheesecake was nice but had a very strong ginger flavor.  I was surprised that there was not a chocolate cake as must people like chocolate. 

We had a lovely time chatting away and the service was very good. Extra hot drinks were offered along with more food if we wanted it. 





Nearest Station :        Tottenham Court Road  underground  - about 5 minute walk 
Best bits : Pretty terrace and nice scones plus good service    
Worst bits :  The cakes which were disappointing   
Value for money : Yes as we was offered  extra food and hot drinks.    
would I go back? :  Maybe when they change the menu