Christmas afternoon tea in Grand Saloon Dury Lane theatre

 Yesterday I had a lovely Christmas afternoon tea with my friend at the Dury Lane theatre Covent Garden London. 

It is served upstairs in the very Grand Saloon restaurant with its high ceiling and pillars . The table and chairs are set around the large bar in the middle of the room. 

I booked this direct with them and it is priced at £49 each or £58 with a glass of Taittinger Champagne. We went for the Champagne one as it was Christmas ! 

Upon arrival we were shown to our small table at the side of the room with nice low velvet chairs. he table was laid with  bespoke china and matching embroidered white napkin 

It was very busy and there was some nice Christmas piano music in the background. I commented to my friend that I was surprised that there were no Christmas decorations in the room which I thought  a bit strange. 

Maybe they did not want to spoil the grand ambience of the room 

We were handed the menu and asked if we had any allergies. I informed them that I do not eat fish and could I swap the Salmon one for an extra sausage roll

Whilst sipping our Champagne we ordered some lemon grass tea which sounded nice from the tea menu and waited for the food to arrive. 

We only had to wait about 15 minutes and the food all  looked very nice. The waiter brought over the savories on a plate each and then the scones on another plate wrapped up in napkin to keep warm with pot of jam and pot of clotted cream. The cakes arrived on a tea stand and we got two of each type. 

It was nice to get different savories than just the usual sandwiches. Both the sausage roll and goats cheese one were delicious. I could taste the truffle oil mixed in the goats cheese and the sausage roll pastry was crisp and buttery. Very tasty indeed. 

Next we had the fruit scone that was still warm . We only got one each and it was rather small and flat. This was a shame as it tasted amazing with a light texture inside with a crispy outside. It will be up there with some of the best scones I have had. 

We both ordered another drink each as the waiter said the hot drinks were unlimited. This time I had a cappuccino and my friend the afternoon tea one. 

The first cake I tried was the mince pie which was not like a traditional mince pie. It had a filling of cranberries soaked in something which were very moist in a crispy pastry case. It was OK but not something I would want another one off. 

The chocolate cake looked very nice with its green frosting and gold star. It was delicious with its salted caramel and biscuit filling. Surprisingly it was not too sickly either as the frosting was not too sweet. 

I saved the sticky toffee pudding cake to last as this is one of my favorite desserts. This was very rich and sweet and had a small blob of custard in the middle with the caramel sauce . 

All the cakes were generous in size so after eating them all we felt extremely full !!!!

We still however had just a tiny space in our bellies for the ice cream which was Champagne and strawberry flavour. 

This was served by straight from the wooden trolley in a silver shell shaped bowl. It was nice but melted quickly and was very sweet. 

Before leaving we both had a  coffee each

It was a nice grand setting for an afternoon tea and our waiter looked after us very well. He explained all the food to us with such enthusiasm  and smiled throughout the service. 

Nearest Station :        Covent Garden underground station     - about 8-minute walk 

Best bits : The lovely savory food instead of sandwiches and delicious scone plus the grand surroundings   

Worst bits :  Was not offered anymore food as would of loved another scone.   Also not much of a Christmas feel about it.   

Value for money : Yes as the food was very nice and hot drinks unlimited.    

would I go back? :  Yes maybe when they change the menu.

Harvey Nichols Christmas afternoon tea

 Today I took my mum for an afternoon tea at the iconic London store Harvey Nichols or Harvey Nicks as I call it. 

My mum has never been there before, and I have only been there once a few years ago with hubby. I got a Buyagift voucher which cost me £50 for both of us which is a saving of £20 against the menu. 

The restaurant is on the top 5th floor of the store which has a small food and drink shop plus a bar and few other restaurants. It was buzzing and very busy.

We arrived half hour early and shown straight to our small table for two at the side. It was a shame we did not have a table by the window as view from there was nice. It was very busy, and tables were close together. The chairs were metal and not very comfortable, and it was very loud with people talking from all angles. I will say that it was decorated nice for Christmas and very brightly lit. 

We were handed the menu and asked if we had any allergies to which we said no fish and my mum no mayonnaise. Surprisingly there was no fish or mayonnaise on the menu which makes a change!!!!

I ordered a glass of champagne which was £10 extra and my mum ordered a cappuccino. 

We waited about 15 minutes for the tea stand to arrive and when it did it very nice and full of food. 

The sandwiches looked nice as had different colored breads. We each got a warm cheese and spinach tart along with a cheese and cucumber brown bread sandwich, cheese and pickle in black bread, turkey and cranberry in brown bread and hummus vegetable one in yellow onion bread. I liked them all and they were very fresh. 

Next, we had the scones which were still warm and crunchy on the outside. We got 2 each a fruit one and a plain one that was darker, and I think made with brown sugar as had a slight caramel taste It was very nice and great with the strawberry jam and clotted cream. They were large in size too and my mum said they were one of the best she has had.

We had to ask for more jam as only got a one mini pot between us, so the waiter brought us another two pots. 

I ordered a coffee and then we started on the top tier of little cakes. There were 5 different types of which we got 1 each consisting of below

Mini mince pie 

Chocolate black forest log slice

Cherry frangipani cake

Carrot and orange cake square 

Chocolate mousse cake

They all tasted lovely, but I think my favorite was the chocolate mousse with the crispy buttery biscuit base and creamy chocolate filling. 

The waiter asked if we wanted another hot drink and I asked if this would be extra charge and he said no so we both ordered another coffee each to finish with. 

it was a nice afternoon tea for the money with lots of good food. However, if you want a luxury and relaxing afternoon tea this is probably not the one for you. 

Nearest Station :        Kingsbridge underground station     - about 2-minute walk 

Best bits : For me it has to be the scones and Cheese and spinach tart which were freshy baked and still warm  

Worst bits :  metal chairs which were not comfortable to sit on      

Value for money : Yes as lots of good food on the stand    

would I go back? :  No probably not unless I am in the area shopping and hungry