Unexpected but quite delicious tea at ChinoLatino, Albert Embankment

ChinoLatino at the RiverBank Plaza Hotel , 18 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TJ

Well it’s been a few days – been super busy with work also been out sampling all sorts of delights this last week  - on Saturday was at the Savoy at a black tie function – amazing – Jamaican themed food and cocktails.

Monday I took my sister for a birthday meal at Shaka Zulu in Camden, (what a venue- wood carved walls and furniture and delicious food)  and Tuesday sampled the delights of the pre theatre menu at Le Caprice which was , well,  exquisite.

Maybe I should extend this blog or do a side blog about non afternoon tea meals….?  Hmmm – see above… do have a day job …

Anyway – two entries this week – one an unexpected one – a lunch that turned into an AT and another guest photographic entry.

So my surprise tea was at the Riverbank Plaza Hotel where we were staying before our posh do at the Savoy .

Being Valentine’s night everywhere was booked or super expensive and the RiverBank Plaza had a reasonable rate and wasn’t too far in a cab. We arrived just after 3pm and had already decided that we should have a lunch. We knew the Savoy champagne and cocktail reception would start at 5.45 so best to eat something – the morning had been a whole blur of hairdressing and beautifying and lost bow ties…

Photo from hotel website 

But to my delight, on offer on the menu was the Chino Latino afternoon tea with a champagne instead of tea choice. Hubby was tempted but then spotted the steak and really wanted a beer ….

First off the bar where the tea was served was a delight – low lighting , little booths and low slung sofas and also bigger tables, the bar was colourful and fully stocked – lots of staff milling efficiently around. The tea was billed as “a modern twist on a British institution. A fusion of sweet and savoury bite size treats provide the perfect refreshment to a hectic day shopping or a light accompaniment to a late lunchtime business meeting

Photo from ChinoLatino restaurant website

At £13.50 per person or £17.50 if you had champagne instead, it really was good value too- if it was as good as they said . 

Well I’m happy to say it really was.

The picture on the menu (above) wasn’t how it was served – it came on what I can only describe as a shelf unit – really lovely to look at – difficult to photograph in the low lighting. Even Hubby was impressed !

They did get slightly confused as hubby ordered a steak and I ordered afternoon tea – I think they thought we were having it as a dessert and were sharing it, so was slightly irritating having to watch him eat and drink and no sign of my sarnies – but when I asked about it they were instantly apologetic and went to check and it came out soon after. He said his steak was perfect as was his beer! I think 4 pm was also the staff shift change so the new staff were trying to catch up with what was going on . But every member of staff was unfailingly polite (in the hotel generally to be fair) and easy to make eye contact with if anything needed.

The twists on the afternoon tea theme were a few great little touches.  Included with the savoury course were sushi parcels – very moist and fresh tasting, served with soy sauce dip.

There were two generous sized finger sandwiches, one egg and one smoked salmon and cream cheese. 

The scones were perfect ( crisp outside soft inside, served just warm ) with cream and jam which were served in crisp pastry shells – nice idea I hadn’t seen before

Then came two fresh fruit tarts – one was a very lurid green with raspberries (something about bright green food alarms me!) – I think it was pistachio – she did tell me but I can’t recall , but didn’t really taste of anything– the other was delightful blackberry and crème anglais little number

Lastly came the passion fruit cheesecake . This was a masterpiece – soft ginger sponge base, creamy cheesecake mix , fresh passion fruit with a little baked crisp of filo pastry. Sigh.  Remember the episode of Friends where they stole the cheesecakes ??? That was us that afternoon, trying to eat every last little bit ...

All this came with a glass of chilled champagne. Really hard to fault any of it.

English sirloin steak with an Asali Beer and big ol' mushroom

The lounge bar menu was generally really good – great choice of sandwiches, sharing plates of dim sum , more mainstream steaks and so on , and we also glanced at the dinner offerings which all looked like they needed trying.

They have extensive menus of all sorts – tasting menus, gluten free, Bento, Sake and cocktails . You can see some of their menus here http://www.chinolatino.eu/london/menus

Also would certainly recommend the hotel if you are looking for a place to stay in London – real little bit of luxury on the riverbank with views to Westminster palace and guess what – buffet breakfast was great too!!

I found the You Tube clip of the friends episode ...