My friends are posh too ...Part 3 - Claridges

Claridge's Foyer
Brook Street, Mayfair
London W1K 4HR

Sadly not me enjoying this tea ....but not much needs to be said when looking at these pictures, except look for an excuse to go I'd say! 

My friend, her sister and her mum loved it - although it was very expensive (£55) it was a real afternoon tea experience rather than  just a meal, and as it was for a special birthday they felt it was worth it.

Just the crockery and cutlery are amazing ! 

The sandwiches were fresh,had generous fillings and they were happy to swap out the ham ones for the non meat eating sisters.

They were also unlimited! 

  

There was a choice of raisin and plain scones with clotted cream and gelee.

The cake choice looked incredible - I was very struck by the beauty of the Raspberry and Rhubarb Macaroon, but apparently they change them every two weeks, so can't promise one of those if you go there.

There was a choice of twenty teas, a tea lesson for the tea drinkers and they were serenaded by a pianist and cellist. 

The surroundings were beautiful and they came away stuffed,  with a little gift of Rhubarb and custard sweets to soften the blow of the bill. 

That's how you do Afternoon Tea! 

Could do better ...... Novotel London City South

53-61 Southwark Bridge Road 

SE1 9HH  LONDON 

First of all I know that going to a chain hotel probably isn't the best place to choose when looking for a London Afternoon Tea - but this was a part of a Buy a Gift deal bought as a birthday present which included the Tower Bridge experience.
The Tower Bridge was absolutely brilliant walking along that walkway ! But I have used Buy a Gift many times and had great experiences or great feedback from giftees but this will make me much more cautious. 

The tea was served in the Elements restaurant, which was very quiet - there were two other couples sat in there also taking tea, but we did feel a bit lost in what was very obviously a restaurant set up for business stays and conferences - there were some nice looking areas they could have screened off or made a bit more interesting.

We were seated by the window - which we thought was a nice idea until we saw that our outlook was the car park - at one point we even had the recycling truck pull up for a while to obscure our view further!  

Our waitress, Paula, could not have been nicer and did help to make the experience better, but it was a very lacklustre affair.

Above you can see the menu, with the choice on offer - my friend doesn't eat meat so we asked for a change of sandwich from ham which was happily changed for a cheese one. My friend ordered coffee which came cold - the second cup ordered was hot when we pointed this out to Paula.

My assam tea came in a white pot, although had a tea stained spout and tea stain dribble down the pot from the spout - not a good look but was lovely and hot and strong with a tea strainer (again stained and bit bent) 

Sandwiches were very fresh with generous fillings - three each with a mix of brown and white bread.

Scones hmm - if you look at the menu it does say SCONES plural but we only had one each, small, obviously quickly heated in the oven so was a bit too crispy -  and the horror of jam in a little jar ! But there was a generous amount of cream to spread.

The most disappointing bit for us was the pastries which were obviously defrosted - the vanilla slice was soggy and still very cold in the middle, the carrot cake was lacklustre - but the eclair was tasty.  

If you take out the cost of the TowerBridge part (10.50 each) the experience was £59 for two so the tea was £38 - a reduction of £12 from the restaurant price.

This was definitely not worth the full price of £25 and only just at £19 each with no atmosphere, setting unsuitable, food only ok. 

We had tea a 3.15 and left by 4 pm - normally it takes us a couple of hours at least to work our way through tea and cakes and chatter. 

We left a tip for Paula because she was lovely and she couldn't have served us more charmingly, but there are much much better places to take tea, and I wouldn't recommend this as one of them.  

House of High Tea Berkhamsted - Guest Blog from Helen and Pat

61 High Street, Berkhamsted HP4 2DE

Feels faintly ridiculous that I haven't made to this place as its only a few miles from where I live, but a couple of friends of mine went last week and shared their thoughts and photos. It's a family owned business, open Wednesday to Saturday and won an award for being the best Chiltern Tea Shop of 2014. 

Here are Helen and Pat's combined thoughts.

The tea room has lots of attention to detail with each table and chair set different and fresh flowers to set it off. There's even  a tiny upside down table with a mouse enjoying his afternoon tea on the ceiling! The background music was suitably relaxing and added to the atmosphere. 

We had home made sausage rolls and cheese scones before sandwiches and lemon posset to cleanse our palate before the scones and cake. 

Everything we had was home made and there was a lovely choice of cakes on the counter. There was also twenty types of tea to choose from. 

We couldn't finish it and took a cake home each. 

We must go back and try the breakfast version - a range of mini breakfast items including bagels with smoked salmon, granola pots, sweet pastries ...

All in all House of High Tea was lovely but expensive for a non London venue at £22.50 and they added 10% service charge - which again is unusual outside a London venue. Happy to leave a tip but I prefer to choose. 

I have to say ladies it does sound lovely and as it so local also means no cost to go into London etc

Café Dutch @The Dutch Nursery Brookmans Park

The Dutch Nursery Ltd

Great North Rd, 

Brookmans Park, Nr Hatfield

Herts, AL9 6ND

http://www.dutchnurserygardencentre.co.uk/ 

This was a GroupOn offer that seemed too good to miss - Afternoon Tea and Spa Treatment for £19 at Reflections @ The Dutch Nursery in Hertfordshire. 

Let’s face it - it would be rude not to.  

We’d booked this a while ago as this was the first time we were all free at the same time during the day so had almost forgotten about it, it was a great end of term treat!  We found it slightly disconcerting walking into what looked like a show conservatory for the massage in the Reflections Salon, but once inside it was like any other treatment room, nicely draped and decorated and lovely ambience and tranquil music.  We did have totally chilled out, relaxing back, neck and shoulder massages, just the right amount of pressure.  

http://reflectionsthedutchnursery.weebly.com/about.html for further details about their holistic treatments. 

By the time we’d all three finished we were all totally floppy and went and sat in the Café Dutch on the delightful terrace for our tea.

I was very taken with the beautiful V&A cups and saucers and plates! No choices of tea offered (we didn’t ask actually – too chilled after our massages!) but could have had coffee if we chose.

Tea was served in a nice china white teapot and milk jug, and then the 3 tier tray was brought out. This was very pretty!

The other girls are both vegetarian so had veggie sandwiches and I had normal – sandwiches were ham and mustard, egg and of course cucumber and cream cheese - with generous butter and fillings.

There was a cute little selection of cakes lemon drizzle (gorgeous) mini eclair and mini victoria sponge.

If I had to criticise one thing it would be the paucity of scones – there was only one mini one each although I liked the addition of the sliced strawberries. The normal cost is apparently £10.95 for Afternoon Tea  - I think if I had paid full price I would have expected at least two of those mini scones or a full size one and less cakes, as to be honest for me the scones are the highlight of an Afternoon Tea. 

But that’s me being greedy and I'm sure if I’d asked they would have given me another one. The staff were very helpful and charming and eager for us to enjoy our tea.

Considering what we paid for our whole package it was a complete bargain and even the scarcity of scones didn't spoil the event. The setting on the terrace in the sunshine was so lovely and I even got to buy some unusual plants for my garden on the way out!

Would thoroughly recommend the treatment at Reflections and also enjoyed my tea on the terrace. 

Cream Tea @Bills in Berkhamsted

163-165 High Street
Berkhamsted
HP4 3HB

http://bills-website.co.uk/restaurants/berkhamsted/   

Cream Tea at Bill’s is advertised with cakes and warm fruit scones, served with Bill’s strawberry jam and Cornish clotted cream, served with a large pot of tea of your choice (7.95) or glass of Bill’s champagne (10.95)

Because there was no sandwiches this wasn’t technically an afternoon tea , but it was afternoon and there were scones so we feel it counted ! 

First thing that impressed us was the restaurant itself – I’ve been to a few Bills around but not this one – in fact last time I was in this building it was a fish restaurant but it was all different - all wood panelled and quirky , with lots of little nooks and crannies and some very splendid chandeliers and an appealing looking outside terrace. 

It was pouring with rain the day we went – would have been lovely to sit outside. The staff were also polite and helpful (and made me feel very old – they were all so YOUNG !! ) showing us to our table and offering us the choice of champagne or tea as soon as we sat.  We decided in the interests of research it should be both of course.

Then they brought our tray – well to be honest I doubt I could have eaten any sandwiches the cake selection was so generous ! The scones were warm and huge, fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside with lavish helpings of cream and jam.  Then we had to tackle the cakes which were no less than four varieties to experience each – a strawberry tart, carrot cake with vanilla frosting, chocolate Brownie and a marshmallow creation.  All were delicious, but I especially loved the marshmallow one as it was a bit different and lovely and light.

Our tea came in a trendy old battered tin tea pot which kept it beautifully hot.

We also loved the music they were playing the afternoon we went –  it was like the soundtrack to our youth, late seventies/ early eighties soul and funk tunes that had us shazaming away, singing  along and chair bopping . We should point out that we were the only people in that section of the restaurant !!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our tea and it's astonishing value when you think what you pay in, for example, a coffee shop chain for a coffee and a cake, at £7.95 each (without the champers) it really is remarkable.

I also spied some delicious summer cocktails that are luring me back to try over the summer holidays when I have more time and can find a driver ....

Great job Bill's !  

Now how about throwing in a few sandwiches or savoury items and I’m your slave ……????? 

The Swan Restaurant at the Globe

The Swan Restaurant at the Globe
Well it's been a few weeks,  as had a glorious holiday in Crete (if you follow me on Twitter you would have seen some of the amazing beaches, views and meals we enjoyed) so had lots to do to get ready for holiday,  and then lots to do when I got back – including a Hen Do straight after we got back !
The afternoon tea at the Globe was part of the activities planned for the Hen Do day – we'd done Burlesque dancing in the morning and were more than ready for our tea by the time we got there.
I have been in the past and loved their theatre menu so had high hopes for their tea – especially when I saw a tweet about a free glass of bubbles with any tea in June or July! 

From the outset the staff were utterly charming and helpful, even though several of the hens had bowed out of the tea last minute , they didn't move us from the semi private room that had been booked so we had an amazing view overlooking the Thames, St Pauls Cathedral and the entrance to the theatre.

The crockery was all pink and blue wedgewood style (I wasn't rude enough to pick up the cup and check if it was real!) and the table was beautifully set with white linen napkins. 

We were offered prosecco at £6.50 a glass and I did enquire cheekily was that the free one they had tweeted about – the waitress wasn't aware of the offer but the lovely manager came to talk to us and said that was a special offer from www.afternoontea.co.uk when you booked through them . 

But what a fine gentleman – when seeing my crestfallen face he said he would honour it and treat all of the ladies to a glass!

They also have an offer of bottomless prosecco for £18 which was tempting but we also knew we had the rest of the hen do to get through so decided it was maybe not a good idea. 

There was a really good choice of teas – I had a liquorice and peppermint tea which was scrummy.

Loved the sandwich course – as well as the usual finger sandwiches we also had little rolls and canapé style smoked salmon bites. So pretty that they are now my header for my Twitter Page ! 

The scones – just admire this plateful … warm, crispy outside, soft and fluffy inside with lashings of cream of jam to go round. 

And lastly the sweet round … including a huge macaroon, a raspberry and peach panna cotta,  a fruit tart and a mini éclair.

We didn't manage to finish all the food there was so much of it, with lashings of tea as required, and the hens all agreed it was fabulous.

Thank you to the staff at the Swan for helping to make the bride to be's (centre back row) day so special.

 

Afternoon Tea at the Chesterfield Mayfair - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Guest Blogger Maggie Richards

The Afternoon tea girls went to this hotel about 5 years ago (before writing this blog and sadly no photos ) and had the then Chocolate afternoon tea which was delightful, chocolate scones, chocolate tea and even a bag of pic 'n' mix sweeties to choose from jars to take home which was great ! 

The theme now is Charlie and the chocolate factory and my friend Maggie was lucky enough to go for Afternoon Tea  at the Chesterfield Hotel Mayfair for a friends birthday and was kind enough to report back .

"To begin we were each given an 'Everlasting gobstopper', which had a berry taste and changed colour about 4 times which was fun. We chose to save it until the end just in case it did last forever!!

We were then presented with a pink drink with a stilt straw,  'Fizzy pop', which was complete with popping candy.

Fizzy pop with popping candy

Then we enjoyed the sandwiches, they consisted of chicken & almond, salmon, cucumber, ham & cheese, and egg in a lovely pesto bread.

Then we each had a fruit scone and a chocolate scone, which was interesting with cream and jam!!

Loving the look of that pesto bread...

Finally the cakes were all themed from the book, including: bubble gum éclair (which really did taste as it suggests), blueberry macaroon, fizzy lemon cake, orange oompa lumpa cupcake, golden egg, fruit tart and of course a Wonka Bar.

We enjoyed all this with a flavoured tea of our choice (I had rosebud tea), but some friends had chocolate tea which actually was quite pleasant. And a glass of bubbly!

We were offered free refills of all food, but it was more than enough.

At the end Willy Wonka (Irish?) presented us all with a Golden Ticket, which would be opened if we returned for another tea, and may contain a free night's stay or entry to the chocolate factory or something smaller.

It was a really fun day and I saw children enjoying the kid's tea too! "

Looks amazing Maggie!! Are you not tempted to open the golden envelope ???? Not sure I could resist! 

Alice in Wonderland Tea Conrad St James Hotel

Conrad St James Hotel 
22-28 Broadway, London SW1H 0BH


My quiet week finished last week with a themed afternoon tea in London. This was at the Conrad St James hotel who took over the building from the Intercontinental recently. I had already been for three delicious teas there with its old owners (I'm a sucker for champagne especially when it says freeflowing !!) but was pleased to be going back to see how it had changed. 

When researching I was intrigued that they are offering four different seasonal teas this year http://goo.gl/a2uu6q all looking equally delicious and this was the first of them - we booked for the Alice in Wonderland Tea with Free Flowing Champagne on a late Friday afternoon.


We all arrived separately and were shown to our table in Emmeline's lounge (named after Emmeline Pankhurst) which is a quiet and beautifully decorated lounge area with low tables decorated with pink peonies in vases and an array of comfortable sofas and chairs. 

We were immediately served a glass of champagne (always a good start!) and given tea menus. Lots of choices so I asked our charming waiter Mario which he recommended- he suggested the vanilla tea which was a great choice to go with all the morsels to come.

Once we had chosen our teas they brought the savouries on a splendid tiered tray : silver spoons (Curious Oyster shells) with smoked mackerel pate and Stromboli (both totally delicious) 

and a selection of finger sandwiches : Smoked Salmon, egg, cheese and pickle and a club sandwich; sandwiches were generous of filling but just beginning to curl which didn't spoil the taste just the look slightly.

The scones were scrumptious too - wrapped in crisp white napkin, warm and fluffy inside and served with generous portions of jam, cream and - a new favourite of mine - pink grapefruit curd! 

We were already filling up by the time we had eaten all that, had a couple of cups of tea and a few glasses of champagne! 
And then the main event which was almost too pretty to eat ! 

Mario did a splendid job of explaining the various cakes – the jam tarts with the playing cards, the tiny cup cakes with the roses on, the chessboard chocolate cake, the "eat me" earl grey Pannacotta cups… it was all mouth watering and we did struggle to eat it all.

Possibly my least favourite was the elderflower flavoured macaroons – bright blue (I'm always a bit suspicious of very bright food anyway) and that left our lips and fingers blue !!

A special mention must also go to the tableware – shiny cutlery, beautiful white and silver crockery and the teapots … well I'm glad it's not my job to polish them !

It was an absolutely delightful early evening– chatting supping and chilling - we had booked for 5.30 and although it does say on the menu that you have 90 mins, (which is fair enough if there is free flowing champagne) in fact we sat there until 9pm still drinking tea although the champagne had stopped earlier, we didn't feel rushed or hassled so could attempt to get through all the cakes - we failed miserably. 
The staff were charming and the service was second to none – tea and champagne glasses regularly topped up, passing by to check all was good but not in an obtrusive way. At £49 plus 12 ½% service added on,  it's not a cheap option but when you consider how much a glass of champagne costs in London, we probably had a almost a bottle each and really couldn't finish the food,  it's a very fair price.
We finished off our evening in the Blue Boar which is the bar in the hotel – which had live music , more charming staff, a barman with the most splendid beard and a fine bottle of prosecco to serve us with ! What more can you ask for ?
Thoroughly recommend this place for a treat or a girly get together. 
Thank you Conrad St James and the team.  
Anyone else been there ? What were your thoughts?