The Great British Gentlemans and Ladies Afternoon Tea.... with Unlimited Champagne!

Reform Social and Grill, The Mandeville Hotel, Mandeville Place, London W1A 2BE - 21^st March 2015

Delighted to welcome a special new guest blogger this week, my younger brother - Peter Mann, who along with several other members of my family, last week enjoyed his belated birthday afternoon celebration tea...with a difference! This was a first for me - taking boys for tea - my brother, brother in law and both my sons with one of my sisters as back up ! 

I am pleased to welcome him to the blog – as hopefully this will be the first of other future posts, as he has become another fellow afternoon tea enthusiast.

Based on a 'classic style British gentleman's club', inspired by the 1950s era and with its quaint old-fashioned, yet somewhat eclectic approach, the Reform Social and Grill, housed within the lovely Mandeville Hotel in London W1, was just the perfect setting for a fun  “boozy champagne afternoon tea!”  and a great place for an formal, yet equally informal afternoon catch up.

Having been to afternoon tea before, though  at a somewhat more conventional setting of Harrods, this was to be a new experience with both a Gentlemans and Ladies tea menu offered and of course...free-flowing champagne to help the belated birthday celebrations.

My first impressions on arrival, was just how friendly, polite and attentive the staff were, from the minute we arrived, right throughout the whole afternoon.

However I did also note that some of the china cups were slightly stained and cutlery dirty, this was only a very small detail though, as the table had just been reset and one that was quickly dealt with and rectified.

The menus were quickly then produced and stated proudly that “the finest ingredients from around the British Isles, including John Ross Scottish smoked salmon and ham from the local Marylebone butcher”  had all been assembled  to create a “Great British Vintage Ladies & Gentleman’s afternoon tea experience that truly celebrated the best of British.”

Social Club Cocktail 

And of course should you choose...unlimited bubbles (a choice of Prosecco) or alternative Champagnes was offered, as well a an extensive cocktail list, though this was separate to the set priced tea, we did feel it right and  proper to try some ! 

Rhubarb Club Cocktail 

We were given a seasonal Bellini to start us us off. 

There were several ranges included within the menus, (Both Ladies and Gents) with anything from classic finger sandwiches with a modern twist, Smoked salmon sandwiches, which were served on beetroot bread and cucumber (Ladies tea only) and cream cheese served on sumptious basil bread.

Opting for the Gentleman’s Tea, this included the very British Sausage roll, Steak & Snail sandwiches & revisited Fish fingers and mushy peas, all of which were followed by a fine array of cakes, scones and delicious jams.

Also included was a wide range of selected loose leaf teas, including Organic Mint Melange, Green tea Passion, Pear Caramel tea and also my choice of Jasmin Mist Organic, which was delicious.
This nicely complimented too the selection of pastries including the clasic “battenburg” squares, Coffee and Walnut cake and the sumptuous real ale and chocolate cake.

David tucking into his first afternoon tea 

I was also very impressed, when half way through, the staff (who were fast by now becoming our “best friends”) prepared a wonderful little “birthday” side dish and sang along, whilst ensuring the bubbles kept flowing continuously throughout the two hours of our stay.
I felt it was a warm personal touch, that certainly added to the experience, though I didn't have the heart to tell them my birthday had been a month before!  (We did try to book nearer your birthday but they are always so booked up for weekends! ) 

The Birthday boy

Indeed, the ever friendly staff, certainly did not skimp on the tea refills or the champagne and I would say that by the end, everyone had thorougly enjoyed their afternoon and the excellent standard of friendly service.

Overall, I feel I would definitely recommend this  afternoon tea, especially as its I believe one of the few venues that included men. Though not cheap, I believe it was great value and excellent size portions, superb choice, delicious cakes and we all left rather full, and very jolly, for various different reasons.
Peter Mann

My sister and the two Daves 

One of the charming staff chatting to Pedro 

Thanks Pete 

Nice to have a gentlemans perspective !! 

Afternoon Tea at Bergdorf Goodman 5th Avenue New York

BG Restaurant

Bergdorf Goodman

5th Avenue at 58th Street

Seventh Floor

New York, NY  10019

So the afternoon tea Ladies were in New York this month and as we were celebrating the 21^st birthday of the gorgeous Heather (daughter of one of the tea ladies) we decided that only a posh afternoon tea would do. After painstaking research into where to go we hit upon this as it had good reviews, overlooked Central Park and wasn’t too expensive (some in New York were very pricey – didn’t seem to be any offers )

Located on the Seventh Floor with sweeping views of Central Park, BG Restaurant is open daily for lunch, tea, cocktails and dinner. We visited this picturesque setting, designed by Kelly Wearstler, on a wet cold Saturday during our trip and were first of all struck by the gorgeousness of the room  (I’m not sure my pictures do it justice so used some from their website ) The dining room was picture-perfect - all in duck egg blue, with lovely little tables for 2 with the clamshell chairs that we coveted , and had an art deco  twenties feel that seamlessly complemented its setting overlooking Central Park and the store itself.  

Despite the white coated staff it also managed not to be formal – everyone was charming we were very glad we had booked as it was so busy and they welcomed us like old friends, in fact due to the rain we had arrived about an hour early but nothing was too much trouble and they quickly seated us. Although we were not overlooking the park it was such an overcast day it didn’t matter.

We had no idea really what to expect from the menu as it didn’t specify , but we had a choice of teas; we three chose the breakfast tea and Karen had the Jardin Bleu blend of tea flavoured with rhubarb, wild strawberry, and cornflower petals, which arrived very promptly , in BG china. As you know if you are following the blog an important point for me is the importance of not using teabags;  they didn’t,  and the teapot had an ingenious strainer built into it to create the perfect cup of tea, much needed after a day walking around 5^th Avenue shops!

Karen explained about her vinegar aversion – they immediately said they would bring alternatives.

The savouries were delightful! – open Egg mayo on crustless bread, cream cheese on Rye, turkey with cranberries, Tuna,  smoked salmon pinwheels with caviar, and gorgeous little tartlets with mozzarella and prosciutto. They very carefully offered an alternative to Karen omitting the egg mayo and making other mayo free versions of the other choices.

She said it really was the best ever savoury course she had eaten as normally she ends up with quite a limited choice. We loved the savouries so much we ordered another plateful each which was about £10 each but worth it we felt,  as it was so fresh tasting and flavoursome.

Lovely fluffy scones, with clotted cream and jam and the choice of macarons, french fancies, tart and cupcake (the cupcake defeated all of us) completed the selection.

And because it was Heather’s birthday they brought her special birthday treat.

So in all in all it really was great – would love to go back if I’m ever in New York again – the service, setting ambience and attention to detail was second to none. 

The manager came out to ask how our tea was at the end asking if they had done our English tea tradition justice we all agreed that they really had – in fact they had put lots of our British afternoon teas in the shade !

Wasn’t particularly cheap (especially as we added extra savouries ) but worked out at about $75 dollars per person with service – which was excellent by the way and we had no qualm about paying.

Thankyou BG restaurant ! 

Letchworth Hall Hotel and Beautiful setting – nice afternoon tea too !!

Lytton's Restaurant at Mercure Letchworth Hall Hotel
Letchworth Lane
Letchworth Garden City
Hertfordshire
SG6 3NP

I was late as got stuck in traffic – (But the other ladies were there already keeping my seat warm) so arrived a tad flustered, but immediately relaxed as there was plenty of parking outside – the grounds are a delight and the Great Hall is quite stunning; wooden panelled, a minstrels Gallery,   lots of comfy seats around low tables, there was also a wonderful open fire. 

As I was so late they had already been served their three tier cake stand and had started munching, but I was immediately fussed over and brought tea which was served in nice white china teapots and teacups. 

Staff were very friendly and helpful – my two friends are vegetarian and were well catered for on the sandwich front. The scones were fluffy with generous pots of cream and jam.    
We were quite surprised the cakes were tray bakes rather than the homemade patisserie promised in the menu,  but comprised of coffee and walnut, delicious lemon drizzle, chocolate brownie, and carrot cake , and were actually really moist and tasty . Sue was slightly disappointed about the lack of " a nice wedge of cake with thick icing or filling " ….. Honestly ! 

 
All in all this was excellent value - was a Travelzoo 2 for 1 deal, but a reasonable cost even without the deal! I even forgave them for using tea bags as they were posh ones and had a good choice of teas -English Breakfast,  Earl Grey,  2nd Flush Assam,  Gunpowder Green Tea & Mint,  Peppermint,  Blackcurrant & Lavender. 
Best of all we were not disturbed at at all , we could have stayed all evening, having even more tea! In fact we there there chatting for about 3 hours and finished off with coffee to wake us up for our journeys home.
Definitely stuck to tradition and one to repeat.