Time for Tea....The Royal Horseguards

Hello There,

So, it's that time of the year....everything is tinged in pink and red and there are hearts, flowers and chocolates everywhere! Yes, its Valentines...the day to celebrate love. Whether you love this day or believe its a commercially driven celebration it's here and I think we might as well enjoy it!

This year I decided to indulge in a Valentine's themed afternoon tea with my lovely friend Becca....so yesterday we headed off to The Royal Horseguards Hotel in London to enjoy their Naughtea Afternoon Tea. The hotel offers a range of different afternoon teas, including their limited edition teas such as this Valentines afternoon tea.

Once seated in the comfortable lounge we were shown the tea menu, which offered a good selection of teas. I opted for the Royal Horseguards speciality tea, which is flavoured with strawberries and cream and Becca went for a flowering tea.

 These were served to us in large teapots, which were topped up regularly....

Tea is served! Royal Horseguards Hotel

Next the cake stand full of delightful treats was brought out to us. Becca cannot eat butter and I had notified the hotel of this when booking. They accommodated our request perfectly, preparing Becca a separate plate of non-butter sandwiches.

Afternoon tea
Royal Horseguards

Before I talk about the food, I want to mention the beautiful bespoke china that everything was served on. Perfectly girlie, without being too chintzy, it was pink and delicate. We also really liked the cutlery!

Right....onto those savoury items....

Afternoon tea sandwiches
Royal Horseguards

There was a lovely variety of sandwiches on offer and we were pleased to see some of our favourites feature...including coronation chicken and egg mayonnaise. The bread was soft and the sandwiches were freshly made, we were also asked if we wanted more sandwiches once we finished the initial plates (and we might have asked for one or two more coronation chicken sandwiches!).

Once we had finished the savouries, scones fresh from the oven were brought out...

Scones hot from the oven!

We had two scones each, one plain and one with raisins. They were a nice size (not too big and not too small), most importantly they were fresh and light inside.

The scones were served with thick clotted cream and strawberry preserve. We asked whether there were any other preserves available as well, as Becca cannot eat strawberries, and they brought us a dish of blackcurrant preserve too.

The Tea With Me and Friends way of
dressing scones!

Once we had finished our first two scones we were asked by the attentive waiting staff whether we wanted more scones (we declined this time!).

Finally we made it to the themed part of the tea....all those sweet treats on the top tier! Now this is where pastry chef Joanne Todd showed off her creativity....

Afternoon tea at Royal Horseguards

Our sweet treats included a beautiful mini lace cupcake which was flavoured with lemons, a scrummy corset cookie and mini macaroons topped with strawberry lips! We also indulged in decadent passionate fruit fools, red rose scented chocolate heels and a dark chocolate lipstick!

Everything was very tasty and fresh, I particularly enjoyed the cookie. It was definitely not a case of style over substance - everything looked brilliant, but tasted good too.

Throughout our afternoon at The Royal Horseguards the waiters were friendly and very attentive, despite the lounge being very busy. We never ran out of tea, we had our photo taken and we left full and happy!

Tea With Me and Friends at afternoon tea!

At the end of the tea we were presented with one last gift to take away with us.....

Tea and chocolates - what more could a lady want?

No....unfortunately not the pretty teacup....but that lovely bag of chocolate hearts! I thought this was a lovely touch to end the afternoon tea.

This particular afternoon tea cost £45.00 each and also included a glass of Laurent Perrier Rose Champagne. The other teas range in price from £30.00 for their signature tea, and also include a traditional cream tea for £16.95. 

Although this limited edition tea was higher in price, I think it was good value as there was plenty of good quality food and tea. The lounge itself is a lovely environment and the service was brilliant. We would definitely return to try one of the traditional afternoon teas on offer.

A display within the Lounge at Royal Horseguards

If you enjoyed a Valentines afternoon tea this weekend we'd love to hear from!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel