Time for Tea....CUTcakes and Tea....45 Park Lane

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends......we hope you're feeling tea-riffic today!

Last weekend we had the absolute pleasure of visiting 45 Park Lane to try their American inspired afternoon tea at CUT. The afternoon tea launched in Autumn of last year and I've seen lots of scrummy photos of the American inspired savouries and sweets....so we decided it was high time we tried out this indulgent afternoon tea adventure for ourselves.

CUTcakes and Tea is served in the hotel's lounge, which is modern and stylish. We were greeted by name on arrival and all the waiting staff very friendly and knowledgeable about the afternoon tea and also the hotel and it's large art collection.

After we picked our drinks (you can pick from a good selection of teas, coffees or hot chocolate), the savoury plate was brought out....

Now as you may have guessed, this isn't a traditional afternoon tea....and there isn't a single finger sandwich to be seen on the savoury plate. But I have to say it was a wonderful plate! The current savoury selection includes:

‘Guest Dog’ by restaurant Bubbledogs chef Sandia Chang Golden Corndog, Southern BBQ Sauce
Wagyu Beef Slider, Shallot Marmalade, Cheddar
Fried Chicken & Buttermilk Bisquets Coleslaw, Jalapeño Aioli
Tuna Tartare ‘Sandwich’, Avocado, Ginger
Crab Cake, Basil Aioli, Tomato Relish

Such a good selection of freshly prepared bites!

The aroma from the plate was mouth watering and it was hard to decide where to start first. Both fish dishes were fresh and the flavours within the mini dishes balanced well. I was pleased to discover that the crab cake was not stuffed full of potato like so many others.

The corndog was light and very tasty, I loved the Southern BBQ sauce which was sweet and spicy - my first ever corndog was a success! It's also very pretty to look at, with a golden tint to the batter!

The chicken in biscuit was also light....I've only had American biscuits once before and they were quite stodgy. These were fluffy in the middle and worked really well with the chicken. The piece of chicken was succulent and hot!

The mini slider was so cute....built exactly how a normal slider would be put together, complete with mini pickle! It took about three bites to eat and I loved every mouthful. We were asked how we wanted the slider cooking, which I thought was a nice touch.

I don't think I've ever taken so many photos of the savoury dishes!!

Next came a mini banana and toffee milkshake.....again extremely cute in appearance and big on flavour. I really enjoyed the milkshake, which was rich and creamy and had a wonderful banana flavour (which wasn't at all artificial).

Now came the nod to the traditional afternoon tea..... a scone, which clotted cream and strawberry preserve. The scones were served warm and we were given a mixed berry jam as well as the strawberry preserve, due to a strawberry allergy in the group.

Now this might look like all the other scones on our blog....but this is different....this was described as one of the best scones in London....and claim is actually true! Having eaten rather a lot of scones across London, we are often told that the scone we are about to enjoy is the best....but unfortunately it's often not! So often the scones are either under baked or over baked, with a claggy texture. 

This scone was light as air, didn't fall apart when cut and made the perfect base for the cream and jam! It was well baked, not at all claggy and had a wonderful glaze.

Finally we made it to the sweet selection.... sorry for the awful photo....

As you can see there is a good selection, again all inspired by American favourites:

Peanut Butter Pie
Crème Brûlée Doughnut
Red Velvet Cupcake
Graham Cracker S’more

There is also a Pink Lemonade Cake Pop, which I missed from the photos!

It was hard to decide which order to eat these in and by this point I was a little worried that I would get too full (I wanted to enjoy everything in the lounge rather than take it home on the train!).

As simple as it sounds - the crème brulee doughnut was so good, a fresh doughnut full of a crème brulee custard. I could have eaten several of them! I enjoyed the fresh raspberry with the red velvet cake. The peanut butter pie had a lovely berry jam in the middle, giving a sweetness to the peanut flavour. The S'more was messy, but very scrummy - with a layer of chocolate sauce. 

This is a more expensive afternoon tea, perfect for a celebration. But it's worth every penny....the food is fresh and tasty, the service unpretentious but attentive and the setting relaxed yet refined. It's what I look for in an afternoon tea - the whole experience. 

To find out more about this afternoon tea pop by the 45 Park Lane website. We'll definitely we back again when they refresh the menu.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....Mary Poppins at Aqua Shard

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends!

There is one afternoon tea that we'd love to try, but its hard to get a reservation on the weekend because it's so popular. With a certain film due out in December I'm sure it's going to get even more popular....

Yes, its the Mary Poppins inspired tea currently being served at Aqua Shard. 

How cute is that cake stand?

Inspired by the Mary Poppins books by P.L Travers, this afternoon tea was launched at the same time as the books were re-launched by Harper Collins. 

Luckily, fellow afternoon tea lover Rachel was treated to the Mary Poppins afternoon tea as part of her recent Birthday celebrations and has shared her experience with us.

Just take a look at the gorgeous crockery....those plates are lovely...

The afternoon tea kicks off with a selection of quintessentially British finger sandwiches:

Cackleberry egg & black truffle sandwich
Ms Kirkham's cheddar, Branston pickle & English mustard ploughman's sandwich
Dingley Dell honey roast ham, mustard mayonnaise & Norfolk rocket cress sandwich
Dressed Devon crab, cucumber & coriander served on a brioche roll
Mini crumpet served warm with Scottish smoked salmon & cream cheese

The crab brioche rolls sound divine!

After guests enjoy homemade scones with clotted cream and either cherry or plum jam they can enjoy the homemade cakes and sweet treats....
'Strike me pink' sponge
Fairground candy floss
Mrs Corry's gingerbread star
Mary's chocolate & cherry hat
The 'back to front zoo' golden syrup tart

Rachel said she enjoyed the experience, all the food was scrummy!

I'd still love to try this afternoon tea for myself - I love the sound of both the sweet and savoury elements. If you happen to enjoy the champagne afternoon tea, you are also offered "medicine" with your champagne in the form of three homemade liqueurs (rum punch, strawberry or lime) which sound scrummy!

To find out more about the Mary Poppins afternoon tea pop by the Aqua Shard website.

A big thank you to Rachel for sharing her afternoon tea photos with us. If you enjoy an afternoon tea we'd love to see your photos too - leave us a message on our Facebook page!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....London at Ten Trinity Square

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're well today.

Last weekend Sheree and I visited London at Ten Trinity Square, a Four Seasons hotel, for a spot of afternoon tea. Situated near the Tower of London, this hotel is impressive from the outside and has a glamorous interior. Afternoon tea is served in the Rotunda Lounge, which has a 1920s feel to it with a beautiful art deco domed ceiling - a nod towards the buildings history (it was the 1922 headquarters of the Port of London Authority).

The afternoon tea is also a glamorous affair with a 1920s theme - the menu is called The Bright Young Things and is served on elegant china and a rather unusual stand...

If I am honest I'm not sure I like this presentation, although it's not tall and imposing it does create a wall between you and your fellow tea friends....just look at Sheree over the other side of the food! However, as you can see all the food was easily accessible and we had enough room on the table.

The savouries were served on individual slates and included five different items....

On first inspection I liked the variety on offer, it's always nice to see more than just a finger sandwich on the menu. The fillings were all very different too:

Chicken coronation Curry mayonnaise & allysum flowers

Heritage beetroot Hazelnut, chives & goat cheese mousse

Salmon rillettes Lime mayonnaise, egg roe & lemon balm leaves

Roasted beef Pink peppercorn sauce, rocket & parmesan

Egg & truffle Watercress & soft cooked quail egg

There were two items that I was really looking forward to trying on the menu....the coronation chicken (my guilty pleasure) and the egg sandwich. Unfortunately, although the flavours were good and there were no crusts, the bread itself had started to go a bit crusty.

The rest of the savouries tasted fresh, but these two sandwiches had the air of a crustless sandwich which had been waiting for us to arrive rather than one that was freshly made. It was a real shame as I really enjoyed the coronation chicken filling, probably one of the best I have enjoyed.

Moving on, we turned our attention to the scones....

Do not adjust your screen.......there are two very pink scones there! 

The scones included two plain and two cranberry scones, served with clotted cream, apricot preserve and strawberry preserve.

As you can see there was fruit in the cranberry scones, but I couldn't really taste the flavour. The scones themselves had a great texture though and were served warm.

Finally we moved onto the 1920s themed sweet treats, which included hats, lips and an ashtray complete with cigar!

As well as being some of the most unusual looking afternoon tea treats that I've seen in a while, the sweets were also diverse in flavour and we couldn't wait to tuck in!

Rubi grapefruit cheese cake Cream cheese mousse, pink grapefruit confit

Mango, coconut & ginger Citrus mousse, mango jelly, coconut & ginger dacquoise

Pistachio, blackcurrant & violet Pistachio chantilly, blackcurrant & violet jelly

Chocolate & salted caramel Salted butterscotch, Guanaja chocolate mousse

Lime & raspberry pannacotta Lime pannacotta, raspberry jelly

We both thoroughly enjoyed the sweets that accompanied this tea. It's not often that a menu contains so many flavours that all appeal to me....I'll usually really like one or two and the rest are just ok. These however, were nearly all wonderful ....I wasn't a fan of the pistachio and violet, but that was purely a flavour preference (Sheree really enjoyed it).

All the rest were delicious!

I think my favourite was the ashtray....

Don't let the blue colour put you off....the chocolate and salted caramel were very well balanced and the biscuit base was amazing! 

We also both loved the raspberry and lime pannacotta - again, really well balanced, fresh flavours and a beautiful consistency. I'm not usually a pannacotta fan and so this really surprised me.

Although our tea was topped up throughout our afternoon we weren't offered anymore food. I probably couldn't have eaten anymore, but as this is a more expensive afternoon tea it would be preferably to have the option if we wanted seconds of anything. 

This afternoon tea costs £45 each or if you fancy a glass of champagne with your tea it costs £55. For more information pop by the London at Ten Trinity Square website.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea.....Halloween at the Royal Lancaster Hotel

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends.

Today we are sharing a very special Halloween afternoon tea with you, as we've been lucky enough to enjoy the Black and White We Always Scare afternoon tea at the Royal Lancaster Hotel. Yes we know it's a little early for Halloween....but we couldn't wait to try this spooky creation from Chef Ben Purton.

We indulged in a truly spook-tacular experience with this Halloween Afternoon Tea, inspired by 1960s classic horror movies. To get guests in the mood, the lounge has been styled with spooky props and there are black and white movies playing on a screen. 

Once we'd picked our teas (Darjeeling for Rachel and a decaffeinated Ceylon for Lorna), the savouries and sweets were served on clear plate. We were impressed that there were so many different items all with the black and white colour theme....

The savouries included:

Smoked halibut, white cream cheese & black caviar on pumpernickle
Axe carved bresaola beef, horseradish, charcoal shell
Massacred egg, curried mayonnaise
Cucumber, cracked black pepper & tapenade in white coffins
Sushi roll, blackened seaweed and crab
Mini Scotch egg, black crust

The bread used in the sandwiches was fresh and crustless and the fillings were all very unusual.

We both loved the curried egg mayonnaise sandwich which had a great flavour, but the stand out savoury item was that miniature black scotch egg (we might have had more than one of these!).

Before we tucked into the sweet treats, the scones were brought out to us, these were served warm with clotted cream and jam. There was one coconut scone and one dark chocolate scone - in keeping with the black and white theme!

The scones were a good size and looked appealing despite the unusual colours....

Both scones were a great texture, they cut in half easily and were not claggy at all. We were surprised at how well the flavours came through in the scones, the coconut one was a little more delicate but you could definitely taste both flavours. The flavours also went really well with the cream and jam

Our favourite one was the dark chocolate scone. 

Finally we made our way to those sweet treats...

The sweets included a great selection of different flavours - Cursed Blackbird Macaroon (which was flavoured with orange and white chocolate); Psycho chocolate Lollipops; Black Sunday Battenberg cake; Night of the Living Tart; and a black forest mousse cake. Something for everyone there!

Each sweet treat was a good size - not too big and not too small - and everything was fresh and tasty. 

The rich chocolate lollypop was amazing, as was the black forest pudding (which was gobbled down in two bites!).

All in all this was a tea-riffic afternoon tea - with an elegant, grown up Halloween theme.

All the staff at the Royal Lancaster are friendly and attentive and we really enjoyed our afternoon at the Royal Lancaster.

If you fancy trying this afternoon tea you need to be quick though, as its only on offer until 31st October 2017. For more information about this afternoon tea please visit the Royal Lancaster website.

We'd like to thank Chef Ben and his team for this wonderful experience. Please note that although we enjoyed this afternoon tea on a complimentary basis this has not affected our taste buds and all opinions expressed in this blog post are our own.

If you enjoy a Halloween themed afternoon tea this year we'd love to hear all about it - please leave us a blog comment!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for a Guest Post ......Kavanagh’s Tea Room, Oakham

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends, we hope you're having a lovely day.

Today we have another lovely guest post from Victoria, who has enjoyed an afternoon tea adventure at the newly opened Kavanagh's Tea Room in Oakham. The tea room only opened in May and we love to hear about new places to enjoy a spot of tea and cake. Let's see what Victoria thought.....

Kavanagh’s Tea Room has opened within Oakham in Rutland (England’s smallest county!) over the last month. Having popped in for a coffee during its first couple of weeks of opening, I felt that it was my duty to book their Gentleman’s Afternoon Tea for a Fathers’ Day treat for my father. Just for research purposes, you understand!

We were welcomed warmly by the owners, Clare and Martyn. It was Martyn who explained the menu to us and there is a separate tea menu of loose leaf tea. We all ordered English Breakfast tea, which was beautifully smoky and perfect to accompany our food. The staff also brought us bottles of chilled water as it was such a hot day.

Each one of us decided to try the full selection and it arrived on a tiered stand. No finger sandwiches, but beautiful bread. Clare did tell me later that she is a coeliac so everything available on the menu is also available in a gluten free form, without any prior knowledge. The fillings on the sandwiches were plentiful, the pulled pork was divine but my favourite was the goats cheese with roasted vegetables and pesto. 

The scones are freshly baked each day and are all gluten free. Strawberry jam and clotted cream was served in accompaniment. I’m afraid that the sweet treats on the top nearly defeated us, but oh my word, the brownie was divine.

Definitely a place to return to time and time again! A quirky treat was a tiny Polaroid picture that Martyn took of us all enjoying our tea.

That all looks and sounds tea-riffic! Those scones look amazing!

A huge thank you to Victoria for sharing her afternoon tea adventure with us. If you've been somewhere new (or an old favourite) we'd love to hear all about it - drop us a line!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea - German Gymnasium, London

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're having a lovely day!

Last weekend it was a Birthday at Tea With Me and Friends Towers - so we did what we do best and celebrated with a spot of afternoon tea! I've eaten at German Gymnasium in Kings Cross before, enjoying their savoury menu, but I knew they also did an afternoon tea menu that took my fancy. I've spent quite a lot of time in the Rhine area of Germany and love the food and drink there.

So I rounded up my friends and headed on a new afternoon tea adventure!

German Gymnasium - Afternoon Tea

At German Gymnasium you need to decide whether you want an Austrian themed afternoon tea or a German themed one. Both have savoury and sweet options.....but for the traditionalists amongst you watch out as there are no scones! The options are made up of foods from the region, the staff were happy to swap some of the savoury items around (Anika had three egg rolls instead of the selection of three different rolls).

As you can see from the menus below, this is a great value afternoon tea....

Within the group some of us wanted the German and some the Austrian, so we got to see both cake stands. I'll be the first to admit that we had to Google some items to find out what they were (not sure why we didn't just ask the waiters!), it definitely was an afternoon tea adventure!

When the stands were served I was a little disappointed initially as they looked a little sparse, but in fact I found the portion sizes just right.

German Gymnasium - Afternoon Tea

The rolls were fresh and soft, with just the right amount of fillings. I'm not overly keen on fennel, so one of the rolls was a bit too "fennelly" for me, but otherwise the fillings were well balanced.

The sweets were all really different, again they were all fresh and a good size. I was a tad bit disappointed that my black forest gateaux was in macaroon form, but it was well made and I could taste both chocolate and cherry.

However, the Opera cake was probably the stand out sweet treat....

The restaurant knew we were celebrating a Birthday and so at the end of the meal they sang Happy Birthday and brought out a piece of scrummy cake....

.....but they obviously don't know me very well because look how many forks they also brought us - "just in case everyone wanted a taste"....

German Gymnasium is well located, opposite Kings Cross station, and is a lovely space to enjoy a meal in. The building was designed by Edward Gruning and was England’s first purpose-built gymnasium, with funding coming solely from London's German community. It was built in 1865 for the German Gymnastics Society (established in 1861 by Ernst Ravenstein) and hosted the indoor events London's first Olympic Games, back in 1866.

This is definitely a great value afternoon tea at only £18.50 per person, you can also add a glass (or two) of SchlossVaux Sekt sparkling wine for £4.50 a glass. For more information about German Gymnasium pop by their website.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea....Cannizaro House Hotel, Wimbledon

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - sorry it's been a while, but we're back today with a lovely afternoon tea experience that our lovely friend Sheree enjoyed recently. Sheree visited Cannizaro House Hotel in Wimbledon. Let's take a look at her afternoon tea adventure....

My mother-in-law was visiting for the weekend so we decided on an afternoon tea treat at Cannizaro House Hotel in Wimbledon, which is part of the Hotel du Vin chain. We were seated in the bright and comfortable Orangerie which looked directly onto Cannizaro Park. 

Afternoon tea - Cannizaro House Hotel

The tea list was extensive and we opted for the Moroccan mint with rose, Jasmine petals and pearls, and the All day Decaf. The food arrived and was plentiful

The savouries included:

Severn and Wye smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel

Egg and cress mayonnaise brioche sub

Ham with Gruyère croissant

Heritage tomato and tapenade galette

Goat’s cheese and spinach quiche

Savoury selection - Cannizaro House Hotel

We also enjoyed fruit scones served with Bonne Maman jam, clotted cream and Lescure butter:

Scone time - Afternoon tea - Cannizaro House Hotel

The sweets included:

Citrus sorbet

Lemon meringue pie

Creme Egg chocolate brownie

Rhubarb and custard doughnut

Homemade apple candy floss

Sweet treats - Cannizaro House Hotel

We really enjoyed the range of treats. The savouries were particularly tasty and fresh, the scones were not served warm but were still nice, and the sweets were a good range and not too filling. Lemon meringue pie is one of my favourites and did not disappoint, and the doughnut was surprisingly light. The candy floss was a fun ending to the tea and made for an attractive display on the cake stand.

Afternoon tea - Cannizaro House Hotel

Although busy with lunches and big tables, the service was friendly and helpful, allowing for dietary requirements, lots of fresh tea and a top up of clotted cream. The cost was £25 per person and was considered worth it for the quality and amount of food.

Looks like Sheree had a wonderful afternoon tea, I love the variety of savouries on offer and the sweets look lovely!

Thank you to Sheree for sharing her afternoon tea adventure with us. If you'd like to find out more about this afternoon tea adventure pop by the Cannizaro House Hotel website.

Don't forget, if you've enjoyed an afternoon tea adventure recently we'd love to hear all about it!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....Millennium Hotel, Mayfair

Afternoon tea - Millennium Hotel Mayfair

Hello there,


Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're tea-riffic today!

Recently Becca and I visited the Millennium Hotel Mayfair for a spot of afternoon tea. We'd booked a special offer online, giving us 2 for 1 on their celebration afternoon tea, which included a glass of bubbles.

On first impressions, Avista Restaurant (where tea is served) is light, bright and the staff are friendly. We arrived 30 minutes early for our reservation (due to the cold), but we were seated quickly, given a spacious booth on one side of the restaurant.

Once seated, Becca's dietary requirements were reconfirmed (no butter in the sandwiches and no strawberries), we picked our tea and the champagne was brought out to us. So far, so good!

Next our afternoon tea stand was brought out to us....

The celebration tea costs £49.50 per person, so its not the cheapest of experiences and we were surprised that there were no mention of additional servings. In fact although there were two servings of sandwiches and scones, apart from the cake there was only one serving of each sweet. 

Afternoon tea - Millennium Hotel Mayfair

Becca and I had separate sandwich plates, one with butter one without. 

The sandwiches were fresh and there were no crusts to report. The fillings were very traditional - egg mayonnaise, cucumber, salmon and chicken.  We both would have enjoyed a second chicken sandwich!

Afternoon tea - Millennium Hotel Mayfair

Next we moved onto the scones, which were served warm and smelt wonderful!

We had mixed berry preserve, lemon curd and clotted cream to dress our scones. As you can see the scones were a good size....

Afternoon tea - Millennium Hotel Mayfair

The scones were a good texture and made a good base for the cream and jam. I didn't really like the mixed berry preserve - it was a tad bit sour. The lemon curd was delicious though.

Finally we moved onto the sweet plate, which was very chocolate based...

Afternoon tea - Millennium Hotel Mayfair

Now although this plate looks pretty enough, it was rather disappointing. We started on the chocolate and orange cake first (as there were two slices), the flavour was lovely but the texture was incredibly dry - I'm glad the slices were small!

All the other diners had a small fruit tart on their plate....on ours this seemed to have been replaced by a small pile of berries - which our waitress called a "fruit salad". I'm not sure why we weren't given the tart, the others didn't appear to have strawberries on. Even if this was the reason, I'm not sure why I wasn't given a tart and Becca given the "fruit salad" - we were very explicit that the dietary requirements only applied to one person. The other weird item on our plate was the "eton mess", which was essentially cream and meringue. We mixed lemon curd into this to give it some flavour. Again, the strawberries had been removed....but I'm not sure why raspberries weren't used instead!

The other two items were chocolate mouse of one kind or another. Neither were particularly nice and we were left feeling very disappointed.  

Afternoon tea - Millennium Hotel Mayfair

We were only given the opportunity to refill our teapots once during the whole experience - something I regretted declining later in the meal! And at no point did anyone ask us whether we were enjoying the food or if we wanted anything else.

As we had a 2 for 1 offer, we paid just under £30 each for this, which included a glass of champagne. I would suggest that this was even a little pricey for the afternoon tea we were served - but it definitely wasn't worth the £50 price tag it had on the menu.

The restaurant was a nice space, the staff were all professional and friendly and the food we ate was OK - but it wasn't a 5 star afternoon tea experience. 

If you'd like to know more about the Millennium Hotel Mayfair, please pop by their website.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel