Afternoon Tea News!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends, we hope you are well today.

Lorna and I were recently in London, strolling down the Strand, when we came across the latest offering from The Savoy....

Melba at The Savoy

Melba is actually located on the Strand and offers passers-by take-away, gourmet treats - all the menu at Melba is created by executive pastry chef, Ludwig Hely. Peek inside and you will discover a selection of sweet and savoury pastries, takeaway sandwiches, hot and cold beverages, Savoy gift items and an amazing selection of a new hotel signature item... éclairs.

Melba at The Savoy - eclairs

Melba at The Savoy - more eclairs!

We were particularly interested in the afternoon tea items that you could buy, from freshly made finger sandwiches all packaged up to scones and mini pots of cream and jam - you could easily pick up all the treats you need for a picnic afternoon tea!

Melba at The Savoy
Sandwiches

Melba at The Savoy - scones and muffins!

Melba at The Savoy is open from morning to night, seven days a week! We took a peek inside this time, but we didn't buy anything - but if you have indulged do let us know what you thought!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....The Savoy

Hello there,

Welcome back to another lovely guest post from Tea With Me and Friends. Today we are joined by Verity, who started her afternoon tea adventures with a little trip to The Savoy in London. This is actually where Lorna and I enjoyed our first afternoon tea all those years ago and we were keen to hear about Verity's experience....

This was a belated birthday present from my Husband Gareth, who had brought me a voucher for a champagne tea for two, so I decided to use it last Sunday with my mum. We arrived early and were taken to our table in The Thames Foyer, such a lovely setting! We had rose champagne to begin....

Rose Champagne at The Savoy

For our tea choices I opted for The Savoy afternoon blend which was beautiful and my mum chose Moroccan mint which she said was delightful....

Time for tea...at The Savoy

The afternoon tea arrived on a stand and looked delicious, our favourite sandwiches were the coronation chicken and egg salad with watercress. All the sandwiches were on wholemeal bread as requested by us. When we finished our round of sandwiches we were asked if we would like anymore, which we accepted.

The scones (plain and baked raisin) were served warm with homemade lemon curd which was amazing, strawberry preserve and clotted cream.

Afternoon tea scones
The Savoy, London

We then choose from the tea pastries on offer, mum chose "Mr Green" and "Purple and White" which were both very tasty. When it was my turn the waiter asked if I would like all of them! He must of been pre warned that I have a very sweet tooth! I chose the remaining 3 and we both shared them. My favourite was "Gananka".

"Gananka" was a chocolate mousse with salted caramel, "Mr Green" was a pistachio eclair, "Purple and White" was a blackcurrant confit and sponge with coconut mousse, "Winter Whisper" was a creme brulee with caramelised hazelnuts and "Intense" was a vanilla bavaroise with passionfruit and mango....

Sweet afternoon tea treats at The Savoy

More sweet treats from The Savoy!

Then it was time for signature cakes we both chose Apple and cinnamon with mascarpone chantilly which was so nice. The whole time through afternoon tea all the waiters and waitress's asked if we would like top ups of tea and if we were ok.

As an extra surprise our waitress brought out a cake with happy birthday on it and a candle, and the lady on the piano played happy birthday - everyone clapped this which was very embarrassing but very nice!

Birthday surprises at The Savoy!

 I would definitely recommend The savoy for afternoon tea and would love to go back.

What a lovely Birthday treat for Verity, we are so pleased that she enjoyed her afternoon tea adventure at The Savoy. Afternoon tea is served in The Thames Foyer daily between 1pm-5:45pm and costs from £50.00 per person for a traditional afternoon tea, and £66.50 if you would like the rose champagne that Verity enjoyed. For more information please visit The Savoy website.

A bit thank you to Verity (and her mum) for sharing their afternoon tea adventure.....we hear she is indulging in a spot of afternoon tea very soon so watch this space for another guest post!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea....The Savoy

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends. I am sorry that we have been a little quiet recently, but don't worry we're still here with lots more afternoon tea news and gossip to share with you!

Today's post has been written with a slightly heavy heart, as it's about a hotel which I have always said was my all time favourite afternoon tea experience. I have to say I was a little nervous about going back to the hotel, wondering whether it would live you to expectations and previous visits.....so here goes....we'd like to share with you our recent afternoon tea adventure at The Savoy in London.

Now, some of you will know that The Savoy holds a special place in our hearts as its the first place that Lorna and I enjoyed a real afternoon tea, and it was so wonderful. We have visited three times previously, both before and after their refurbishment. On this occasion we were visiting to celebrate Alex's Birthday.

Afternoon tea
The Savoy

Now, there are lots of things about the experience that remain the same - the beautiful china (so beautiful that I own some if it!), the wonderful house champagne, the quality of the food and tea and the attention to detail. However, as you will see there are some things that have changed....and unfortunately change isn't always a good thing!

After we had sipped our bubbles and picked our tea (from the 31 different teas on offer), we were presented with the first two courses of our afternoon tea. Presented on the beautiful stand was the sandwich selection and the scones.

Afternoon tea sandwiches - The Savoy

There were five different afternoon tea sandwiches presented to us, each was fresh and very tasty - not a hint of crust in sight. The sandwiches were also the perfect finger sandwich size - easily nibbled by ladies enjoying tea! The fillings included:

Wiltshire bone ham with wholegrain mustard cream cheese

Coronation chicken on olive bread

Scottish smoked and poached salmon with dill mustard

Egg salad with watercress

Cucumber, fleur de marquis and dried tomato

In case you are wondering....fleur de marquis is a type of cheese. The coronation chicken and egg were my favourite sandwiche fillings. 

Next came the scones......

Initially we were presented with four rather large scones - a mixture of fruit and plain. Personally I felt they were too large and several of the group found the texture a little claggy. The scones were served with clotted cream, strawberry preserve and a rather good lemon curd. 

During the first two courses we felt that our tea could have been poured slightly more often.

Now, this is where things strayed from the norm. The stand was removed and we were presented with clean plates and cutlery. Then a server brought around a tray of pastries for us to pick from.....

Afternoon tea pastries - The Savoy

There were five different pastries, all of a rather large size. The server described each one and then asked us to pick one of two to sample. To be honest, the descriptions were so long that I didn't really pay enough attention and so found it difficult to say which ones I wanted to try. I also can't really remember what they all were! I know I tried the two closest to us in the photo - the cherry basket which was delicious and a apricot and honey sphere which was wonderfully light.

I was rather disappointed with how the pastries are now presented to guests. Previously a selection of smaller sized pastries would be presented on a cake stand, which I think is a lot more appealing.

As we were eating these pastries we were also asked to pick a piece of cake - we could have lemon and poppy seed or a raspberry loaf cake. These were presented to us, as we were still eating the pastries - making the table full....

By the time we got to the cake I was rather full. When I enquired whether we could take them home with us, we were told no. This was accompanied by a rather sarcastic comment from the server, which was not really expected from a hotel like the Savoy. 

Disappointed that we would not be able to take the cake home, I tried a bite of my lemon cake....once again to be disappointed as it was rather heavy and lacked the punch of a good lemon cake.

Finally, Alex was presented with a Birthday plate from the Savoy....

It was a lovely gesture, but by this point Alex couldn't eat anymore and so this was a bit of a waste. 

At £61.50 per person for this afternoon tea (with a glass of champagne) this really is a treat and I am sad to say that I have experienced much better afternoon teas previously from The Savoy. None of us were keen on how the pastries were served and the comment from the server really changed the tone of our afternoon tea.

However, I cannot fault the majority of the food, and the extensive tea menu has something for everyone, but I feel that on this occasion The Savoy fell short of expectations.

For more information about the afternoon teas on offer at The Savoy please visit their website.

If anyone else has visited The Savoy recently we'd love to hear about your experience - please get in touch.

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Blast from the past (part 1).....some of our favourite tea experiences!

Hi there,

So, we have another afternoon tea booked very soon...but just in case you fancied some tea and cake before then we thought we'd share some of our past favourite experiences with you!

An afternoon tea that is dear to our hearts is the tea served at The Savoy in the beautiful Thames Foyer. We've indulged in a spot of tea here no less than three times, with the most recently being for Lorna's 30th Birthday when we visited with a group of friends. This is most definitely a luxury afternoon tea, an occasion to dress up for. The finger sandwiches are delicate, there is a fine selection of teas and of course the cakes and pastries are to die for! A good point to remember is that you can also buy some of the cakes served at tea from Savoy Tea - the cute tea shop situated just outside the Foyer.....a chance to take a little bit of luxury home with you.

A selection of cakes and pastries served in December 2012

 

Another favourite tea is Pret a Portea served at the Berkeley, a must for all you fashionistas out there! Each season the Berkeley creates a wonderful new tea inspired by the themes and colours of the fashion world...take a look at the tea we had earlier this year.....

 

Not only does this tea look spectacular, but the food served all tastes good too - not a case of style over substance here I am pleased to report! We had a delightful afternoon, eating yummy treats and the service was really friendly too.

 

Finally I wanted to share with you something a little more affordable, a weekend treat rather than a payday treat! Last year a fabulous little tearoom opened by in Farnham, Surrey, called The Vintage Cake House. It's right up my street with a wonderful shabby chic feel to it, yummy cakes and of course mismatched china! On my first visit (yes there have been more than one!) I enjoyed the wonderfully, friendly service and a cream tea (even though it was only 11am!!). Here is what I got for my money.....

 

 

 

Not bad at all for under £6!! The scone is served warm and it was huge! There is a good selection of tea to pick from too. If you happen to be in the area, you should definitely pop in for some cake!

 

Anyway, that's our first blast from the past - we hope to see you again soon, we've got lots more to share!

 

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna