Time for Tea.....The French Tarte

Hello there,

I hope you are keeping well.

At the end of last year Lorna was treated to a lovely afternoon tea for her Birthday at The French Tarte in Surbiton. Now you may be wondering why we didn't share this post with you in December when Lorna, her hubby Jim and both their mums enjoyed this tea. Well, we have a very good reason......they liked the look of their afternoon feast so much when it arrived at the table that they forgot to take any photos until it was too late!

The French Tarte is located on Maple Road in Surbiton, Surrey and is a small bakery offering baked goods to eat in or take away. I have indulged in some of their treats myself and can vouch for their scrummy cakes, breads and pastries - all baked on site.

French Tarte - photo from website

Afternoon tea is served on the weekends at the French Tarte, and although the tea menu is not that extensive there is something for everyone with black, green, white and herbal teas on offer. I am pleased to report that teas are served in pretty vintage teacups - here is Lorna's teacup......

Afternoon tea served in vintage china

The afternoon tea menu includes a selection of savoury open sandwiches, warm scones served with clotted cream and strawberry jam and a selection of mini cakes. According to Lorna everything was rather scrummy....in fact here is the "after" photo.....

Always a good sign at the end of an afternoon tea....

As the French Tarte knew it was Lorna's Birthday, the tea included a personalised Happy Birthday plate....

Although there are no actual photos of the afternoon tea that Lorna enjoyed, she has assured me that it was a very good tea and has suggested that we revisit them so I can take some photos!

At £14.50 per person this is a good value afternoon tea, if you'd like a glass of champagne with your tea it will cost you £22.50 per person.

Have you enjoyed afternoon tea at The French Tarte? Do you have any photos to share with us? If so please get in touch!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

New Years Resolutions?

Hello there,

Welcome to 2014! I hope you've had a tea-riffic start to your year!

We thought we'd start the year by thinking of some new year resolutions....not that I particularly believe in resolutions after all they are so easy to break!

I think the obvious resolution is to enjoy more afternoon tea....but that goes without saying really. If you popped by our little blog last year, you'll have seen some of the scrummy teas that we indulged in during 2013. In fact we found it very difficult to pick which was our favourite! But there are so many more afternoon teas out there....including lots of new ones which we will endeavour to sample and share with you.

Tea With Me and Friends afternoon tea blog
promises to bring you loads more photos in 2014!

A personal afternoon tea resolution for me is to learn a little more about tea itself....I enjoy a good cup of tea, but I want to spend 2014 developing my palate a little more so I don't always drink the same old tea. There are so many teas out there to be sampled and I'm hoping to share my education with you.

Tea with Me and Friends' Rachel trying out some tea!

I would also like to find out a little more about afternoon teas that are served around the world - on Instagram and blog's like the fab Kate and Chelsie blog I see lots of scrummy photos of international teas and I want to learn more!

The Collection Fashion Afternoon Tea, Raffles Dubai
 - photo from Kate and Chelsie's blog

One final resolution that we've made is to improve on our own afternoon tea making skills. You may have seen one or two of our posts in 2013 where we created our own afternoon teas at home....well we'd really like to add a little more finesse to our feasts. We are hoping to do this by attending the One Aldwych Afternoon Tea Masterclass in February....we can't wait to spend some time learning from Chef Dominic. We'll let you know how we get on in a future blog post!

Chef Dominic - One Aldwych

As well as these resolutions we also have the UK Blog Awards that are currently running - we have entered our little afternoon tea blog in the Food & Drink category and we'd really appreciate your vote!

I also have lots of afternoon tea articles planned for the online magazine PVB Daily - read a new article every Thursday!

We have lots of tea adventures already planned for this year and we hope that you will join us on them!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

2013...our year of afternoon teas

Hello there,

Well its finally the end of 2013 and what a tea-riffic year it's been! Lorna and I have sampled rather a lot of afternoon teas this year, many of which have featured on this blog.

Looking back over the year we've indulged in traditional afternoon teas in the sunshine......

Afternoon tea at Warren House

and afternoon teas inspired by the catwalks.....

Pret a Portea at The Berkeley

We've sampled disappointing afternoon teas....with no tea in sight.....

Not Afternoon Tea at The Oxo Tower

and saucy afternoon teas accompanied by nipple tassels.....

Burlesque Afternoon Tea at Volupte Lounge

We've enjoyed an afternoon tea inspired by a children's book.....

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired tea at One Aldwych

and spooky offerings at Halloween.....



Halloween afternoon tea at the Ampersand

Its been a lovely experience and we are so pleased that you've joined us on our tea adventures so far!

Lorna and I have been reviewing the tea's we've indulged in this year and we've tried to decide which was our favourite....but it turns out that is a very hard decision to make!

We both loved the service at the Intercontinental Westminster hotel, the waiters were all friendly and so helpful and our teacups were never empty......



Afternoon tea at Intercontinental Westminster

And we were both blown away by the tea knowledge that the waiters at the Athenaeum hotel demonstrated when helping me decide what tea to drink with my afternoon tea.

The tea menu at The Athenaeum

We had a lot of fun at The Reform Social & Grill - so much so that we actually went several times this year! Lorna really enjoyed her Gentleman's Afternoon Tea there.



Sweet treats at Reform Social & Grill

I loved the creativity of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea that One Aldwych had on offer this year - so much so that I have signed Lorna and I up to their afternoon tea masterclass in March (blog post to follow!).

The savouries were not forgotten in One Aldwych's
 Charlie and the Chocoalte Factory Afternoon Tea!

If you ask our friend Becca....her favourite afternoon tea is the Pret a Portea at The Berkeley. Inspired by fashion, it is a highly imaginative tea.....

Pret a Portea at The Berkeley

Each tea we have tried has been very different and we've thoroughly enjoyed most of them! One things for sure.....there are an awful lot more afternoon teas out there for us to try and we can't wait for 2014 to begin!

Thank you once again for reading our little blog, we love sharing our thoughts and photos with you.

Wishing all our readers a Tea-riffic 2014 - filled with tea and cakes!

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....The Exclusive Cake Shop and Vintage Tea Room

Hello there,

Well its been a tea filled year...we've enjoyed all sorts of afternoon teas in lots of different places with a variety of friends, both old and new!

My last afternoon tea of 2013 was taken in the Exclusive Cake Shop and Vintage Tea Room in a small town called Midhurst, West Sussex. The shop is owned and run by Carole, and offers homemade bespoke cakes and afternoon tea experiences. The tearoom was found by my friend Alex, who knew it would be right up my street.....and she wasn't wrong there!

The interior of the tearoom is just lovely....full of wonderful vintage china and decorated beautifully. As you walk through the door you are greeting by a rather scrummy looking cake display and a wall of teapots (that I was very jealous of)...



Cakes galore!

The tearoom's tea menu is extensive with a wonderful choice of different teas...everyone will find a tea that suits them on the menu! I am also pleased to report that the tea is served in teapots in pretty vintage china....

The menu is also full of wonderful sweet and savoury treats and the tearoom prides itself on sourcing a lot of their ingredients from the surrounding area.

You can pick from a specials board or from the extensive menu. There are individual tea sandwiches on offer plus other toasted treats such as crumpets. You can also enjoyed homemade scones and a wide range of cakes. It probably doesn't surprise you though to read that I wanted just one thing....the full afternoon tea experience!

Once we had picked our teas we were presented with a wonderful cake stand full of freshly prepared sandwiches....

Afternoon tea sandwiches

We were given egg mayonnaise, salmon and cream cheese, ham and mustard and cucumber. The sandwiches were so fresh and tasty, the fillings very generous and the bread was soft - the perfect afternoon tea sandwich! This little lot was for just two people and we were asked if we wanted anymore!

Once we had decided that we could not eat anymore sandwiches, this cake stand was removed and it was replaced by this....

Sweet treats!

 On this cake stand were scones topped with cream and jam, mini coffee éclairs, mini strawberry cupcakes, mini cherry bakewells and slices of chocolate tiffin.

I have to say that everything tasted wonderful, and was the perfect size to enjoy. I think either the éclair or the chocolate tiffin was my favourite part.....but if I'm honest it was all rather tasty!

Rather controversially our scone was already sliced and dressed for us.....

The controversial scone!

The cream and jam were the wrong way around (Lorna wouldn't have been impressed!), but it was a very generous portion!

The service throughout was brilliant and very friendly. We were offered more sandwiches and the hot water in our teapots was refilled several times.

At £16 per person for this tea I think it was a real bargain and I would definitely go back again. As well as enjoying the food and drink in the tearoom, you can also buy items to take home with you - an added bonus to the experience!

Tea With Me and Friends enjoyed a lovely traditional afternoon tea

All in all this is a lovely tearoom, offering fresh, homemade treats at a very reasonable price. I was very pleased to end the year on a high note!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel 

Time for Tea....Pennyhill Park Hotel

Hello there,

Whilst looking on my timeline on Facebook yesterday I noticed that some of my friends Rachel and Hannah were at Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot, Surrey enjoying afternoon tea. I've heard of Pennyhill Park, but have never been there myself and so decided I must find out what the afternoon tea on offer is like!

The hotel itself is a 5 star luxury country house hotel, set within 123 acres of Surrey parkland. As well as the hotel and Michelin starred dining there is also a 45,000 square foot spa to enjoy.

Afternoon tea is served throughout the year, either in the Ascot bar or weather permitting outside on the terrace. On the day Rachel and Hannah visited there was a pianist accompanying the tea in the Ascot bar, however they were seated rather close to the entertainment which made it a little bit difficult to hear each other.

There are several different afternoon teas on offer, with different "bubbly" accompaniments to enjoy with the set food menu. Rachel and Hannah enjoyed some champagne with their afternoon tea.....

Afternoon tea consists of a selection of freshly cut finger sandwiches which Rachel particularly enjoyed. Followed by freshly baked scones with jam and clotted cream. Finally there were a selection of homemade cakes and pastries.

There is also an extensive tea menu to pick from.

Tea starts from £29.50 per person for the Traditional Ascot Afternoon Tea, if you would like to enjoy a Royal Ascot Afternoon Tea and add a glass of sparkling wine to your feast this is £39.00 per person.

Hannah reported that this is a good value afternoon tea - with lots of treats on offer.

Alfresco afternoon tea served in the summer months
 - photo from Pennyhill Park website

If you are celebrating a Birthday you can opt for a Celebration Afternoon Tea where you will enjoy a glass of bubbles with your afternoon tea and an individual birthday cake baked by the pastry chef. This afternoon tea costs £46.00 per person.

This sounds like a wonderful afternoon tea, set in lovely surroundings. Thank you to Rachel and Hannah for sharing their experience with me! If you've enjoyed an afternoon tea we'd love to hear about it - either leave us a message here or email us!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel