Time for Tea.....Tylney Hall

Hello there,

Welcome back to another fab guest post from Tea With Me and Friends - this time our lovely friend Alex is sharing with us the lovely afternoon tea that she enjoyed recently at Tylney Hall in Hampshire.

Alex and her friend enjoyed a champagne afternoon tea, served on pretty Spode china in one of the hotel's period lounges.....

Afternoon tea - Tylney Hall

There was a good selection of afternoon tea sandwiches available, with traditional fillings such as egg mayonnaise and cress, smoked salmon, ham and red onion marmalade, cheddar cheese and cream cheese and cucumber. The bread was fresh and the sandwiches were cut into dainty fingers.

Next came the scones, which were freshly baked. There was both plain and fruit scones on offer, along with strawberry preserve and clotted cream. Alex commented that although the scones were nice , she has enjoyed better at other teas.

Finally came the sweet selection of cakes which Alex enjoyed a lot. Typical sweet treats at Tylney Hall include Strawberry Mille Feuille and Fresh Fruit Tartlets Crème Patissiere.

Afternoon tea - Tylney Hall
Photo from website

Afternoon tea at is served from 3.30pm until 5pm from Monday to Saturday and from 4.00pm - 5.30pm on Sundays. A traditional afternoon tea costs £25.00 per person and a champagne afternoon tea costs £35.00 per person.

Alex would recommend this afternoon tea if you are looking for an elegant tea in the Hook area in Hampshire.

A big thank you to Alex for sharing her afternoon tea adventure with us - if you've enjoyed an afternoon tea that you'd like to share please get in touch.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

UK Blog Awards 2014 - we found cake!

Hello there,

Welcome back to another blog post from Tea With Me and Friends......a little earlier this year you might remember me talking rather a lot about the UK Blog Awards that we entered at the end of last year. We were so amazed when we were shortlisted at the beginning of this year and have all our wonderful readers and supporters to thank for that.

As one of the finalists in the Food and Drink category we attended a rather glitzy awards ceremony at The Grange Hotel St Pauls in London on Friday night. There we met a LOT of bloggers! Everyone was very friendly and it was great to actually meet some of the people behind the blogs/tweets that we read! We met the rather lovely Roch and Tash from Next Route Style and also creative cook Colin from My Foodie Blog to name just a few.

We enjoyed a chance to network, eat and drink and then the awards began...

UK Blog Awards 2014

This year we didn't win... but we did get a certificate......

.....and a goodie bag complete with wallpaper and flooring samples (there was also some Twinnings tea bags and a biscuit in there so we were very happy!)......

Our goodie bag !

....and we managed to find some rather nice cake to eat.....

Tea With Me and Friends

We'd like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for their support. We started this blog less than a year ago and we're overwhelmed that so many people want to join us on our afternoon tea adventures!

Join us again this week for more afternoon tea photos and posts!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....Maison Blanc

Hello there,

Welcome back to another Guest Post at Tea With Me and Friends....this time our lovely friend Kirsty and her fiance Jake have enjoyed the afternoon tea on offer at Maison Blanc in Farnham, Surrey. I have been intrigued by this tea for a while, so was keen to hear more when I learnt that Kirsty had paid them a visit.

If you haven't heard of Maison Blanc before then let me educate you - Maison Blanc is an artisan bakery who specialise in authentic french breads and pastries and other seasonal items. Their first patisserie was located in Oxford in 1980, and today they have 14 different locations.....including the one in Farnham, Surrey.

As well as all the scrummy pastries on offer, (I have enjoyed one of their cream teas previously) Maison Blanc also have an afternoon tea experience which consists of a pot of tea or fresh coffee and five miniature pastries, which are adapted from the most popular treats offered by Maison Blanc.

Lets take a look at the cake stand.....

Afternoon tea - Maison Blanc, Farnham

The pastry selection includes a mini chocolate eclair, an apricot almondine, a lemon meringue tart, a mini chocolate brownie and a mini millefeuille framboise - if you order a tea for two you will get two of each sweet treat (so no need to fight!).

Afternoon tea
Maison Blanc, Farnham

Kirsty enjoyed the experience, highly recommending the mini chocolate brownie and the little eclairs which were her favourite parts of the tea. However, she did miss the "whole tea" experience and would have liked at least one little finger sandwich or scone!

Saying that, everything tasted good and was very fresh.

Afternoon tea,
Maison Blanc, Farnham

This tea costs £9.95 per person, or you can order a tea for two for £19.90. For more information about the treats on offer at Maison Blanc, pop by their website.

Thank you Kirsty and Jake for sharing your tea experience with us! Have you enjoyed an afternoon tea treat recently that you would like to share....please get in touch!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea.....London Marriott Hotel County Hall

Hello there,

Welcome back to another wonderful guest post from our lovely friend Becca who recently visited London Marriott Hotel County Hall for a friend's Hen Party.

Read on to find out all about Becca's afternoon tea adventure.....

I enjoyed this afternoon tea as part of an afternoon of Hen Party celebrations with a group of friends. The afternoon tea at the London Marriott Hotel County Hall was served in the library lounge in the hotel, which was really nice with gorgeous views of the Thames including Big Ben. Our afternoon tea was booked with an offer that included free flowing champagne during the service.

The tea selection was provided by Twinings and was very cute, the tea menu was displayed in mini jars that you could open to look at or smell the tea leaves before you pick your favourite! 

Afternoon Tea selection
London Marriott County Hall

The sandwiches were very tasty! The selection was quite traditional and included salmon, cucumber and cream cheese, egg mayonnaise, ham and mustard and beef and horseradish. The hotel was also able to accommodated my allergies, even though I only informed them about them when we arrived for tea.

Sandwiches and scones!
London Marriott County Hall

The scones were lovely and fresh, we had one apple and cinnamon and one cheese scone each - both were served warm and were very scrummy. They were served with the usual clotted cream and jam, but we also had some cream cheese and chives for the savoury scone - yummy! 

Afternoon tea
London Marriott Hotel County Hall

The cakes were all delicious, my favourite being the coffee macaroon. The lollipop was a tasty chocolate treat with popping candy! 

Sweet selection at afternoon tea
London Marriott Hotel County Hall

The service we experience during the afternoon was very good! There was a very "lively" group at the tea (remember we all had free flowing bubbles!!) but the management were extremely apologetic and we were given a discount on the tea for the disturbance! 

The Hen within our group was treated to a celebration plate of treats which she was very surprised about and ate all of! We thought this was a lovely touch. After the tea we obviously wanted to take some souvenir pictures and the staff at the hotel were quite happy to take the photos for us and even took part in some of them! We felt this was a great day overall, which we all enjoyed.

The celebration plate
London Marriott Hotel County Hall

Well, doesn't that afternoon tea sound wonderful? A lovely way to spend an afternoon with a group of friends. A traditional afternoon tea at the hotel costs £32.00 per person or if you would like to enjoy a glass of bubbles it will be £38 per person. Contact the hotel directly to enquire about any offers that may be on currently. For more information pop by their website.

A big thank you to Becca for sharing her afternoon tea experience with us. If you would like to appear as a guest blogger and have an afternoon tea to share with us please get in touch, we'd love to hear from you!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Where next for tea?

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea blog post from Tea With Me and Friends. We have lots of exciting plans coming up and so I thought I would share with you where we will be indulging in tea. I will be beginning May with some slightly different afternoon tea events.....

For my Birthday I was very spoilt and my friend Becca has treated me to a Cupcake and Macaroon Tour of London - a walking tour provided by Great British Tours. During our two and a half hour walking tour we will be making seven stops to enjoy various cupcakes and macaroons and learning a little history too!

In the next month I will also be joining the Secret Tea Society ladies for their Annual Vintage Tea Celebration at The Dowager's Manor House in Surrey. I can't wait for this tea as we are all being asked to dress in 1920s style!

Other afternoon teas we will be enjoying include Chewton Glen in Hampshire......

Afternoon tea Chewton Glen
Photo from website

A quirky afternoon tea at Sketch in London......

Afternoon tea - Sketch
Photo from website

We will also be featuring various guest posts from lovely friends who have been out enjoying afternoon teas in London and further afield. If you would like to appear as a guest post we'd love to hear from you!

In June we will be featuring some afternoon teas that are designed to cater for various dietary requirements. There are some many different dietary requirements from gluten free to dairy free from vegetarian to lactose free - we want to find some of the best afternoon teas that cater for them all. 

If you know of a wonderful afternoon tea that is designed especially for a dietary requirement that you think we should feature please get in touch - we'd love to hear about your afternoon tea adventures.

We're looking forward to our next round of afternoon teas and we hope that you'll be joining us!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel and Lorna

Time for Tea.....The Dorchester

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea blog post from Tea With Me and Friends, this week Lorna and I were lucky enough to indulge in a spot of afternoon tea at The Dorchester in London. I was kindly given a champagne tea for two by the hotel when I worked with them last year and have eagerly waited to enjoy this traditional afternoon tea experience.

When we arrived we were whisked to our seats in The Promenade, a very elegant area just off the main lobby of the hotel. Our cushions were plumped as we took our seats and we were given a glass of champagne, whilst being told all the about the feast that lay ahead of us. We were then left alone to pursue the extensive tea menu, guided by some recommendations from our waiter. I opted for the tea called Paris - which was light and slightly fruity, a lovely brew.

Firstly, I would like to draw your attention to the beautiful china used by The Dorchester - its pretty yet very elegant. Lorna proclaimed that the tea pot was one of the best she has ever used!

Afternoon tea china
The Dorchester

Once our tea was chosen the sandwiches were served. They were brought out on a large sandwich plate and then served to us on our individual plates.

Afternoon tea sandwiches - The Dorchester

The selection was very traditional with egg mayonnaise, cucumber and cream cheese, salmon and roast chicken. There was also a rather lovely grilled vegetable sandwich which I found a nice addition to the plate, something I wouldn't normally pick but enjoyed. 

The bread was soft and fresh and the sandwiches all contained the right amount of filling - no over filled sandwiches here! Once we finished our sandwiches we were offered more - and I might have had another one of those egg sandwiches!

Once we'd finished our sandwiches we were presented with this...

Afternoon tea - The Dorchester

It was a wonderful sweet treat - a bit like a very posh after eight mint! Dark chocolate and mint is always a lovely combination.

Next the scones and the cakes were served, along with cream and preserves......

Afternoon tea
The Dorchester

We had one plain and one fruit scone each, accompanied by clotted cream and a choice of two different preserves. One was traditional strawberry and the other a lemon earl grey - as you can see I opted for both! The Dorchester always serves one traditional preserve and one seasonal to accompany their scones.

Afternoon tea scones
The Dorchester

The scones were light and fluffy, the fruity one had just the right amount of fruit distributed throughout it. The cream was ever so light and made a wonderful base for the preserves which both tasted wonderful. I was particularly fond of the lemon early grey variety and found the strawberry one slightly two runny.

Once we had finished our scones we were offered more...but eyeing up the sweet plate that was to follow we declined to ensure we still had room! 

Afternoon tea cakes - The Dorchester

This plate included a chocolate and passion fruit tart (just out of sight in this photo), a scrummy raspberry macaroon, a strawberry panna cota, a wonderful coconut treat and two pieces of coffee cake that was so well flavoured that it felt like you were drinking a cup of coffee!

My favourite item was the half macaroon with white chocolate and raspberry - it was light, chewy and so tasty! I'm not normally a fan of white chocolate, but felt it worked very well with the tart raspberry. Again, once we had polished off these we were offered more sweets - something we were made of before we tucked into the plate and therefore we knew we didn't need to share anything!

All in all this was a wonderful experience - the Promenade is a beautiful space and everyone is seated far enough apart that you forget other people are there! We also enjoyed the beautiful playing of a pianist during the afternoon, which added to the atmosphere. All the waiters were wonderful, appearing like magic to replenish our food and tea (I'm not sure how many cups of tea we managed to drink!).

The Dorchester offers a variety of different afternoon teas from this champagne tea to one served in their spa! They also have a special tea designed to compliment the Chelsea Flower Show. For more details pop by their website.

The champagne tea costs £55.00 per person and so its definitely a treat - but a wonderful one if you have something special to celebrate.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Meet the Head Chef......

Hello there,

Welcome back to another blog post from Tea With Me and Friends, this time we are meeting the Head Chef  Sergio Neale at the Reform Social & Grill in Marylebone London, creator of the Vintage themed afternoon tea currently on offer.

Vintage Afternoon Tea
Reform Social & Grill

We visited the Reform Social & Grill last weekend and loved the concept of the afternoon tea, and afterwards Chef Sergio kindly answered some questions for us.....

Q. Why did you decide to feature a themed afternoon tea at the Reform Social & Grill?
Many places have themed afternoon teas and to add a little something extra to the classic option. I just tried to find something that is very on trend at the moment.

Q. We love the idea of an afternoon tea inspired by the 1940s/50s - what made you pick this particular era?
It a time in Britain when things were hard, with rationing still in place for much of the time, Britain pulled together, people did the best with what they had. But even thought times were hard people really knew how to have a good time. Its an inspiring time and at tea time, people enjoyed themselves and this is exactly what we want people to do here. Indulge, dress up and enjoy. 

Q How long did it take you to create this new afternoon tea?
The creation of this afternoon tea took around 3 month from the idea to 

Q. Was it hard to pick which fancies to include in the afternoon tea?
Not really! I just think back to what my granddad used to cook for me. Plus I have his some of his recipes which are amazing.

Q. What is your favourite part of this afternoon tea?
Bananas and custard, it’s a classic mums quick dessert, it’s a brilliant combination  

Q. Do you enjoy a spot of afternoon tea yourself and have you tried tea anywhere else?
I do enjoy afternoon teas, I enjoy classic tea rooms were they serve big wedges of cakes and eccals cakes as big as dinner plates. But for something a little special I would recommend sketch.

Head Chef - Sergio Neale
Reform Social & Grill

Q. What is your favourite filling in an afternoon tea sandwich?
Coronation chicken. A classic but we worked hard on getting the right combination of spices so its unforgettable

Q. The all important question - do you put cream or jam on your scone first?
Cream, you can get more on if the cream goes on first, its harder to spread cream on top of jam

Q. If you could invite any guest to enjoy afternoon tea with you, who would it be and why?
Definitely tea with the Queen! 

As you can imagine Lorna and I were pleased to hear that Chef Sergio dresses his scones in the correct way - cream first! We'll be enjoying a spot of afternoon tea at Sketch next month and so we were also pleased to see the recommendation here!

A big thank you to Chef Sergio for answering our questions and we hope you've enjoyed our latest instalment in the "meet the chef" blog articles.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea....The Thistle Brighton

Hello there,

Welcome back to another guest post from Tea With Me and Friends. This time we are joined by the lovely Lissie from The Little Vintage Teacup who has been enjoying a spot of afternoon tea in Brighton.

A girls day out with my Mum hunting for vintage crockery for my budding vintage tea party business would not have been complete without a little indulgence in one of my favourite past times of all (if you hadn’t guessed already ) Afternoon Tea!

We booked a week in advance at The Thistle in preparation for our day out treasure hunting. We had look at other deals in Brighton, however for £35 The Thistle were offering Afternoon Tea, Spa Access & 9 hours’ worth of parking.  For those of you who haven’t yet visited Brighton a car park for 9 hours could cost you up to £20 so we were instantly drawn in.

We had intended to arrive feeling like ladies of leisure, superbly coiffed from the hours we spent getting ready earlier that day, however when we arrived we were completely soaked from head to toe having been caught out In a rain storm and we looked far from ladylike. The waitress caught sight of us and immediately came to our aid offering us a hot drink. Having walked for hours around Brighton already we were both needing some energy & opted for some strong coffee. 

Afternoon tea - The Thistle Brighton

When the waitress brought the drinks over we were both handed our own little teapots & were given a milk jug to share. Now this may sound silly but I was pleasantly surprised to find we have been given a good amount of milk in our jug! How often does it happen that you get given a thimble of milk for an entire coffee pot! I commend our Waitress on her coffee making abilities! Her coffee to milk ratios were spot on!

Soon after our afternoon tea was brought out to us… I don’t know about you but I have always loved that moment when you first see your afternoon tea.  I like the surprise of seeing what goodies there are to try! 

Afternoon tea - The Thistle Brighton

Our tea consisted of finger sandwiches (I think they may have been cut the wrong way as they were very wide and they also still had the crusts on) filled with egg mayonnaise , ham & mustard & cream cheese & cucumber all of which were delicious! Following on from the sandwiches we had lovely warm scones served with proper jam & clotted cream. The scones were a medium size, beautifully soft inside and had that lovely golden tone to them on the outside. They were just enough to ensure we still had enough room for the festival of delicious cakes that ensued on the top layer!

Sweet treats at the Thistle Brighton

We were greeted by a Lemon Cheese Cake, Strawberry Cupcake, Coffee & Walnut Cake & a Frangipane Cake.  The Lemon Cheese Cake was light to the taste and packed a fantastic zesty tang, it had a biscuit base (my favourite part of a Cheese Cake) which was delicious, I couldn’t fault it… apart from the fact that I had to share it :P. The Coffee & Walnut Cake was deliciously moist and really complimented the coffee we had to drink with it and the Frangipane Cake was equally as wonderful with its almond undertones. By the time we had reached the end of our cakes we were both very full and unfortunately didn’t manage the Strawberry Cupcake, however I was given a little foil to wrap it up in and gave it to my Step-Gran. She said it was beautiful, and I was actually really pleased we hadn’t finished it at our tea as it meant someone else could also enjoy part of our experience.

One of the things that really hit me about The Thistle is how tranquil the environment is. You step off the pavement having been shoved and pushed by people rushing about everywhere and walk into what feels like an oasis of calm. There is delicate piano music playing in the background and as you begin to take in your surroundings the stress from the busy pavement begins to fade away.

We didn’t make it in to the spa unfortunately but having visited The Thistle on several occasions as a night guest I can recommend it to anyone looking for a little R&R.

Little T xx 
The Little Vintage Teacup

What a wonderful post - a bit thank you to Lissie for sharing her experience with me. I'm not sure about those sandwiches with their crusts on though!

If you've enjoyed afternoon tea somewhere and would like to share your afternoon tea adventures please get in touch!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea....Reform Social & Grill

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea blog post from Tea With Me and Friends, last weekend Lorna and I and a group of friends experienced a new afternoon tea on offer at Reform Social & Grill in London.

I had been told about their vintage afternoon teas with live music inspired by the 40s and 50s, where guests are encouraged to dress for the occasion. Well anyone who has popped by our blog before will know that Lorna and I love a bit of vintage...so we got a group of girls together and put our 50s attire on and headed into London....

Tea With Me and Friends -
ready for a spot of afternoon tea

Now, Lorna and I have visited the Reform Social & Grill on several occasions before and have always enjoyed good food and great service, and so we were looking forward to this afternoon experience. You can either enjoy a vintage afternoon tea with traditional cakes and tea or you can opt for unlimited bubbles (for two hours) with your tea. Any regular visitors to our blog will not be surprised to learn that we opted for the bubbles! 

The tea begins with a seasonal Bellini each - we could choose from peach or raspberry. Our afternoon included live music from singers Verity and Violet, however when they are not performing music from the 40s and 50s is played in the restaurant.

After we had each picked our tea from the varied tea menu, the cake stands were brought out. The tea looked lovely, and we had vintage china instead of the usual white china used for previous afternoon teas.

Vintage afternoon tea
Reform Social & Grill

Two of our guests didn't fancy the salmon sandwiches and the waiter happily substituted these for one of the other varieties. On the sandwich plate was cucumber and cream cheese, smoked salmon and horseradish, coronation chicken and duck egg mayonnaise.

Afternoon tea sandwiches - Reform Social & Grill

If I'm honest these were not the best sandwiches that we have enjoyed with afternoon tea (although there were crust free and dainty in size!). The fillings were ok, but the bread was rather soggy. The beetroot bread from the salmon sandwich also dyed the sandwiches which we on either side of it. 

We then moved onto the scones - we had one each, which was accompanied with raspberry jam and clotted cream.

Fruity scones - Reform Social & Grill

The scones were lovely - I could have eaten another one really! They were light and fluffy inside and there was plenty of cream for everyone.

We then moved onto the top tier of the cake stand.....the vintage inspired sweet treats.

Vintage inspired cakes - Reform Social & Grill

There was a good selection of cakes and we all got one each - so no sharing here! The selection included lemon pound cake, apple turnovers, mini treacle tarts, jam roly poly pudding and rose petal meringues.

Afternoon tea - Reform Social & Grill

Unfortunately this was a rather disappointing tier, something that we all agreed on. The concept of this tea is wonderful and I was so excited to try all the old fashioned treats - but they just didn't hit the spot for us. The highlight was probably the apple turnover, but the low point is tied between several of the cakes. The treacle tart was a little too small and a little over baked - it was like eating a mouthful of pastry. The meringues were rather buttery....in fact I couldn't tell you that they were flavoured with rose petals.

The service was also sadly lacking on this particular visit, which also surprised me as everyone was always so attentive previously. Both our teacups and our prosecco glasses ran dry several times during the afternoon, resulting in us needing to catch someones eye and request "more please".

The live entertainment however was brilliant, we all enjoyed seat dancing along to the vintage inspired songs that Verity and Violet sang....and they looked beautiful in their outfits....

Vintage inspired entertainment
Verity and Violet

This was a lovely addition to the vintage afternoon tea experience that we thoroughly enjoyed.

You can partake in a vintage afternoon tea, complete with live music on the first Sunday of each month, but the vintage tea itself is served all the time (without the music). The tea will cost you £26.50 each and if you'd like to enjoy unlimited Prosecco it will cost £28.50 each. The food in this tea is limited to what you see in these photos, however if you want to order another plate of anything you can at a charge.

Considering we enjoyed rather good live music with our tea I do think its good value for money, but I would have liked just one more of those scrummy scones.

Have you enjoyed a vintage inspired afternoon tea anywhere? If so we'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Easter Afternoon Tea

Hello there,

With Easter just around the corner we thought we would share with you some of the scrummy Easter themed afternoon teas that we have discovered this year.

First lets start with the sumptuous looking Easter afternoon tea on offer at The Landmark hotel in London....

Easter afternoon tea - Landmark Hotel
Photo from website

On your sweet plate you'll find a white chocolate nest and a dark chocolate and praline egg to name some of the delights!

The Dorchester also have an Easter afternoon tea delight on offer....

Easter Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester
Photo from Website

This themed afternoon tea includes hot cross buns!

At Cafe Royal the chocoholics amongst us can indulge this Easter with their Easter Chocolate Afternoon tea....

Easter Chocolate Afternoon Tea - Cafe Royal
Photo from Website

This chocolate feast includes milk chocolate and violet operas and dark chocolate Easter eggs. You can also add a hot chocolate to your feast, picking from such delights as salted caramel and Black Forest!

Pastry Chef Ji Sun Shin has been creating masterpieces again....take a peek at the Easter afternoon tea that has been created at The Ampersand hotel....

Easter Afternoon Tea -  The Ampersand
Photo from Website

This tea includes chocolate nests with coconut mousse and shortbread chicks.

If chicks aren't your thing....how about an Easter bunny? Take a peek at the tea at the Corinthia hotel.....

Easter Afternoon Tea - Corinthia Hotel
Photo from Website

That macaroon Easter bunny looks too cute to eat!

Have you got an Easter themed afternoon tea booked? Or perhaps your creating your own Easter themed tea at home for your friends or family? Either way we'd love to hear from you and see your afternoon tea adventures!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea..... The Portrait Restaurant, London

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends, this time we have a lovely guest post for you from our Twitter friend Victoria who recently visited the Portrait Restaurant. Lets read about her London afternoon tea adventure.....

Trying to pick a venue for afternoon tea in London when you're from Rutland is no mean feat!  Thanks to another friend who lives in London, my friend Suzie and I chose the Portrait Restaurant for our afternoon tea.  Our criteria was "good, but not too smart", knowing we'd be needing a rest from all those galleries!

The Portrait Restaurant, run by Searcy, is on the top floor of the National Portrait Gallery so amazing views of London rooftops are the incredible backdrop.  Luckily, our table was next to the window and we could enjoy being almost eye to eye with Nelson on top of his column.  Due to the incredible view, the tables are packed in and it felt a little claustrophobic as we were weaving our way to our table.

Photo shows Suzie with our tea!

Quite radically, there was not a finger sandwich in sight.  The selection of savouries were a smoked salmon blini, a chicken brioche and a cucumber, dill and cream cheese sandwich on the tiniest slices of bread.  Sweet!  Possibly the only disappointment was that the bread for the cucumber sandwich was slightly dry.

Onto the scones in the middle.  All four scones were plain and fresh, to be served with strawberry jam and clotted cream.  Suzie apologised for cross-contaminating the jam and cream, but wolfing down the fluffy scones were the order of the day!  By this time we'd moved onto our second glass of champagne each, at a cost of £10 per glass.

Finally, the top tier.  Thankfully, there were two of each sweet treat so no arguing took place between us.  The mocha and gold leaf eclairs felt a little stale, but the rest of the top tier couldn't have been tastier!  Who would say no to a passion fruit macaroon, a mini fruit tart or, my favourite, the homemade bounty bar?  Not me!

All of this was washed down by Tregothnan loose leaf teas.  Divine!  Afternoon tea is £24.50 a head, with the champagne being charged as extra. 

Now doesn't that sound like a wonderful afternoon tea? I love the sound of the homemade bounty bar!

A huge thank you to Victoria and Suzie for sharing their afternoon tea with us - if you've enjoyed a tea that you would like to tell us about please get in touch, we'd love to hear from you!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel