Time for Tea.....The Intercontinental at The O2

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends!

We hope you're keeping well!

So, last weekend here in the UK it was Mother's Day and as some of you know, this blog exists from our family tradition of taking mum for a Mother's Day afternoon tea. One problem with last weekend though.....it also happened to be Country 2 Country - a three day country music festival that Lorna and I always attend. It's held at the O2 in London and there are music acts playing throughout the day and into the night.

We fixed our little problem though as we decided to stay at The Intercontinental hotel at the O2 this year.....and they offer an afternoon tea! So we dragged mum up to the O2 to listen to some country music with us and enjoy a spot of afternoon tea!

Intercontinental at the O2 serve their afternoon tea in the Meridian Lounge, overlooking the River Thames and Canary Wharf. We were given a corner table looking straight out onto the Thames, which was like a little oasis in the corner of the lounge....

The afternoon tea was a traditional affair, starting with a selection of finger sandwiches and savouries. The section included:

Honey roasted ham with wholegrain mustard mayonnaise on Pain de Mie
Mature cheddar cheese and pickle on carrot bread
Sliced cucumber and grated radishes with crème fraîche on beetroot bread
Smoked salmon with dill cream cheese on basil bread
Truffle egg mayonnaise on a brioche bun

It was a very pretty sandwich plate, with a variety of colours making it interesting to look at. There was also a variety of flavours to sample. I enjoyed the cucumber and radish more than I thought I would and I enjoyed the cheese and pickle sandwich. I wasn't really a fan of the egg mayonnaise on the brioche bun though, as the sweetness of the bun was rather overpowering.

The sandwiches were fresh and crustless....but take a look at the sizing....why is my ham sandwich so much shorter than the others??

At this point I'll note that our tea was refreshed regularly throughout the afternoon tea and we were given the opportunity to change our tea choice.

When we had finished our savouries the afternoon tea stand was served.....queue photo of Lorna waving at me through the top tier....

We started with the scones at the bottom of the stand, which were served with clotted cream and two different preserves. The scones were served warm, they were a good size and had a lovely colour - they looked very appealing against the white plates.

We weren't a fan of the preserves (one was strawberry and the other apricot), which seemed to lack flavour, but the scones themselves had a great texture and were not at all claggy.

We were served two scones each - one plain and one fruit. There was also plenty of cream and preserve for all three of us. 

Finally we moved onto the sweet treats, which were very pretty....

This pretty sweet selection included

Blackberry Bonbon Torte

Plum and Custard Verrine

Pear and Apple Tart

Spiced Chocolate Pyramid

Quince macaroon

The stand out item for me was the chocolate pyramid - the cake was moist and light, with layers of ganache. Each item looked beautiful, a lot of thought had gone into the presentation of this afternoon tea.

I also want to compliment the Meridian Lounge on how welcoming they are and how knowledgeable their staff were about the teas. One server in particular helped mum with her choice of tea, suggesting different ways to sweeten the tea. She also came back during the afternoon to see whether mum was enjoying her tea. It was refreshing to be served by someone who actually knew about tea and the different ways to enjoy it. 

Probably not the first choice for many people because of the location, but the Intercontinental at the O2 offers a well priced afternoon tea, with excellent service. If you'd like to know more about their afternoon tea, pop by their website

If you treated your mum to a Mother's Day afternoon tea last weekend, we'd love to hear all about it. Leave a comment on the blog, or get in touch on Facebook!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Afternoon Tea News - Halloween 2017 part 2

Hello there,

Welcome back to part 2 of the Tea With Me and Friends Halloween themed afternoon tea round up! Yes, today we have more spooky afternoon teas to share with you!

Let's begin with Tewin Bury Farm Hotel in Hertfordshire.....

This afternoon tea is available between 21st- 31st October and guests can enjoy the following sweet treats:

Cauldron mallow pop
Ghoulish white chocolate macaroon
'Dracula's Tomb' raspberry opera
Eerie sorbet filled 'chocolate eye'
Blackcurrant & 'Slime' pannacotta

Yes, you read that correctly.....you could be feasting on a chocolate eye!

The Milestone Hotel in London if offering a very limited Halloween afternoon tea, available on the 30th-31st October 2017.....and beware....it includes more eyeballs!

Sweet treats at this afternoon tea include:

Spooky coconut meringue
Bat praline millefeuille
Eye ball chocolate truffles
Poisonous pistachio cheesecake
R.I.P velvet cupcake

This menu made me giggle, calling the pistachio cheesecake "poisonous" - if I'm honest I'm not the greatest pistachio fan and so this name is very fitting!

Finally we found this super cute Halloween tea on offer at Lottie's Coffee Lounge at the Butterfly House in Sheffield:

And yes....there is another eyeball in this one too - clearly a theme in 2017! This afternoon tea is more rustic than the other teas, but I love the styling! This tea is available all of October from 1st October 2017 to 31st October 2017 between 12PM - 3:30PM.

We hope you've enjoyed part 2 of our Halloween round up. If you've enjoyed a Halloween themed afternoon tea this year we'd love to hear all about it!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Afternoon Tea News - Halloween 2017 part 1

Hello there,

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

With Halloween just around the corner we thought we'd share with you some of the Halloween themed afternoon teas that are on offer this October - be warned....they're tea-riffying!

Let's start with Amba Hotel Marble Arch....

The spooky tea being serve at Amba includes:

Witches fingers cookies
Brownie with walnuts
Mini muffin with Ghost meringue
Chocolate milk shake with raspberry couli

Guests can also enjoy sandwiches, scones and a glass of Bloody Mary!

This afternoon tea can be enjoyed between 23rd - 31st October.

Or maybe you fancy enjoying your Halloween themed afternoon tea whilst travelling around London....

Yes, between 28th October - 5th November you can enjoy this colourful afternoon tea feast with a spooky twist on the B Afternoon Tea Bus Tour.

As well as scrummy savouries, there are cupcakes, macaroons and a pumpkin pie!

Finally we have the creepy afternoon tea on offer at BlueBird Chelsea....

Available between 26th-29th October, guests will enjoy sandwiches and scones, along with:

Ghoul cupcakes, liquorice icing
Brownie coffins
Blood orange tart
Pumpkin sponge roll

I don't know about you, but my mouth is watering just looking at these afternoon teas! Don't forget to pop back later this week to see more spooky afternoon teas!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel 

Time for Tea.....The Balcon at Sofitel St James

Hello there,

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

Last weekend I treated my lovely fried Alex to a belated Birthday afternoon tea at The Balcon in Sofitel St James. As this was a special occasion I wanted a special afternoon tea and this one included free flowing champagne along with the sweet treats and finger sandwiches - just perfect!

As our bubbles were poured we were left with the tea samples to explore - the jars allow you to smell the leaves and all the descriptions can be found in the menu.

Once we'd selected our teas the afternoon tea stand and sandwiches were brought out to us. The sandwiches came on a separate plate and the scones were served warm. The stand included three different scones, which were accompanied by clotted cream, rose scented strawberry jam and lemon curd. Plus a selection of four good sized pastries.

The stand was simple but elegant, very befitting of the surroundings. The sandwiches were presented on a simple white plate, there were a selection of four fillings....

The sandwich fillings included egg mayonnaise, cheese and tomato, a smoked chicken and a salmon and cucumber sandwich. The bread was all fresh and squidgy and not a crust in sight. I particularly enjoyed the tomato bread that came with the chicken sandwich. 

The sandwiches were also quite unique as they were triple-decker sandwiches....

The bread was thin enough that the sandwiches were still dainty and delicate, but the extra bread also meant that the sandwich did not become soggy. A great idea! I think my favourite filling was the egg mayonnaise sandwich, which was filled well and tasted wonderful.

Next we moved onto the scones - there was a chocolate chip scone, a plain scone and a fruit scone to enjoy.

The scones were a good size (although we only ate two each) and they were a great texture - not at all claggy. The lemon curd was lovely with the clotted cream and I really enjoyed the rose scented strawberry jam.

Moving onto the pastries at the top of the stand....

We had four pastries to enjoy between us, but they were big enough for us to cut in two and share. Now I have to admit that I can only remember three of the four pastries (sorry!), there was an Opera cake, a raspberry macaroon and a matcha tea slice. My favourite one was the Opera cake.

I had also mentioned when making my reservation that it was Alex's Birthday and the staff very kindly presented another plate of pastries to Alex, singing her a rendition of Happy Birthday.

All in all this was a rather lovely afternoon tea, we enjoyed champagne throughout the afternoon tea and were altered to when the 90 minute time frame was going to run out. The Balcon is a beautiful space and I liked the modern but simple feel.

If you'd like to find out more about the afternoon tea at The Balcon pop by their website.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel 

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

Afternoon Tea News - Valentine' Special 2017

Hello there,

We are just days from Valentine's day 2017 and we thought it was perfect time to take a peek at some of the sweet treats being served in hotels this year....prepare to drool!

The Love Knot's Valentine's afternoon tea from Conrad St James....

The sweet treats include a Chocolate & red velvet cake, a Frosted rose & vanilla viennese, a Strawberry & yoghurt marble mousse and Sweet vegetable cake with a "love letter", meringue kisses & petals.

Valentine's at The Langham....

Diners can indulge their sweet tooth with:

White chocolate mousse, mango and passion fruit jelly and dark chocolate sable

Strawberry and white balsamic

Victoria sponge

Heart shape cinnamon shortbread cookie

English rose and lychee log

64% dark chocolate, raspberry and almond

How about the Valentine's Wyld Tea at the Mondrain....

This feast includes a glass of Perrier Jouet Rose on arrival and a Gin and raspberry macaroon to take away with a Valentines note.

Valentine's at the Hilton Bath City....

This sweet afternoon tea adventure is accompanied by a glass of Sparkling Rose.

I love the afternoon tea stand!

Fancy something a little bit different, how about afternoon tea at the Daawat Indian Restaurant...

The savouries here include: 

Beetroot gravlax in malted bloomer

Tomato wrap filled with chicken tikka and mint chutney

Paneer pakora on potato-stuffed flatbread

Cucumber and cream cheese on white bloomer

I love how colourful this afternoon tea is!

Finally we have the Valentine's afternoon tea at Amba Hotel, Marble Arch...

The sweet treats here include heart-shaped chocolate sponge, raspberry mousse cake, strawberry shortbread and macaroons.

We hope you've enjoyed our round up of some of the Valentine afternoon teas on offer this February. If you enjoy a Valentine's afternoon tea anywhere this year we'd love to hear all about it!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....The Swan Restaurant

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - today we have another fab guest post to share with you! This time the lovely Victoria is sharing her recent themed afternoon tea at The Swan Restaurant in London. Over to Victoria....

 Having been to The Swan Restaurant (next to the Globe Theatre) for lunch, I was keen to return for afternoon tea.  My husband, Ian, volunteered to come with me for this treat!  The restaurant has the most incredible view of the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral and we were lucky enough to have a window table.   

There is a choice of either a Midsummer Night’s Dream themed tea or a gentleman’s afternoon tea, but seeing the list of sweet treats we both plumped for the themed tea.  This costs £26.50, plus a little extra for either bubbles or a “Love Potion” cocktail.  In the interest of this review, I felt that I must sample the cocktail.  A special mention must go to the beautiful crockery, all designed specifically for this themed tea.

All the tea is leaf tea and we were both given a decent sized pot.  Ian plumped for the English Breakfast tea, whereas I had the flowery “Fleur d’Orient” – a hint of jasmine for this theme!  I must mention that my cocktail was far too enjoyable and was a perfect complement to the savoury section of the food.

The Love Potion at The Swan

So, on to the main event.  The savoury plate at the bottom was the place to start, of course.  Only the egg and watercress sandwich was in a traditional finger, but the crusts were off!  The wild mushroom and truffle tart was incredibly flavoursome, the chicken bun was scrumptious and that salmon pancake was divine.  Although the majority were not traditional, they were all delicious so we did not mind that they were not all finger sandwiches! 

Midsummers Night Dream Afternoon tea
at The Swan Restaurant, London

The scones were beautifully warm and consisted of one fruit and one plain scone each.  These were served with raspberry jam and clotted cream in just the right amount for two people for afternoon tea.  Having had the jam or cream first debate, we agreed that it all ends up in our tummies far too quickly.

Midsummers Night Dream Afternoon tea
at The Swan Restaurant, London

Up to that top layer, we were in for more of a treat.  I think that Puck would have approved of the hibiscus and apricot shot in those glasses; maybe that’s what was in the potion he popped into those eyes!  Hopefully, Titania would have approved of the lemon and rose cake whereas Oberon’s favourite would have been the chocolate and violet chouquette (profierole as Ian called it!).

I’ve already sent a photograph to my afternoon tea buddy who lives in Dubai, so she’s hoping to visit The Swan Restaurant when she’s back in London.  In the meantime, I’d recommend the afternoon tea in this ideal setting.

We'd like to give Victoria a huge thank you for sharing her latest afternoon tea adventure with us - it certainly looks and sounds like a delightful experience! What great flavour combinations and just look at that view!

We always love hearing about our readers afternoon tea adventures - if you've visited anywhere recently (either in London or further afield) drop us a line and let us know!

If you'd like to read more about The Swan, pop by their gorgeous website!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Afternoon Tea News - The Blackpool Tower Ballroom Afternoon Tea

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - today we're back with a little afternoon tea news for you......

The Blackpool Tower has launched a beautiful summer afternoon tea in the sophisticated setting of its famous Ballroom. Home to the stars’ favourite spectacular dance floor and dating back to 1894, the Ballroom features spectacular architecture. Its elegant charm makes it the perfect location for a very British afternoon tea......

Afternoon Tea - Blackpool Tower Ballroom

The tea-riffic menu features a vari-tea of sandwiches on malted and wheat grain bread, including salmon flakes with cucumber and cream cheese, and chopped egg mayonnaise with sliced egg and salad cress.

Next comes the fresh fruit scone with Clotted Cream and strawberry preserve, followed by a selection of delicious fruit tartlets and dainty cakes. Enjoy with with a hot coffee or Twining’s fruit or breakfast tea.

Take a step back in time and watch the dancers gliding across the dancefloor during your tea, or try out your own Latin and Ballroom moves.

To find out more about this afternoon tea visit the Blackpool Tower website where you can also book online .

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

It's Afternoon Tea Week!

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends, we're a bit excited today because it's the beginning of Afternoon Tea Week 2016! 

Afternoon Tea Week runs from 8th - 14th August this year and is a celebration of one of the nation’s favourite traditions. Whether enjoyed in a 5-star hotel, in a local tearoom, or as a home baked treat we know how much everyone loves a spot of afternoon tea and this week is the perfect opportunity to indulge! Pop by the Afternoon Tea Week website to see all the special events, exclusive offers, and competitions.

Some of the offers you can enjoy this week include 2 for 1 Champagne Afternoon Tea at Amba Hotel Marble Arch, 25% off Afternoon Tea in Oblix Lounge at The Shard, 25% off Birdcage Afternoon Tea at The Park Lane Hotel and 25% Afternoon Tea in Mirror Room at Rosewood London to name just a few!

In addition to celebrate Afternoon Tea Week Buyagift.com are offering Tea With Me and Friends readers an exclusive discount of 20% off all afternoon teas on the Buyagift.com website from 8th- 14th August, off some already discounted prices, simply enter AFTERNOONTEAPR at the checkout!

If you enjoy an afternoon tea adventure this week we'd love to hear all about it - leave us a comment or send us a Tweet!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for Tea....Le Meridien Piccadilly

Hello there fellow afternoon tea lovers,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends, where today we're sharing with you a not so tea-riffic afternoon tea adventure we recently had.

On a trip into London with mum I decided to treat her to an afternoon tea before the show we were seeing. I looked around and discovered the Jungle Afternoon tea at Le Meridien Piccadilly via the Bookable Table website. The tea was launched in March to celebrate the release of Disney’s new film interpretation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. The tea looked rather cool, with tiger bread sandwiches, fruit kebabs and animal print cookies, we were both looking forward to it.

On arrival at The Terrace, where the afternoon tea is served, there was no one at the front desk to greet us, in fact it took about five minutes of looking around for someone to finally show us to our table. When we were seated I showed the waiter our reservation and he told me that the Jungle Tea is for children and therefore we couldn't have it - we would have to have the (more expensive) traditional afternoon tea. I challenged that the Bookable Table website did not mention this, but this didn't seem to matter.

We weren't asked whether we had any dietary requirements and on reflection no one asked my name, so I'm not sure what happened to our actual reservation. Eventually our afternoon tea was brought over to our table on a modern stand, along with our tea, but I can't tell you what was on the stand as this was not explained to us....it looked pretty though....

Afternoon tea - Le Meridien Piccadilly

As the waitress disappeared off it soon became apparent that there was no extras with this tea - what you see is what you get (including the pot of tea). 

Let's start at the bottom of the stand with the sandwiches....

Afternoon tea sandwiches - Le Meridien Piccadilly

As the sandwich fillings were not described to us we had to guess....one was an egg sandwich on tomato bread which I enjoyed, there was also an average poached salmon sandwich and a chicken and mushroom sandwich (which I didn't like). Finally there was a pepper and olive sandwich which neither mum nor I touched.

The sandwiches were cold as if they had just come from a fridge, and the texture wasn't particularly fresh. They were cut into finger sandwiches, but not all the crusts were removed.....

Controversial crust left on!

Moving on from the sandwiches we moved up to the scones - we had two each, one fruit and one plain. Served with cream and jam in little pots.

The scones were claggy, the plain one being a little better than the fruit one.

Scones - Le Meridien Piccadilly

Although the cream and jam were served in these cute little glass jars, there were no spoons on the table to serve them. I had to find a waitress and request the spoons!

From here we moved to the top tier of the stand, the cakes and pastries, which all looked wonderful......

Afternoon tea pastries - Le Meridien Piccadilly

Again, we had no idea what each cake was and therefore had to guess. 

On the far left we had a fairly tasteless macaroon - the texture was good, but it tasted of nothing. Next to that we had an almond pastry ball, filled with pink mousse- the pastry was very tasty. At the end we had some kind of pistachio and strawberry cake - possibly an Opera Cake.....this had a rather lovely coconut marshmallow attached to side (probably the best bit of all the sweets!)....

Finally, and just out of sight in the photo, we had two chocolate domes which sat on sable biscuits. 

At no point during the tea did anyone come and ask us whether we were enjoying our afternoon tea. In fact there seemed to be a shortage of staff during our whole experience. 

When we finally got the bill, we were told that the price of the Jungle afternoon tea had been honoured and we weren't expected to pay the price of the traditional afternoon tea which was more expensive. However, it wasn't until we were leaving that someone actually apologised for the confusion in our reservation.

To say we were disappointed with the whole experience is a bit of an understatement really. The Terrace itself lacked any atmosphere, there was no service to speak of and the food wasn't brilliant either. 

It's not often that we experience such a poor overall afternoon tea. If anyone has tried the Jungle Afternoon tea we'd love to know what it was like!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel