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