Afternoon Tea at The Swan, Lavenham

I was really looking forward to visiting the beautiful Lavenham again and going to The Swan for the first time. The occasion was to celebrate my friends birthday and she hadn't seen either before so was looking forward to her reaction.

We tried to park in the hotel's car park at the back, but there wasn't any space but it did have enough space for us to get dropped off and enter the back entrance. This took us pretty much straight to the restaurant area.

First impressions of the hotel were good. It had a lovely olde world luxury feel about it. The restaurant was spacious and with beamed ceilings and it had a mezzanine where the pianist resides. The tables were far enough apart so that conversations could not be heard.

Upon being seated we were given menus to look through. No information or guidance was given. They have two afternoon teas - traditional (sandwiches, scones and cakes) or Gentleman's (which included savoury scones, savoury pastries and a mini hamburger). Our party ordered one of each. The tea selection was varied and included my favourite (which is rarely available) Pu'er. All of the teas were loose leafed and we each had a strainer. We were told we could have a fresh pot whenever we wanted, else it was topped up with water. 

The sandwiches fillings were very standard (ham, cucumber, smoked salmon and egg) and they arrived individually served on a plate with one of each sandwich. Woe betide if you didn't like one of them because there were no spare ones to choose from and as soon as we were finished the plates were taken with no offer for seconds. The bread I found too thick and you could not taste the fillings over the volume of butter that was added. This was disappointing.

After sandwiches a tier arrived with scones and pattiseries and another with the Gentlemen's tea where the hamburger was receiving envious eyes.
Both the sweet and savoury scones were met with approval. They were a good size and baked well. The rest was a mixed back of outstanding and not so great. On the sweet tier the standout item was the chocolate domed pattiserie, followed by a mango. macaron. The lemon cake was left by both parties as it was slightly dry and lacking in flavour. On the Gentleman's plate the hamburger came up top trumps, but the crab and mango pastry was left as the pastry was soggy and too thick.

The overall thought was that the Swan's tea had a lot of potential and moments of  brilliance. I would have been happy ro have paid a bit more to have had a combination of the best bits from the traditional and gentleman's afternoon tea. The service was generally good and it was a lovely venue. 

Afternoon Tea at the Rosewood Hotel, London

When I heard that the Mirror Room at the Rosewood Hotel won the best contemporary afternoon tea  it seemed a suitable choice for a special team celebration.

Upon arriving by taxi, we entered a courtyard where our door was opened by a gentleman wearing a flat cap and an overcoat. The hotel certainly had the wow factor from the outside and it continued inside with dark and gold colours and warm lighting, which felt very glamorous.

The tea menu had a good selection including my favoured Pu'er tea, which isn't often available. I liked the way time was taken to explain the history of the champagne and the thinking behind the theme of patisseries.

The clear teapots unusually had a filter in the spout so that no tea strainer was required. It was nice to be able to see the leaves of the different tea varieties. Service was a little slow to bring milk and sugar.

The sandwiches were a good selection and care was taken to offer a different bread texture with each variety. The favourite one overall was coronation chicken and the least favourite was egg. You’'ll be glad to hear that refills were available.

Afternoon Tea was served at very leisurely pace - great if you're not in a hurry, but we ended up needing to ask eventually when the pastries were coming.

In between courses a palette cleanser arrived which was very refreshing.

When the patisseries arrived they looked amazing. A description of each one was given by the host. Unfortunately I had to share the delicacies with a colleague as there wasn't one each. My favourite was the Banksy cube, which was rich and slightly boozy I think.

I must say the toilets were to die for and I never smelt a hand wash so fragrant.

All in all, I loved the Rosewood afternoon tea. The flavours were great, presentation was fantastic, the quality of service was impeccable, but the timing of service was what let it down.

I’d definitely return, perhaps with a smaller party.

Afternoon tea at the Bluebird tearooms

Based at Clacton-on-sea, a vintage style tearoom with china teacups and pretty decor.
Each person received their own cake stand,  which was a surprise.  The bottom plate had sandwiches and some salad. The medium layer, two slices of sandwich sponge cakes and the top was for scones.
The sandwiches were tasty ( ham, cheese, egg and cucumber). But some of us felt we could do with a couple more, or be asked if we would like any more. There were no pattiseries like usual and unusually each of our plates had different combinations of sponge cakes (chocolate,  carrot, walnut and victoria sponge). I think it would have been better to have asked which two each of us would like,  because there ended up being lots of cake swapping going on. I really liked the walnut cake.
I enjoyed the scones, but they stuck to your teeth and may have contained too much baking soda.
Sadly, the teacups and plates are starting to look a little unloved.
But most of all, I missed seeing Sarah (the original owner I assume) whose bubbly personality brought something extra to the establishment.

Afternoon tea at the Cafe Royal

Oh how I was looking forward to tea at the Cafe Royal. A chance to pretend you're stepping in the footsteps of Oscar Wilde, Mick Jagger and the like, who regularly frequented here.
Having arrived by taxi the hotel porter opened the door for us. The star treatment had begun! We were also greeted beautifully by the doorman.
We entered via the main restaurant area it had the most amazing tree decked in red shoes - an interesting alternative to a Christmas tree (an idea ladies that I think should be replicated each Christmas!). We were escorted to the cloakroom where our belongings were taken care of.
When we reached the room for afternoon tea the thing you notice first is how much gold guilding there is.  The Oscar Wilde  bar is ornatetly decorated.  The ceilings contain beautiful paintings.
When seated we were greeted by a friendly and courteous host who brought us champagne while we looked at the tea menu. It was a good one, full of interesting blends with a nice summary about each one. I chose the Oscar Wilde blend (well it would have been rude not to!). It was a strongly flavoured brew almost with an oak taste - very masculine,  probably not to everyone's taste as the aftertaste was smokey. I was glad to see that the tea was loose-leaf  though, with tea strainers. The initial cup was poured for you but subsequent cups you are left to your own devices.
After a short while a three-tiered tray of savouries arrived. Not just the usual afternoon tea offering here! The top layer had a muffin with what looked like syringe in it, which we discovered contain tomato juice. It was a conversation piece and what afternoon tea is all about, but personally,  I didn't like the taste as much as the concept.  Others in the party said it was their favourite thing. Another highlight was the chorizo and onion Wellington,  that actually tasted liked a refined sausage roll. There was a sub-roll with prawns that tasted divine, but I thought was a little oversized to eat delicately. There were other more traditional sandwiches to accompany these.
Before the patisseries were served we were given a palate cleanser that was a very nice touch. It was fruit tea served with some little biscuits.  After which a three tiered tray of desserts arrived, but not a scone in sight. I needn't have worried they were brought round after. (we're not going to be hungry here, I thought!).
The pattiseries had a London theme combined with Christmas.  The stand-out for me was the Spitfire lollipop.  Which was crunchy chocolaty on the outside and gooey in the middle. The macaron also looked good with an underground sign, but all I could taste was sweet, no distinguishable flavour. There was also a lovely raspberry topped biscuit.
Then onto scones...(starting to feel full up!)... The scones were small (good job) and served with clotted cream, jam and lemon curd. It felt like I was trying to be sparse with the fillings to make sure that everyone had some. More fillings please!
After all that we were told that we could choose from some extra loaf cakes. Doggie bag me' thinks -  and what a beautiful bag it was.
The service was excellent at Cafe Royal and at times the food was 5* too. OK, so I know this time I've left it to last - the toilet test- hmm....the toilets were disappointing.  All that ornate stuff going on in the salon and the loos are ordinary. Don't let this put you off though- its a great place.

Afternoon tea at the Park Lane Hotel

The Park Lane Hotel - sounds very glamorous doesn't it? Sad to say, but the outside doesn't look very glam at the moment.There's a lot of building work going on. It didn't help that we took the Web's advice and entered via the Brick St entrance. Do not do this - enter via Piccadilly. Your entrance will feel more special. After all that Park Lane Hotel is not actually on Park Lane!
So upon entering the afternoon tea lounge  you get a rather relaxed cosy feeling, with fairly low lighting and comfy sofas. There was also a harpist adding to the sleepy feeling. My guest and I felt very comfortable and not obliged to display airs and graces.
It had a good tea selection and a strange tea strainer contraption which we needed to seek assistance for. This is probably a good juncture to talk about the service which wasn't overly attentive, but matched the atmosphere of the place. Though the person serving us changed 3-4 times during the time we were there.
You probably want to hear about the food? The sandwiches were fresh and tasty enough, but nothing mind blowing here, also nothing to criticise. Extras available. The scones were pretty good and I really enjoyed having the extra choice of lemon curd and plum jam. The pattiseries were very nice, though I do have a bug bear of having a selection that needs to be shared with your guest. There's bound to be one or two you both want to try. Fortunately I'd known my guest for many years so we shared.
All in all, an excellent place for a catch up with old friends or family, not so good if you're trying to impress someone. And sorry I have to mention it,  the loos were very ordinary. I understand the place is going through an internal refurb in August and in places, I'd agree it needs it. Would I return? I loved the style of the lounge and its atmosphere. Yes, maybe.

Afternoon tea at the Essex Rose tearoom, Dedham

On the hunt for a special last minute afternoon tea fix, my parents and I headed to Dedham in Essex, Constable country.
The Essex Rose is in a quaint old english beamed building and typical of tearooms around the country. But what makes this one special is that you can have a traditional tiered afternoon tea without booking ahead and it wasn't bad at all...
Between the two of you there are a choice of two sandwich flavours (you end up with half a sandwich of each). The choices are pretty ordinary cheese with pickle, ham and mustard, tuna etc. But what's nice about this is the sauce/ accompaniment is in its own little pot.  This may be frustrating for some, but if you have a fussy eater with you, it's actually a godsend.  All the sauces and jams were by local manufacturer Tiptree and were delicious. The bread was very fresh.
The scones were everything a scone should be: large, crisp on the outside and soft and crumbly inside.  The Tiptree raspberry jam and Rhoda clotted cream topped it off nicely.
The top layer consisted of some little patisseries - cheesecake, profiteroles, fruit tart and coffee walnut cake. All delicious,  but a little bugbear of mine is when these pretty morsels have to be split between two people.  I would prefer less choice and one each, so we can savour the same ones at the same time.
I'd definitely go back here. Not an extortionate price at £14 each, but two need to share.

Afternoon tea at Maison Talbooth, nr Colchester

Two friends treated me to an afternoon at this well respected local venue and I was curious to see how a country afternoon tea would stack up against London hotels.
We were greeted warmly by the host and also by the fire that greeted us in the lounge. Furnishings looked comfy and a promising afternoon of girly catch-up awaited.
A nice selection of teas were on the menu, herbal varieties as well as black and green tea. When tea arrived it was accompanied by a tea timer so that your tea was brewed to perfection. The only downside to this was that you had to remove your own insert which was hot. I would have preferred the staff to have done that.
When the food arrived I was impressed.  There was all the essential ingredients of an afternoon tea: dainty sandwiches, scones, cakes and pattiseries. Sandwiches upon tasting could have been a little more inventive. I had cooked salmon, ham and cream cheese and tomato.  There was also egg.
The scones were delightful and had a lovely crunch to the outside but soft the middle. For the sweet course there was: chocolate muffin, banana eclair, chicory and liquorice macaroon, lemon cake and bakewell tart. All of them were pretty good, but for me the star was the bakewell. Once again the pastry was perfect and there was a super-soft sponge in the middle with jam.
So, did it stack up to London? Do you know what I think it did. This could be a whole new direction in afternoon tea for me- English country hotels!