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.
