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.
