The Cumberland, Bournemouth

On Tuesday we got a lovely surprise from my Mummy as she had booked us afternoon tea at the Cumberland Hotel. This was done through Tablepouncer, which means you book the table in advance (with a fee of £2.50 pp)  and choose your reservation time etc and then at the end of your meal you pay the remainder of the discounted price, which was £14.50 for both of us.

The Cumberland is a large hotel on the East Cliff, with a lovely outdoor pool! A great place to stay when you're guaranteed nice weather. Walking through from the lobby to the place we had tea, The Ventana Bar, we saw lots of different restaurants and lounge areas. It did take awhile before getting the attention of one of the bar staff and then being passed onto another bar staff before being told to go to another room!

Once we were sat, we waited awhile before they came back with a menu to choose our drinks. Whilst we were choosing our drinks the member of staff was trying hard to convince us to change our tea for one which was more expensive, which we didn't appreciate!

So let's start at the very beginning. The sandwiches, as I am sure you'll agree looked a tad sparse. Perhaps they should think about buying a smaller plate to serve them on, or they should top it up! 4 finger sandwiches each wasn't overly filling. I did appreciate that there was no ham option, so I could eat them all!

The scones were large and were served with a generous amount of butter and clotted cream. However, we were given a tiny teeny pot of jam to share between the two of us. We both found the scones incredibly dry and didn't enjoy the addition of walnuts! We weren't ever told of this mysterious walnuts and either of us could have had a nut allergy.

There was a wide range of loose tea, which Tom really enjoyed. I quote 'that's the best tea I've ever had for afternoon tea'. 

I thought that the cakes looked fantastic! They were all very cute and easy to eat in one bite. Tom enjoyed the cheescake, pistachio cake and a sponge cake with cherry and blueberry. I really liked the chocolate stick and lemon sponge.

Due to the tea, choice of cake and the sandwich fillings we have given The Cumberland 3 tea cups!

Sophie & Tom

The Norfolk Royale Hotel, Bournemouth.

Do not fear this is the last afternoon tea review with pictures from an Iphone, all future reviews will have beautiful images with blurry backgrounds! The Norfolk Royale Hotel is a hidden gem in Bournemouth. It's a beautiful baby pink building reminiscent of Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel!

They have a large lounge to the left as you walk into the building. It has just the atmosphere you expect and want for an afternoon tea. A roaring fire, mismatching comfy chairs and all the tables are laid nicely. We did end up with a low coffee table and as you'll know from our first post we are not a fan of these! 

This is their prosecco tea which is £17.95 per person. They also have a cream tea for £6.95 p/p, an afternoon tea for £12.95 p/p and a champagne tea for £21.95 p/p. I think their teas are quite pricey but I am beginning to see that this is a normal price range. This tea did seem to reflect the cost due to the table cloth, fabric napkins, individual pots of jam and their attentiveness. 

The sandwiches were very yummy but we could have done with a few more! The scones were so delicious, they were really big and were still warm which makes them even tastier! We were given a generous amount of clotted cream too. The cakes, as you can see, were a bit of a disappointed. They were quite mushy and they weren't presented nicely at all!

We went back to the hotel for a Christmas themed tea and had the addition of mince pies, lychees and little tarts.The second time round we were sat in the dining room, which was 100% more comfortable but I did miss the atmosphere from the lounge. The waiters weren't quite as attentive in the dining room and we were forgotten and had to remind them a few time about getting our drinks.

We went back so obviously enjoyed their afternoon tea, however we still felt it could improve slightly with the cake tier and they could be more generous with the amount of sandwiches given. We give it 3 tea cups!

Sophie & Tom