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
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