Fortnum and Mason, London

My family and I went to Fortnum and Mason for my dads 50th birthday. Fortnum and Mason is one of the oldest department stores in London and sells only the finest of things, even the fruit seems fancier! It's really worth taking a visit to if you're around London as it's quintessentially British and a great experience. 

The afternoon tea is served on the 4th floor in two large rooms, separated by a reception desk and a pianist. It's a lovely touch having live music and Tom was really brave and asked him to play 'Happy Birthday' for my daddy. The restaurant is decorated really nicely and the crockery keeps to the duck egg blue Fortnum and Mason colour. It definitely feels like a special occasion before you've even sat down to eat.

There are a few afternoon teas to choose from; classic, high tea, vegetarian and savoury. The way to go about this difficult decision seems to be to order a selection of different teas and share. We decided to have some savoury and some sweet. The staff are incredibly attentive and replace anything you finish. We had a lovely waiter who made sure our champagne was overflowing and that we never saw an empty plate!

There is an extensive tea menu, a list of their famous blends and rare teas. This is my first afternoon tea of not having breakfast tea *round of applause* I had the green tea with elderflower, which was delightful, it was really light. Tom had the snow dragon, which has the most epic name! We did both find that our tea got really bitter after only pouring one cup but the waiters didn't mind making you a fresh pot.

The savoury tea consisted of  Fortnum’s smoked salmon, coronation chicken cucumber and egg sandwiches. We were all a tad disappointing with the selection of sandwiches, as we think that they could have been a bit more special. Then we had a savoury scone, I am not normally one for cheese scones but they were really yummy! They were served with a grape jelly, which made them so tasty. Then the savoury nibbles were Wild Mushroom Puff with Truffle Savoury Choux with Smoked Salmon Tartare Quail Egg and Pea Panna Cotta & Cheese Straw.

The afternoon tea had the same sandwiches and then yummy scones, either plain or with raisins. They were served with jam and cream or lemon curd. Then onto the sweet stuff, chocolate cake, macaroon with a mango moose on top and  lemon eclair. We then had the extra special treat of choosing another of slice cake from a trolley of yumminess!

So after our wonderful afternoon of eating our own body weight in cake we all concurred that we preferred the savoury tea, the sweets and sandwiches were a little disappointing. We also thought the staff were fantastic and the experience as a whole was lovely. This tea is £44-£48 per head, which definitely makes it a high end luxurious afternoon tea. This is a lovely place to come for a celebration and I'd be very happy to go back! However, due to the cakes and sandwiches we are giving this tea 4 tea cups.

Sophie & Tom

Amba Hotel Charing Cross, London

Another guest is joining us for today's post! Becky, my best friend, and I decided to treat ourselves and celebrate both of us turning 21 by going for afternoon tea. We searched Groupon high and low and came across the Wimbledon afternoon tea at the Amba Hotel Charing Cross. We were surprised that this was still available as Wimbledon ended awhile ago!

The Amba Hotel is situated right next to Charing Cross station, which is very convenient. It's a beautiful 4* hotel in a Victorian listed building. They offer four types of afternoon tea, classic, champagne, sparkling and a cream tea. Then they also have seasonal teas, such as this Wimbledon tea. We were served the classic afternoon tea but given the pimms which was included in the Wimbledon afternoon tea, we did think that would occur.

The tea is served upstairs in an airy room, if facing the window you get a lovely view of the National Gallery. I really loved the crockery, the plates and tea cups etc were really pretty. We also appreciated that our pimms looked like something straight out of pinterest as it was brought out in a mason jar and over filling with fresh fruit and mint leaves. Even though we were celebrating our 21st, the lady did check that we could have the alcohol, forever looking like we're 12!

There was a good selection of tea to choose from, however, as usual I played it safe with English Breakfast!

The sandwiches were thick and cut to at least twice the width of an average finger sandwich! There was also a smoke salmon and cream cheese brioche each! There was a good array of fillings, these included cheese and pickle and cucumber.

The scone were very small, the smallest I've ever had at a  tea, however there was two each and it also meant that we weren't uncomfortably full! They were really yummy scones, even with the added sultanas.

Last but not least the sweet stuff! There was a good selection of cakes and two of each, which is always nice. I personally really enjoyed the mini Victoria sponge, it was very light. Becky really liked the chocolate tart.

The classic tea costs £24.95 p/p and we payed £14.50 p/p with a groupon voucher, which definitely makes it a lot more economical! We both really enjoyed it and I thought the setting and service were spot on! Once again this tea deserves 5 tea cups!

Sophie & Tom (Becky)

Laura Ashley Manor Hotel, Elstree

This is a very special post for Tea Worth Talking About. It's not only the first review not to be in Bournemouth but it's also a guest post featuring my (Sophie's) mummy! After graduating my mummy took me for afternoon tea at the Laura Ashley Manor Hotel. The outside of the hotel is very impressive and the inside is equally as lovely as it's completely furnished by Laura Ashley. This hotel is hidden away behind a main road down a long drive way. Whilst sat by the window overlooking the gardens you're transported to a pretty country side, which is the perfect setting for afternoon tea.

After being given a menu filled with tea the waitress brought us this rather heavy box of different teas. She told us to smell them and choose which one we'd like. After much sniffing and discussing it was decided that I'd be safe and boring and have an English Breakfast tea. However, mummy was very adventurous and chose the Jasmine Pearl Petal, which she very much enjoyed. All their teas were loose leaves teas which meant they had a lot of flavour and it felt special to pour it through a tea strainer, can you tell I don't get out a lot?!

This tea excelled itself with savoury options. We were given two plates filled with sandwiches (cucumber, tuna and egg) smoked salmon bagels, smoked chicken burgers and vegetable tarts. Everything was really delicious and we were both pretty much full after eating the entire two plates (well the things on the plates).

After we had devoured all of the savoury options a parcel of warm scones were delivered to our table, this was a really lovely touch. We opened the parcel to see SIX scones!!! We couldn't believe it! I only managed one, mummy did me proud and had two! It was really nice that they had included some without sultanas as we are both not fans of them. They were really soft and delicious scones.

Finally, we have the cakes! I was incredibly full by this point but I managed to taste every single one, it would be rude not to. I particularly enjoyed the chocolate mousse. Neither of us liked the mini cupcake, it tasted like cinnamon and dried fruit.

This tea is £25 per head. I think it's definitely an expensive treat but you won't leave hungry! It's also in a really pretty setting, which adds to the occasion and make the whole event feel more luxurious. We were lucky enough to find this as a 2-4-1 offer on Groupon. It's such a great place to find vouchers and where most of our afternoon teas come from.

This Afternoon Tea definitely deserves the first 5 tea cups award on the blog!

Sophie & Tom (Amanda)

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

The Orchid Hotel, Bournemouth.

Before we begin we'd like to apologise that these pictures aren't of the best quality as they were taken with an Iphone not camera. The Orchid Hotel is a pleasant hotel to come across in Bournemouth. It's two streets away from the East Cliff opposite the rather tacky Celebrity Hotel. I've walked down this road many times and never actually noticed this modern building tucked slightly away from the road. It's definitely my type of hotel, it's recently been refurbished and it's very modern. I really love the layout and before I get started talking about the tea I have to say that they had lovely toilets haha with Orla Kiely soaps and moisturiser! The room to have tea in has been the smallest I've ever been in but on a plus side it meant it was completely full and it was really nice to have an atmosphere whilst eating.

The best part of this tea was the good service and the fact that as soon as we sat down a jug of ice water was brought over, without asking. This has never happened at any afternoon tea and very little restaurant meals in the UK. It was also really nice to have a pot of hot water delivered with our tea so we could top up as we wanted. Basically The Orchid Hotel has got drinks down!

This tea is on the pricey side at £18.95 per head! This includes finger sandwiches, home made cakes, home made scones, tea or coffee and a glass of prosecco. 

The tea looked really pretty with vintage inspired mismatching plates. We were given two tables as we had 3 glasses of drinks each, in addition to three pots of tea and jam and cream! So it was a very comfortable tea and was a relaxing afternoon.

However pretty it looked it couldn't disguise the food unfortunately. There were 9 sandwiches with cucumber, ham and salmon. Tom demolished the ham and the salmon and I decided to keep to the cucumber! They really have become my favourite sandwich since having afternoon teas.  The scones were really horrible, we both really disliked them. Firstly they were so tiny, which did turn out to be a plus once we tasted them haha. For some reason they were really salty, not a nice experience. There were only two cakes, one was a chocolate brownie with a nutty ice cream on top and the other was a lemon posset. They were both more of a pudding than something to have with afternoon tea and felt like it was something served in their restaurant for dessert. I didn't enjoy either of these sweet treats and Tom only liked the brownie.

We both decided that we won't be hurrying back for tea but would definitely recommend anyone who was looking for a hotel to stay in to go there! We shall be giving them 2 tea cups as we loved the hotel and the service!

Sophie & Tom