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London Glampacker List: Review of Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

August 31, 2011 By 7 Comments

 

Glampacker at Afternoon-Tea at the Ritz, London

Enjoying afternoon tea at the Ritz was the finest, most indulgent and poshest of all my high tea experiences to date. Sharing the afternoon with two lovely friends visiting me in London all the way from Australia made the experience all the more memorable.

Afternoon tea at the Ritz, London, is often seen as one of the more touristy tea experiences in London. Don’t let that idea put you off your scones and clotted cream. In my opinion, afternoon tea experiences need a fine combination of decadent food, impeccable service and great ambience to be five-star. Even if you’re a budget traveller, some once-in-London experiences are worth shelling out for…

Cake Tier Afternoon Tea at the Ritz London

The Food

It’s the small touches that made a difference at the Ritz. You start with champagne, if you’ve opted for the champagne tea. You’re given plenty of time to sip your champers and nibble on the finger sandwiches before the tea is served. I chose the Darjeeling which is light and not too strong to complement my dessert nicely. The tea menu is printed on a takeaway card, which one of the waiters happily handed over to us to keep at the end!

Size and portions matter at afternoon tea. So when I inspected the top tier of the cake stand, we felt a little disappointed. Only 3 cakes? Really? Always having eyes bigger than my stomach, I soon realized that cakes were being served and on display on trolleys. The difficult decision was Victorian sponge or a more heavy fruit cake? Although Victorian sponge sounded like the more boring option, the sponge was light and fluffy with a touch of vanilla.

The petit fours were sweet but offset by the fresh cream. I also tried the shotglass of caramel mousse with raspberry coulis but it couldn’t compare to the cakes!

The apple and raisin scones are warmed up before being added onto your cake tier. This was the first time I’d ever had warm scones brought separately at afternoon tea! The scones are smaller than the usual big plate size scones commonly found elsewhere. Size didn’t matter as these miniature scones were light, obviously made with buttermilk and smoothly sliced open to be slathered with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Victorian Sponge Cake at Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

The Service

At the Ritz, the service is prompt and attentive. More sandwiches? Only want roast ham sandwiches? Not a problem. We Aussies like our ham sandwiches…The waitstaff are happy to have a chat, take your photo and don’t rush you to leave…even though I was well aware we only had a 1.5 hour time slot.

Palm Court at The Ritz London

The Ambience

It’s the Ritz. The Palm Court is opulent, the decorations are ornate and the room feels huge even though it’s not a ballroom. The room was full of other diners from families to ladies and couples with hardly an empty table in sight!

To make the afternoon even more memorable? Request a song. The classically trained pianist plays medleys of your requests. The songs I chose?

Dream a little dream. Moon River.

 

Glampacker’s Tips for Afternoon Tea at the Ritz, London:

  • Book online, dates and time slots fill in fast!
  • Dress to impress, this means frock up. You want to look as lovely as the cakes!
  • Order champagne. You’re having afternoon tea at the Ritz…this alone calls for champagne!
  • Visit the powder room because it’s pink!

 

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A Sunday Afternoon Tea in London – Bea’s of Bloomsbury

November 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There are some quintessentially British traditions that you have to do in London. Indulging in afternoon tea is one of them. Also known as high tea, afternoon tea is usually served from 2 pm till 5 pm. I like to imagine that the Queen has afternoon tea every day and drinks Twinings.

In my case, afternoon tea is reserved for the weekend when you skip lunch and try not to feel too guilty about eating a lot of sweets.

Bea’s of Bloomsbury recently opened a tearoom at One New Change opposite St Paul’s Cathedral. The two-level eatery is bright with a warm atmosphere, the antique style chairs and unique interiors create an Alice in Wonderland feeling particularly with the hanging teapot lights and other small touches.

We ordered one afternoon tea set – which comes with savoury baguettes, a proper scone (plain), clotted cream and raspberry jam, a signature cupcakes, petit fours, a mini Valrhona brownie, a mini Belgian Blondie, and a mini meringue and a pot of Jing tea – White jasmine herbal for Chiara. Unfortunately they had run out of petit fours so we compensated with more brownies.


Rather than being greedy and ordering another afternoon tea, though we did briefly consider this, we opted for the Jam Tea – two plain scones with clotted cream and jam and a pot of Darjeeling Jing tea.

This high tea lady has fallen victim to clotted cream

Rustic looking scones

 

We look awfully excited and hungry at the same time!
Tea
The Darjeeling was light and refreshing however the teapots were small and we ran out of tea before we finished our last brownie. We ordered a pot of Earl Grey which was just what we needed to cleanse our palette of sugar. The tiny little Jug of milk runs out pretty quickly.
Sweets
The scones were buttery and melted in your mouth with the heavenly clotted cream and runny raspberry jam. I liked the consistency of the jam as it spread easily. The little brownie needed a tad more chocolate in it. However the Belgian Blondie – a moist yellow cake – was divine. The jam-smeared meringue was just the right size and not overtly sweet.
We were a bit disappointed by the velvet cupcake as it had cream, not icing, on the top and in the middle was a giant hole when we sliced it open which was meant to be a layer of chocolate icing. I like solid cupcakes and it didn’t taste like a normal red velvet. We ordered the double chocolate cupcake to test another – yet this was incredibly rich. A very wicked cupcake indeed.
Savouries
I’ve never had baguettes with high  tea as you’re usually served finger sandwiches. This was a nice surprise although they weren’t cut very evenly – or spread out on the bottom plate. As there were only 3 baguettes, it looked like something was missing on the empty side of the plate! The filling was made up of ham, pesto, salad and cream cheese. The bread was a bit tough but complimented the sweets well.
The verdict – 3.5 out of 5
Service was a bit slow to begin with and we had to flag the waitstaff a few times. For 15 pounds this afternoon tea price is on par with similar sets served at some of London’s galleries though cheaper than most hotels. It is a decent serving size though I would’ve liked to have sampled some of the petit fours. On a second visit I would probably just stick to the tea and scones for 6 pounds.

We have an agenda of trying out as many afternoon teas as possible in London…so stay tuned.

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High Tea at Peninsula Tea Gardens, Tranby House

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

High tea is a fine art. A perfect balance of sweet, savoury and of course tea. In Perth high tea has become a popular weekend activity offered in select hotels and restaurants.


The Peninsula Tea Gardens offers a relaxed, natural and rather historical setting for high tea. The tea rooms are set on the tranquil grounds of the historic Tranby House and Farm which was built in 1839. Tucked away in Maylands, the tea rooms are situated opposite Tranby House and overlook the Swan River.



We visited on a crisp winter’s afternoon and opted for an outdoor table to soak in the sunshine. We ordered the Sweet Tea set, with Stockholm tea and the Peninsula Tea set, with Lovers Leap tea. Each came on a three-tiered stand with fresh, fluffy scones with jam and cream. The Sweet Tea had fruit as well as cakes and the Peninsula set had finger sandwiches instead of fruit.




It’s difficult to find cakes in Perth that aren’t of the “cake box” variety. The cakes on the Sweet Tea set were dusted with icing sugar and very light with the right amount of sweetness. The cupcake was delightfully light made of a buttercake base and the little petit four when sliced had spongecake inside.


The total only came up to $33. Considering some places charge over $50 for one high tea set, this was incredible value for money. This was the best high tea experience in Perth I’ve ever had.


One day, hopefully sometime soon, I’m aiming to do high tea at the Langham Hotel in London… 

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