Afternoon Tea at Sketch

Last week it was time for our annual summer get together to enjoy the institution that is afternoon tea. The venue this year was Sketch in London's Mayfair. I'm not really sure where you would start if you wanted to describe Sketch, it's eclectic to say the least but there is interest at every turn and if you're looking for a quirky, fun venue then this could be the place for you.

Sketch is a collection of individually designed rooms, each one a restaurant or bar...there are 6 in total. We enjoyed afternoon tea in the Gallery. The Gallery is newly refurbished with 239 of David Shrigley's drawings lining the walls. It's a pink palace of splendour and offers an opulent dining experience.

Now to the important bit...the tea itself! We went for the champagne tea served with a glass of Pommery Brut Silver. As always there were assorted sandwiches, scones and pastries and a range of teas to choose from. I went for a classic Breakfast Tea but there were plenty of alternatives including Oolong, Green, White and Herbal infusions.

To my mind, sandwiches are never the star attraction but I did particularly enjoy the warm mozzarella and pesto Croque Monsieur you can see below. The sandwich selection included smoked salmon and Jacob's cream, cucumber, ricotta and asparagus, egg and mayonnaise with quail's egg and caviar. These weren't my favourite combinations but that is probably down to personal taste as I'm more of a cheese and pickle kinda girl...I know this makes me a philistine!

Afternoon tea is really all about the cakes. The sketch pastries were pretty and petite morsels in a variety of flavours. We ate:

• Old fashioned pistachio macaroons which were a bit coarser than a French macaroon
• Almond and berry tartlets
• Coffee eclairs
• Strawberry cheesecake in a glass
• Mousse Malabar marshmallows
• Meringa tarta
• Raspberry Meringue
• Sketch Opera

All the pastries were tasty and my dining companions would probably say that the opera was their favourite. Mine was the meringa tarta. The scones were also very good, warm sultana scones served with jam and clotted cream...heaven!

The tableware followed the artistic theme which added to the quirky setting whilst still retaining an air of sophistication.

I enjoyed the raspberry meringues and marshmallows as the add a bit of a twist to traditional afternoon tea.

Ovearll, I'd recommend Sketch as much for the experience as for the afternoon tea! You can check your coat into a giant mouth, the toilets are individual eggs and you can admire the art inspired rooms. It's a glam setting and perfect if you're in London for a spot of shopping at the weekend as it's just off Regent Street...give it a go and see what you think.

Afternoon Tea at the Connaught

As George Gissing once wrote "The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose". I would certainly agree with this sentiment and this is one of the reasons why I so love afternoon tea. There's something about it that is just so relaxing and so refined...and it's the perfect excuse to scoff loads of cakes (less refined!)

This Sunday I visited the Espelette Brasserie at The Connaught Hotel. The Connaught is a lovely hotel in Mayfair and the brasserie itself hugs the outside curve of the building with large windows overlooking a fountain and trees all decorated for Christmas...it's certainly easy on the eye! The Espelette also has a pleasant ambience and the staff were reasonably friendly.

So now to the nitty gritty...the food and the tea. You can start with a glass of champagne or you can dive straight into tea itself. There was a good selection of teas to choose from and refills were available...there was a choice of various green, black, white and aromatic teas.

As for the pastries and sandwiches...there was certainly plenty on offer. We had a plate of assorted sandwiches which all tasted good...and then it was on to the best bit the cakes!!! Between two people we got all of the following:

• Apple tatin and hazelnut biscuit
• Chocolate finger and lemon grass creme brulee
• Cinnamon frangipane, figues and red wine tart
• Exotic eclair, mango and passionfruit
• Coffee, mascarpone tiramisu and speculos
• Rum baba lemon jelly, earl grey tea cream and poached pears

There really was lots to eat but I'm a bit like Joey from Friends and as you may know..."Joey doesn't share food!". As it was one of each cake between two we had to resort to cutting everything in half which can be a bit fiddly...I guess the up side is you get to try more things.

One of my favourite pastries was the apple tatin with hazelnut biscuit which you can see above on the left. It looks unassuming but had a lovely toffee flavour along with the apple. There was also one cake I couldn't eat and the staff were very obliging and happy to substitute for the Battenberg below.

After the pastries came the scones...served warm in a basket, there were plain scones and fruit scones with golden raisins. They were light and fluffy and definitely got the seal of approval...the scones can make or break an afternoon tea.

An unusual addition to the scones was the choice of 16 Christine Ferber homemade jams to accompany them. I particularly liked the plum jam and there was also quince and rose petal and passionfruit amongst others.

Finally, there was yet more cake as we were presented with Chocolate and roasted almond cake and Candied chestnut and pear. These were tasty but not quite as smart as the pastries.

If you'd like to visit the Connaught you can check out the full menu here. There was so much food we had to resort to taking some home...not that we were complaining!

This tea didn't necessarily have the wow factor of some others but the pastries and sandwiches were all very tasty and it's a very relaxed and stylish setting, so I would recommend the Connaught as a tea destination. You can also nip down to Bond Street when you've finished for a spot of retail therapy. One of my dining companions rated it as one of her favourite teas so it may just come down to personal preference.

If you ever do make it to the Connaught for afternoon tea you can also pop across the road to visit the gorgeous Farm Street Church, the pictures don't do it justice! We decided to pop in as a good friend of mine got married there but as we went in we realised there was a batispm in progress...and who should the father be? None other than Frank Skinner...and the godfather...Adrian Chiles...very funny! :-)

 

Afternoon Tea at Kensington Palace

While away an afternoon in Hyde Park with afternoon tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace.

This weekend I've been indulging in my favourtie pastime...afternoon tea! It was something a bit different this time though...instead of visiting one of the big hotels in London we went to the more informal Orangery at Kensington Palace.

We ordered the 'English Orangery Afternoon Tea' which includes a round of sandwiches, two scones (one sultana and one orange scented) and an assortment of pastries and tartlets. This is a very traditional tea and whilst everything is light and tasty it doesn't have the wow factor of some other afternoon teas. However, sometimes the cakes you are served at some venues can be over-engineered to look good and they forget the most important bit...the taste! The cakes at the Orangery do what they say on the tin...they're tasty and traditional as this is a quintessentially English location! It's also half the price of some other fancy London teas at £19.95. Claridges and the like can now charge upwards of £50 for afternoon tea as the concept grows in popularity.

The good thing about afternoon tea at the Orangery is that you don't have to book...and you can also wear your jeans...no need to dress up here. Some of the big names in afternoon tea are booked up months in advance but if you decide you'd like to indulge on a whim then this is the place for you. However, if you are planning a visit make sure you arrive early. Service starts at 2.30pm and there was already a queue when we arrived at 2.45pm. We were seated within 15 minutes but as we enjoyed our tea we watched the queue get longer and longer...so my advice the earlier the better!

The mark of any good tea is the scones and the Orangery scones were certainly tasty! But what about the great scone debate...jam or cream first on your scones? Which way round do you prefer?

Apparently in Cornwall it's jam first and then cream...and in Devon it's cream first and then jam. Personally, I'm a fan of the Cornish way and it seems 57% of Guardian readers agree. Generally, I also can't see the point in a scone without sultanas!

So if I've convinced you to give the afternoon tea a go, why not combine your tea and scones with a visit to Kensington Palace. Kensington Palace has recently undergone a £12 million facelift and was recently reopened to visitors. Whilst there you can visit the King's State Apartments, the Queen's State Apartments, the sunken gardens and special exhibitions about the lives of Queen Victoria and Princess Diana. Kensington Palace is open 10am to 6pm and entrance is £14.50 but children go free! Well worth a visit. To get there you can catch the Central line tube to Queensway and then it's only a short 5 minute walk if you turn right out of the station and into Hyde Park.

And if that little lot isn't enough to lure you...there's also Hyde Park to enjoy! It's over 350 acres of parkland in the heart of London and this is the perfect time of year to visit as you can take a stroll and watch Autumn in all it's technicolour glory. Apparently the Autumn leaves are supposed to be particularly spectacular this year due to lots of early rain, late sunshine and something to do with sugar levels...that's about as scientific as my explanation gets. The leaves are just starting to turn, so combined with a visit to Kensington Palace and afternoon tea...I have to conclude a lovely day out!

Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea

As Henry James once said "There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea" and this weekend I was lucky enough to engage in this time honoured tradition at the Sanderson Hotel.

At the Sanderson they offer a Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea...and no there is no need to go down a rabbit hole in order to try it....although, that could be fun! The venue is certainly conducive to whiling away the hours with chat and cake, you can enjoy tea in the lovely courtyard garden which is light and airy with a zen garden theme.

The afternoon starts in style with a glass of champagne or a cocktail...it would have been rude not to partake, so I had a refreshing raspberry concoction.

There were many delights to try and the menu is full of twists on a traditional afternoon tea. To start us off we had rainbow coloured finger sandwiches and then scones that were light and fluffy, and of course they were accompanied by the obligatory clotted cream. There wasn't a massive selection of teas to enjoy with the scones but I had a peppermint tea and was also offered the choice of peppermint tea with chilli...which I declined! One particularly eye-catching tea choice was a dried flower which when covered in hot water, slowly opens out.

After that it got 'curiouser and curiouser'. My favourite touch was the Drink Me bottle, a little bottle where the flavours change the further you get down...it's a test for the tastebuds to see if you can identify them. We made our way through  passionfruit jelly, coconut panacotta and apple pie...simply delicious and very clever...sadly I didn't shrink when I tried it...in fact eating afternoon tea probably had the opposite effect!

So what about the most important part of any tea...the cakes! Well there were individual chocolate cakes designed to look like pocket watches, along with an 'Eat Me' Queen of Hearts cake containing a strawberry and cream mousse.

And if that wasn't enough we also had lollipops which turn your tongue hot or cold depending on what side of the lollipop you lick, as well as hazelnut praline ice cream pops, which we were advised to eat all in one go...and yes there was popping candy involved!

Overall, a lovely tea which I would highly recommend, the staff were very friendly and the food delicious! :-)

Afternoon Tea: The Langham Hotel

Another Sunday…another afternoon tea! It may be a tiny bit extravagant but my excuse is that it’s all in the name of research!! So today’s tea was at the Langham Hotel which is on Regent’s Street. It certainly is an opulent setting…very art deco. Expectations were high for this tea as it was awarded the Tea Guild’s Top London Afternoon Tea 2010, the Oscars of the tea world! So what did we eat, well we enjoyed the Festive Tea with the following patisseries: 

• Mini mince pies
• Festive eggnog cream
• Christmas chocolate log cake
• Mini gingerbread house
• Spicy mandarin orange
• Cranberry and morello cherry macaroon 

The spicy mandarin orange was particularly tasty, along with the macaroon! We also had a selection of cakes from the special Bijoux Tea which are based on the designs of jeweller Stephen Webster. These included:

• Crystal Clear Diamond - Lightly perfumed Guinness macaroon with blackcurrant jelly
• Poison Apple - Red peppercorn and dark chocolate shortbread
• Razor Ribbon Ring - Silver needle jasmine mousse with apricot
• Armadillo Ring - Roasted green pistachio Chantilly with airy meringue sponge
• Dagger Done - Valrhona white chocolate creme with strawberry and white balsamic

All these delights were washed down with champagne and a special festive blend tea. As you can see all the cakes looked spectacular and they were very tasty... however, I think I must be an old fashioned girl at heart as they were all a little too fussy for me... as were the sandwiches!! The scones however, get top marks...they were the best I've had in a long time... and I've had a few!! ;-)

So was it better than Fortnum and Mason last Sunday... in a word 'no'. At Fortnums you can while away the hours and enjoy some smart but tasty favourites. At the Langham hotel we were rushed out for the next sitting!!

However, I would recommend it as the patisseries looked fabulous...little works of art and they did have this amazing gingerbread house in the entrance which gets extra bonus points!

Afternoon Tea: Fortnum & Mason

Mmmmmm.... afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason! This afternoon I visited this fine London establishment with some lovely friends to enjoy delicious cakes... and just a little bit of gossip!!
So what did we eat? Well for starters we were served a gruyere and mustard profiterole canape which was delicious. This was closely followed by a selection of sandwiches and a smoked salmon and caviar blini. Finally, what a good afternoon tea is all about... the cakes!! There were plenty on offer including berry financiers, mini gingerbread loaves, cassis mousse cake, meringues with lemon curd, caramel and chocolate cake, mandarin tartlets and of course the afternoon tea classic... scones!! All were absolutely delicious and washed down with Rose Pouchong tea... a new one on me but maybe destined to be a favourite... a bit like rose turkish delight!!

Fortnum & Mason is all decked out for Christmas at the moment too which made it extra special. I would highly recommend a visit as out of all the places that I've visited for afternoon tea, this must be the most relaxed. The staff are very friendly and there is no rush... you can while away the afteroon with copious amounts of tea and cake...what could be better!!