I spent the weekend at my friend Kirsty’s amazing hen party down in Bournemouth. It was a weekend of excess as you would expect, with tartiflette, chocolate fondue, pancakes, BBQ and of course lots of booze. We spent Saturday afternoon on the beach and enjoyed a traditional afternoon tea. Everything was homemade, with sandwiches rustled together in the morning, top class scones baked by the mother-of-the-bride and a wonderful selection of cakes and other treats made by a few of the hens. We did burn it all off afterwards, playing several games involving inflatable willies and an epic three-legged race.
I also had a lovely afternoon tea at another hen party recently, for my friend Nicky. We’d already had lunch so it was just scones and cupcakes, but they were incredible. They had been made by the owner of our guest house, Rigsby’s in Hertford, who had quite rightly won TV’s ‘Four in a Bed’.
Afternoon tea food is not actually what I would consider to be my cup of tea (excuse the pun). It’s a bit of a carb overload, I don’t like most sandwiches and I’m not actually a huge fan of cakes, despite my sweet tooth. However, in reality how could someone not like afternoon tea?! I do like to indulge from time to time, usually out at a restaurant or hotel, but sometimes homemade. For my friend Laura’s hen party (a common link between hens and afternoon tea it seems) we created an epic spread, where everything was homemade by the bridesmaids. At other times, such as a surprise birthday below, we’ve settled for making sarnies and buying cakes from the bakers.
My favourite place for a spot of afternoon tea is speakeasy style bar Volupte, for the delightfully named Afternoon Tease (aka Tea and Tassles) because the tea comes with a side of burlesque and cabaret. I’ve been to Volupte a few times now, for the tea or just evening drinks, and while it’s not everyone’s idea of fun, I really enjoy the shows there. Plus they have the Bon Bon Bar with sweetie inspired cocktails to satisfy both the grown up and child in me.
The best place I’ve had more traditional afternoon tea is higher class Fortnum and Mason. There are some important factors when it comes to rating afternoon tea, the main one being unlimited refills, and also an interesting variety of cakes and sweets. Brown’s hotel, where I visited with the same group of friends, also had a pleasant tea and the sweets included such delights as this tiny apple mousse.
For something a bit different I tried a chocolate afternoon tea at Flemings Hotel. The scones were chocolate chip and the cakes all based around chocolate, plus there were churros with hot chocolate sauce, even the tea was chocolate flavoured though luckily the sandwiches weren’t! I actually found it all too sickly; I like chocolate as much as the next person but this was definitely death by chocolate.
Somewhat lacking in the cake department was afternoon tea at the Intercontinental Westminster, which only provided a few cakes between a large group of us and didn’t top these up, so you didn’t get to try them all and it was only a sliver. The harpist playing in the background added to the atmosphere though. The Atheneum was also slightly disappointing, the main annoyance being shown the sandwich and cake options and having to pick, rather than just being left a plate of everything to enjoy. (Reading this back I sound like a right greedy pig!)
I will have to consult my friend Laura for where to go next, as she is a real afternoon tea aficionado. I do want to try Sketch, as theirs looks more interesting than usual, though I wasn’t impressed by my visit there for cocktails, except for the unbelievable space age toilets (I wasn’t in the men’s, the pods are mixed).
The Bright Side Foodie 