Do it yourself afternoon tea!

Baby shower afternoon tea
Kirsty's Mum's house, Bury, Manchester
March 2015

To give some perspective on all these afternoon tea blogs, here is how amazing an afternoon tea can be in your own home! This is what restaurants are up against - I wouldn't want to take this on!

This was a baby shower afternoon tea and it was so amazingly done that I thought I'd share top tips to producing your own party afternoon tea!

1) PRESENTS!!! Lots of presents make everyone happy. Presents to give when you arrive, presents to win from games, presents to take with you as you leave! Nothing needs to be expensive - personalised, handmade, cute things will win every time!

2) Cut the crusts off sandwiches! So simple and yet you suddenly feel like everything is so CUTE!

3) Lots and lots of food - supplement home-made treats with oodles of crisps and other snacky bits. The more interesting the better e.g. strange flavour nuts/crisps or prawn crackers.

4) Good presentation e.g. POPCORN BOX!!!! Generally lots of little dishes so everything can be piled high an look decadent. Oh, and a cake stand crammed with chocolate things. SO MANY chocolate things!

5) Games themed to your party e.g. guess the number of sweets in the baby bottle. Have things people can chat over and work round at their own pace between eating all the yummy food! Quizzes are also ace and bring out the chat (or in some cases your secretive ultra competitive side but that's still fun...right?)

6) You can never have too much cake. If you have any friends who want to make you an amazingly iced cake with elephants on, all the better.

7) Lots of free-flowing drink to wash down the huge quantities of lovely food

8) Have a massive room so everyone can get to the food easily, preferably with a huge farmhouse table.

9) Crudites. No-one really wants them but they give a nice splash of colour to the table. Baby tomatoes also good for this and someone might actually eat them.

10) Honestly, you can never have too much cake. Bake another one.

The White Hart, Lydgate

Sunday lunch
The White Hart, Lydgate, Manchester
 March 2015

The main point to note here is reviews should be done very very soon after the meal! Procrastination is very easy, but it is actually very quick to knock out a review and takes lots longer if you have forgotten everything!

Did the ingredients sparkle?

Beautiful, refined presentation which (not to be snobby) is quite rare in Manchester pub Sunday lunches (although I do love a good slab of rag pudding with gravy...). The dishes felt well balanced and without too many flavours on the plate. The fish was cooked beautifully and definitely put centre stage in the dish.


 Did the service/atmosphere sparkle?
 
Amazing views across the hills plus a log fire for extra cosy Sunday afternoons! The service was very quick as they clearly had quite tightly packed tables coming in throughout the afternoon. However, before rushing us off the table they went and found a table for us to move to in the bar to finish our drinks which was very nice.

Did it make me happy?

Yes, captured the Sunday lunch comfort element while showing off MasterChef-worthy cooking and presentation.

STAR RATING: 4 / 5 stars
      

Oxford & the Cherwell Boathouse

The Cherwell Boathouse, Oxford
PLUS: top tips for a sparkly weekend away in Oxford
February 2015

Did the ingredients sparkle?

The dishes used amazing ingredients (the fish was beautiful) and lots of good, fresh flavours. Some dishes were towards the "putting too much on the plate" end of the spectrum and some things weren't cooked as 100% perfectly (probably as a result e.g. jerusalem artichoke cubes were a lovely idea but a bit hard).




Did the service/atmosphere sparkle?

Yes, the restaurant is lovely and cosy with a view out over the Cherwell river (hence the name!). We had a late reservation as the only time available, which meant we got very prompt service to get us out at the same time as the other tables but we didn't really feel rushed. Friendly staff and free plentiful tap water.

Did it make me happy?

Romantic setting with exciting fancy food - win.

STAR RATING: 4 /5 stars










Right next to the river! 30 minute walk to town centre - mostly along the big main road with a little road/path at the end  but this is Oxford so it all felt perfectly quiet but safe to walk along.

Other top things to do with your weekend in Oxford!

 1. Cocktails at the Duke of Cambridge - pretty busy but half price cocktails even on a Saturday and very very exciting cocktails!

2. Lunch at Brothers in the Covered Market - Brothers lunch club and chicken curry baguette are favourites

3. Good old-fashioned pub Sunday lunch snuggled in one of the nooks at the Eagle and Child

4. A walk in the sun around Christ Church, the meadow and down the river to watch the rowers

Oscar Wilde afternoon tea - Cafe Royal

Oscar Wilde afternoon tea
Café Royal, London
November 2014

Did the ingredients sparkle?

This was, without a doubt, a FEAST! If you look up "spread" in the dictionary, it would probably be illustrated with pictures of this varied, decadent, wide ranging, taste adventure!

Proceedings kick off with a mini muffin to accompany your champagne and tea. Gimicky little pipette in it but used to add amazing flavours.

Then a generous helping of sandwiches in amazing flavour combinations (including pork crackling topping!!) with a good variety of types of bread (including a pastry case!). See photos below for more evidence of the amazingness. Warm cute little scones followed, then beautiful dainty varied patisserie and THEN you had a choice of 3 cakes from the counter! Oh, and there was a palate cleansing jelly thrown in there too.

Amazing combination of a huge quantity of food but also every section of it was really high quality, exciting, imaginative and tasty food.

Did the service/atmosphere sparkle?

See photo above - the room is GOLD. It actually literally sparkled! The service was what you would expect from high-end hotel- generally made you feel like a pampered princess.

Did it make me happy?

Very very happy - I have already booked to go back!

STAR RATING: 5 / 5 stars  

Festive afternoon tea - Cloud 23

Festive afternoon tea

Cloud 23 - Hilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester
December 2014

Did the ingredients sparkle?

A good effort  but nothing really stood out or stuck in the mind. Mini rarebit was a good idea but the flavour and ingredients didn't really come off. The cakes were nicely Christmas themed and were quite tasty but definitely more on the "wedge of slightly dry cake" end than "morsel of delicious sweet flavours".

Did the service/atmosphere sparkle?

The view is the main seller here - from the 21st floor you can see right across Manchester. It does feel much higher than an equivalent building in London just because there isn't anything around it of anywhere near the same height. The chairs were comfy but the tables were designed for 2 people and were quite low so actually eating off them and having a group of people was a bit awkward.

Did it make me happy?

I would say this was a pretty standard afternoon tea but in a great location. I would go back to try their normal afternoon tea rather than the festive one if the opportunity arose but I wouldn't rave about it to anyone.

STAR RATING: 2.5 / 5 stars  

Mad Hatter's afternoon tea - Sanderson Hotel

Mad Hatter's afternoon tea
Sanderson Hotel, London
Sept 2014

Did the ingredients sparkle?

The sandwiches were little exciting rolls which helped stop the bread going stale (see below). Each sandwich had a different flavour of bread to bring out the flavour of the filling (with the added bonus of looking really exciting and colourful!).

The scones were present and correct, but the real star of the show was the cakes. Everything was wonderfully themed to Alice in Wonderland/ general bright and colourful. There were little cups, little mushrooms, beautiful painted chocolate and "drink me" potions! It wouldn't be the thing for someone who likes their ingredients to be un-messed with, but for me it made the whole thing really exciting as you nibbled each bit to see what on earth it would taste like.

There was also a JELLY BUFFET for you to help yourself to 3 different flavours of jelly. Is there anything more exciting than a sundae glass full of wibbly wobbly tasty jelly?!
  

Did the service/atmosphere sparkle?

The afternoon tea was held in a covered courtyard at the hotel so it was light and airy like a summer garden while still being warm. Although still garden furniture and a lot of tables packed in.

They were very good at bringing lots of different teas for us to try (all Alice in Wonderland themed) as the afternoon tea went on. Although the booking said 2 hours max on the table, they were very relaxed and made no moves to throw us out.


The real show of their excellent service came because it we were there to celebrate my friend's birthday. We hadn't mentioned this on the booking or in any correspondence, but as they showed us to our table the waitress asked if we were there for anything special (just in a chatty, making conversation way). We mentioned the birthday and thought no more about it. When we had finished the afternoon tea though, a Happy Birthday slate and cake came out with a candle!!! Very very impressed with the unprompted attention to making the afternoon tea extra special!




 Did it make me happy?

I love Alice in Wonderland, themed things, bright colours and surprise birthday cakes. This afternoon tea therefore made me very happy!


STAR RATING: 4 / 5 stars  

This is a meringue carrot in teacup which actually has salad shoots planted in it and you can eat them!! Made an amazing top of the afternoon tea tower and actually a few shoots to nibble on is very welcome in amongst all the sweet stuff. 

Burger afternoon tea - Brgr Soho

Burger afternoon tea
Brgr - Soho
Nov 2014

Did the ingredients sparkle?

The main point of this afternoon tea was that everything is immensely cute and exciting if it is in miniature. It does even egt a bit tastier I'm sure! The 3 burgers were different flavours - turkey had to be done as it was a festive afternoon tea but it was predictably a bit dry. The others were tasty though and everything you would want from a burger. Mini portion of chips were hot, crispy and salty so all good. The mini puddings were a scrumptious soft brownie, a very exciting shot glass sundae thing (I do like a good bit of food presented in a glass) and a mini mince pie.

Normal fare for a burger restaurant to a large extent, and it would probably be much less exciting if they hadn't put everything in miniature and called it an afternoon tea. Good, solid, tasty burger restaurant fare though.

Did the service/atmosphere sparkle?

This is where I think they fell down a bit - a dimly lit room with tightly packed tiny tables is natch par for the course in a trendy Soho eatery but it jars a bit with an afternoon tea in the middle of the day when you want to feel a bit more stretched out and relaxed. The service was similarly exactly as you would expect for a trendy Soho eatery (fine but a bit distracted and overstretched) so you didn't get the indulgent, looked-after factor that afternoon tea often comes with.


Did it make me happy? 

It was very exciting and I do love burgers, but I'm not sure it belongs in afternoon tea world.

STAR RATING: 2 / 5 stars