There is one event in the London calendar that for me heralds the start of the summer season; The Chelsea Garden Show. Gone are the short days and cold weather, to be replaced with beautiful balmy long evenings and colourful floral displays that welcome the change in the seasons.
To celebrate the start of the summer season and the Chelsea Garden Show; the Intercontinental Westminster and Laurent-Perrier have teamed up to create a beautiful mouth watering Edible Garden Afternoon Tea.
Sandwiches
My gluten free sandwiches were provided on the softest gluten free bread around and included cucumber, salmon, ham and chicken fillings. (Gluten free sandwiches are the main photo).
With most normal Afternoon Tea’s you find the savoury selection to be just sandwiches but the Edible Garden Afternoon Tea has even had the savoury offerings overhauled and the results are stunning! G who was my gluten guinea pig for the day was impressed with the selection on offer which included a Baby Vegetable Shot, Garden Pea and Basil Tart, Miniature Eggs Benedict and a number of other tasty savoury treats.
Scones
The gluten free scones passed my scone test with flying colours – they were easy to cut into, they weren’t hard as rocks and they were tasty. As I could only eat one gluten free scone I took one home in a doggy bag; it was still soft and fluffy the following day – that’s how good these gluten free scones are!
Now the normal Edible Afternoon Tea comes not just with any scones but Lavender infused scones. Chelsea Buns are also provided to honour the Chelsea Garden Show – how cute, right!! We were provided with a beautiful Strawberry Rose Jam (divine!), Lemon Curd and Clotted Cream.
Pastries
I wasn’t too sure how the Gluten Free Edible Garden Afternoon Tea pastries were going to be presented however to say I wasn’t disappointed was an understatement. I love it when the pastry chef provides a very similar gluten free version of the pastries. The macaroons, meringue, carrot cake, the chocolate pond and the edible dirt were just exquisite.
I’m not going to spoil the surprise on how the Pastries are delivered to your table, you have to book to find out. These are the normal, loaded with lots of gluten pastries and they look terrific. G raved about the Laurent-Perrier Strawberry Champagne Bubble, apparently one wasn’t enough. The Edible Garden Pastries included a Lemon Box Hedge, Raspberry Meringue Pie, Crushed Violet Macaroon, Manjari Crushed Pond and a few other yummy treats.
Tea
The Intercontinental Westminster serve my favourite tea brand, Jing Tea which I can’t recommend highly enough. I went for the Lemon Verbena Herbal Tea which complimented the Afternoon Tea with subtle hints of lemon and butter. The tea was refilled with hot water during our time in the Lounge.
Just in case you didn’t realise the Afternoon Tea at The Intercontinental Westminster comes with free flowing Laurent-Perrier Champagne, yes you read that right! Free Flowing Champagne!
As well as a cup of tea, the Intercontinental Westminster are also offering an amazing floral cocktail menu to compliment the Edible Garden Floral Afternoon Tea. The Chelsea Flower Cocktail sounds amazing and I am gutted that I forgot to try it!
Atmosphere
I love the Lounge area that the Afternoon Tea is served in, it’s quiet and relaxing and just the perfect distance from St. James Park to walk off a few calories before heading home.
Service
We had fantastic service from the waiting staff however I did have an issue with my gluten free Afternoon Tea as the sandwiches and scones weren’t ready for our sitting so I was provided with the pastries first. I’m always happen to eat cake so I didn’t find this too much of an issue on this occasion.
During our Afternoon Tea we met a lovely couple from Shropshire who were having their first ever Afternoon Tea experience in London; Richard and Lindsey. They were such a delightful couple and we had a number of giggles with them – Richard did point out that the Champagne wasn’t coming to his table fast enough however they were provided with the biggest silver teapots!
Would I recommend – Yes! I was well impressed with the Gluten Free Edible Garden Afternoon Tea.
The Edible Garden Afternoon Tea at The Intercontinental Westminster runs until the 26th of May 2014 and costs £44 pp. You can book the Afternoon Tea through the hotel directly by clicking here.
The full Edible Garden Afternoon Tea Menu can be found here.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary Afternoon Tea for review purposes but as always my many opinions are my own
If you liked this post about Afternoon Tea at the Intercontinental Westminster then why not come and join me on Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest and Bloglovin’ – I won’t bite!
