With the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on this week in London a number of the posh hotels are offering Chelsea inspired Afternoon Teas to tempt our little taste buds and to be honest I couldn’t resist the one on offer at The Park Lane Hotel as it had eatable gnomes!
Now I love a challenge and in case you are wondering why I am eating so much Afternoon Tea, my New Year’s resolution was to eat more Afternoon Tea; something that I could do hands down! I much prefer eating to exercise!
So my lovely friend Amy and I met in London yesterday for Afternoon Tea and a Champagne cocktail or two in the Palm Court at The Park Lane Hotel in Piccadilly on a beautiful sunny afternoon!
Sandwiches
Like G, Amy ate the normal gluten loaded Afternoon Tea while I had the gluten free option (boo to me!).
The Gluten free selection was nicely presented albeit I seemed to be missing my pansy on my sarnies (guessing the pansy wasn’t gluten free!). The sandwich fillings were lovely; consisting of egg & mayo, trout, chicken and ham and tomato.
The normal sandwiches looked fabulous and included an asparagus with quail egg tart which looked amazing along with that glutenous pansy! Yes I was jealous about the pansy!
Scones
The scones were up next and Amy and I were totally ready for the goodies on offer, we both have an excessive sweet tooth and it’s why we are such good friends – we don’t judge each other on how much cake we eat!
Now you can probably guess what scones are the gluten free version (if not, they are on the top tier). We were both provided with a plain and a fruit scone with yummy clotted cream, mango and lemon curd, raspberry jam and gooseberry and rhubarb jam. The gooseberry and rhubarb jam was incredible and it was nice to actually have the option of two different jams.
Pastries
This has to be the Pièce de résistance of the Flowering Afternoon Tea that is currently on offer at The Park Lane Hotel. Sugared rose petals, lady birds, bumble bees and eatable gnomes make this Afternoon Tea so much fun. I have never been a fan of Panna Cotta however the one on offer was incredible, to be honest Amy and I could have done two rounds of the pastries.
Tea
Amy wanted to try something different from her normal black tea so we decided to try two very different teas, so we had the Silver Needles white tea and the Rose Bud tea. Both were amazing however my taste buds preferred the white tea; which if taking tea at this hotel I would highly recommend as it’s light and refreshing!
Atmosphere
The Palm Court is a stunning area and a lot smaller than I imagined it was going to be however due to its size it made the Afternoon Tea experience a lot more intimate and you felt a lot more relaxed.
We had a lady playing the harp behind us who was exquisite and so much nicer than the recorded music we have had at some of the other hotels.
This has to be one of my favourite places for Afternoon tea atmosphere wise.
Service
The service was pretty good however we did have to replenish our own tea once as there was no staff around to do so (picky I know!). Do they refill the Afternoon Tea – the answer is yes and no; we were offered additional sandwiches however we weren’t offered any refills of the scones or pastries and we would have loved a refill on the sweet section of the Afternoon Tea.
Amy and I both enjoyed the Afternoon Tea and I would recommend a visit to the Palm Court. I think I will be heading back as G was sulking that I tried somewhere new for Afternoon Tea without him.
May is almost over and I had only two Afternoon Teas, will try and pick up my game in June, we have two bookings for next weekend alone, one at The Goring on Saturday in London and one on Sunday at The Balmoral in Edinburgh.
xx
