Once upon a time…way back in Christmas 2012, we stayed at The Connaught and had afternoon tea…my gluten free version was a disaster with a capital D. Due to that afternoon tea at The Connaught, I decided upon the New Years Resolution for 2013 to find the best place for afternoon tea.
If you’re wondering how bad then imagine G getting served his sarnies and scones and me still waiting for the gluten free sandwiches to arrive thirty minutes later…and then neither of us receiving our pastries…it was that bad. So of course, prior to our recent afternoon tea G told me to expect the worst…this is G’s favourite hotel in the whole of London but I call it Fawlty Towers!
Sandwiches
First impressions of these gluten free sarnies weren’t good…the bread was super thick however the bread wasn’t too bad when I was scoffing them. The fillings had a festive flavour to them however I will be honest and say they didn’t rock my socks off. G couldn’t understand why they were serving up a Festive themed afternoon tea in November.
Scones
The scones looked really good and I can confirm that they passed my scone test with flying colours – they were easy to cut into, they didn’t break any teeth and were rather tasty.
The preserves were all jams which I was really happy to see…I’m not a lover of lemon curd with my scones – who actually likes lemon curd with their scones? Hands up please!
Pastries
The gluten free pastries had a christmas twang to them which consisted of a ginger slice, chocolate bomb and a festive macaron. Unfortunately a few of the pastries were a bit dry.
I found them all a bit disappointing compared to what was offer for the gluten eating monsters…where was my little snowman…
…but the macaron was rather yummy…I may have started eating it before realising I hadn’t taken a photo of the festive delight!
For the Gluten Eating Monsters
G was rather happy with his afternoon tea but said his scones were rather average.
Tea
I went for the Floral Jasmine Tea which I would highly recommend as I find it compliments afternoon tea rather well…my trip to Hong Kong has made me a Jasmine Tea drinker.
Twenty questions with my tea cup…who, what, where?
Atmosphere
The Espelette is a rather elegant destination for afternoon tea and it’s not touristy so you don’t feel rushed in any way.
Service
Our service was wonderful and there were no issues with my gluten free afternoon tea requests. I had one little bugbear which was my coat, I would have liked this to have been taken to the cloak room rather than hung over my seat – yes I’m picky but five star prices demands five star service.
Snooping around The Connaught
It’s Christmas time and I love how the inside of The Connaught is decorated…don’t get me started again over the Christmas tree outside!
A few years ago we stayed for two nights over the Christmas period and had a rather pleasant stay…I highly recommend the Connaught Suite as it’s just gorgeous but a rather pricey (starting at £2,200 per night).
Would I recommend the afternoon tea at The Connaught? – the gluten free afternoon tea has definitely improved from when I first tried it back in 2012 (this time I received all my afternoon tea!) and I would recommend however I would say that the gluten free afternoon tea at Claridge’s (their sister property) is definitely a lot better.
You can book the afternoon tea here.
Have you visited The Connaught for afternoon tea – what are your thoughts?
xx
If you liked this post on the Christmas Gluten Free Afternoon Tea at The Connaught, London then why not come and join me on Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest – I won’t bite!
