It was going to take a lot to get Sara and I out of our Afternoon Tea retirement; we both needed a little break from scones however along came the lovely folks from the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel with a new afternoon tea that broke our little fast. All it takes to get us out of retirement is an Afternoon Tea with a Kiwi twist in the shape of Cloudy Bay Wines. Are you ready to see the delightful Cloudy Bay Afternoon Tea at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel!
Sandwiches
I have a tendency of getting worked up over gluten free bread; there is the good, the bad and the ugly and these sarnies fall into the good category! The bread is a little thick however I didn’t mind that as it was soft and the fillings were of high quality and quantity. It was the best salmon sandwich I’ve had in London.
If you want to see what the gluten monsters are going to be served up then check out Sara’s sandwiches – apparently the egg sandwich on cranberry bread rocked her world. Egg sarnies are the best!
Scones
The gluten free fruit scones passed my scone test (they were easy to cut into, I didn’t lose a tooth and they were tasty). I got a tad excited about eating the scones that I almost forgot to take a photo of them looking pretty with clotted cream and jam on top.
My only suggestion would be that the hotel separates out the gluten free scones from the normal scones so there is no gluten contamination. The gluten free scones are the bigger scones, just in case you were wondering!
Also the hotel provides a very adequate amount of strawberry jam and clotted cream so there are no evil glares over the scones when your afternoon tea date pinches all the jam. Sometimes I do wonder if there is a strawberry jam shortage going on in London hotels but you don’t need to fear this at the St Pancras Renaissance. (Am I the only one that stresses about the lack of jam and clotted cream at afternoon tea?)
Pastries
When the pastries were delivered, Sara and I were both impressed to the point that Sara actually had gluten free pastry envy (this is very very rare!) and I’m pleased to say there wasn’t a macaron in sight.
I loved that there was a little pavlova which tied in nicely with the New Zealand Cloudy Bay Wine. The Elderflower and Pomegranate Jelly was extremely yummy along with the mousse in the chocolate cup. I actually took home the Lemongrass and Mango Dome and the Chocolate Pastry and gave them to G for morning tea today – I had a Whats App message telling me that they were yummy; high praise from G as everything is normally good.
The pastries for the gluten eating monsters out there!
Tea
The Cloudy Bay Afternoon Tea is all about the wine so Sara and I choose a cheeky glass of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2013. As I’m not allowed to drink at the moment (and after a few sips of Champagne at the weekend left me with a roaring headache) I was weary of the wine however the Sauvignon Blanc had magical healing properties like unicorn tears and I felt like I could run a marathon after finishing the glass (probably not but you know what I mean!).
And yes those wine glasses are super pretty!
We both ordered a nice cuppa to go along with our scones.
Atmosphere
The Cloudy Bay Afternoon Tea at St Pancras Renaissance is held in the lobby of the hotel which offers beautiful natural light in a relaxed atmosphere.
Service
The service was attentive and informative; everything was clearly explained.
Win the Afternoon Tea
Now if you like the look of the Cloudy Bay Afternoon Tea then you can actually win this treat via an Instagram competition that the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel are currently holding until Friday 15th May. Upload your favourite London green spot (i.e. parks, heaths, commons, canals and woods etc) and use the hashtag #CloudyBayAfternoonTea in the description. The winner will take home 2 tickets to the Chelsea Flower Show plus this very yummy Afternoon Tea! The hotel will pick the picture that they think best captures London in Bloom and the winner with be announced on Friday 15th May.
There are less than 50 pictures on the hashtag at the moment so it’s pretty good odds!
Would I recommend? – very much so! The quality is high and the hotel is located in one of London’s most iconic buildings and super easy to get too if you commute into St Pancras or Kings Cross stations.
The Cloudy Bay Afternoon Tea at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel is available until the 24th May and costs £45pp plus service however if you don’t fancy the wine then its a very reasonable £35pp plus service. You can book directly via their website here.
Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary afternoon tea for review purposes however I’m a moody opinionated old cow and always speak my mind in all reviews.
xx
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