Many moons ago, Anna, Angie, Emma and I managed to get an afternoon tea date in the diary. The gluten free afternoon tea at One Aldwych was one that had sat on my afternoon tea bucket list for a while so when Anna suggested that we visit I jumped at the chance. The hotel has recently gained a lot of publicity as their menus are now all gluten and dairy free friendly hence why Anna and I were both excited to try out the afternoon tea. I was intrigued to see if the gluten free afternoon tea was going to tickle my taste buds.
Sandwiches
The gluten free sandwiches were delicious and the bread was the perfect texture…you know I don’t like gluten free bread that resembles a thick dish cloth so the sarnies passed with flying colours.
The fillings were all traditional. Also on the savoury menu were two little glasses filled with beetroot and tomatoes…as I’m not a fan of beetroot I left this to the side.
We were asked if we would like our gluten free sandwiches replenished however we declined.
Scones
I personally feel that you can see how much time and energy has been invested in a gluten free afternoon tea by the quality of the scones…unfortunately these gluten free scones actually resembled biscuits…I wasn’t impressed at all.
I will apologise for the photos now…the lightning made it difficult to get a great photo…but here you go…these scones almost didn’t pass my gluten free scone test (which is = easy to cut into, they don’t break a tooth and that they are yummy to eat)…they almost failed on the easy to cut into test (take a chainsaw in your handbag if you intend to cut into the scones!)…they were like rocks!
^^I finally got into the scones and as you can see they were pretty dry…so of course I did what any girl would do…I lathered that baby up with clotted cream and jam…the wrong way for poor Anna…
…I was determined to eat the whole gluten free scone…difficult when they were actually quite tasteless.
Pastries
The afternoon tea is themed around the Roald Dahl classic, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and this was only influenced in the pastries of the afternoon tea at One Aldwych. I loved the Eton Mess and the Candy Floss…the cake pop was okay (nothing to write home about)…the golden chocolate egg which was filled with vanilla cheesecake and a mango sauce was quirky. I approved greatly of the caramel chocolate milk!
The mini cakes and coconut macaroons were all a bit dry and tasteless for me.
I’m going to say it, I was disappointed with the pastries only because I was after something a bit more eccentric, quirky and fun – it felt all a bit too safe. I have tried the Charlie and the Chocolate Afternoon Tea at The Chesterfield Mayfair and I thought that was quirky and fitted into what I was expecting with popping candy and your own chocolate bar to unwrap plus there were tables filled with jars of sweets around the hotel.
The gluten free pastry variety was good so I shouldn’t become too much of a Moaning Myrtle.
Tea
I went for the English Summer Garden…it was a hot and humid day in London so a cup of tea with a dash of summer sounded like a fabulous option. I loved the tea.
Atmosphere
Once again this is where the Charlie and the Chocolate inspired Afternoon Tea and the hotel just didn’t gel for me…the hotel is super sleek and modern and the afternoon tea calls for something a little bit daring, quirky and crazy which is what you get in the book but I just didn’t feel that the book actually influenced the afternoon tea.
My advice – either go crazy with the afternoon tea or go super sleek to fit in with the surroundings of the hotel.
The Dairy Free Afternoon Tea at One Aldwych
I can give you a sneak peak of the dairy free version of the afternoon tea as Anna is Dairy Free…it was great to see that there wasn’t too much different from the gluten free version. Anna has said that this was one of best Dairy Free Afternoon Tea’s that she’s tried.
Service
The service was good and the staff dealed with all of our dietary requests with ease.
Would I recommend the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Gluten Free Afternoon Tea at One Aldwych London – I’m always really honest, I personally think there are better gluten free afternoon teas out there in London now and I was disappointed with the scones and pastries especially due to how much they are pushing this hotel as a gluten free establishment. Based on this afternoon tea alone, I personally wouldn’t be rushing to make a reservation for dinner.
Were they having a bad day…who knows…was I picky…yes, but I always am.
Thankfully the company was perfect!
The Afternoon Tea at One Aldwych London starts at £39 per person and you can find more information at their website here.
Have you tried the Afternoon Tea at One Aldwych; I would love to hear your thoughts especially around the gluten free version of this afternoon tea.
xx
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