You know I travel far and wide to sample afternoon tea so a 250 mile car journey to Stoke on Trent to try out the gluten free afternoon tea at World of Wedgwood Tea Room seemed like a ride in the park. I was in Staffordshire to tick off another county in my New Years Resolution challenge and it felt like an age since G and I both had afternoon tea together.
I should warn you right now…you really need to water the money tree prior to visiting the World of Wedgwood as you’ll want to buy everything!
Gluten Free Sandwiches
Let’s start with the gluten free sarnies, the bread was soft and fluffy albeit a tad cold from sitting in a chiller…this happens everywhere. The fillings included ham, egg, smoked salmon, cucumber and coronation chicken; all the classic fillings you would expect.
If I’m really honest (which I am), I did find the filling a little bland for my liking unfortunately.
Gluten Free Scones
Ahhh gluten free scones…the nemesis of so many pastry chefs! I wasn’t too sure what to expect however they passed my scone test with flying colours (they were easy to cut into, they didn’t break a tooth and they were yummy).
The scones were served warm and were light and fluffy…better than a lot of scones that you find in London at the really posh hotels that charge twice the price for afternoon tea!
If there was one thing letting the scone team down it was the jam…it felt cheap and nasty i.e. no taste at all which was slight disappointing.
Gluten Free Pastries
The pastries included a beautiful gluten free mini victoria sponge filled with fresh cream…it was divine…traditional but spot on for an afternoon tea pastry.
A gluten free chocolate brownie which was thick and gooey…you know I’m not a fan of brownies however I did take two bites rather than the normal one before passing onto G to finish the brownie off. The lucky last pastry was a chocolate basket filled with mousse which was delightfully light.
Tea
I went for the Empress Catherine tea; I’m not sure what is wrong with me at the moment however I can’t drink hot drinks so ended up enjoying a very cold glass of water with lemon. Our tea wasn’t refreshed during the afternoon tea experience.
Atmosphere
The Wedgwood Tea Room is simply gorgeous; on Sunday there were only two couples enjoying afternoon tea…and one of them was us!
Honestly, the photos don’t do the tea rooms justice…the colours and design made me want to pinch the mirrors off the walls…and lust over wallpaper (which has never happened in my life before!).
Ohhh…you can also take a nice little shoefie so remember to wear some nice shoes!
Afternoon Tea for the Gluten Eating Monsters
So G’s world scone rankings had a shake up after our afternoon tea at World of Wedgwood…the gluten loaded scones knocked Claridge’s from their long held second place ranking…and G is a scone connoisseur so this is HUGE news. (Current Scone Rankings as per G: 1st place, Grande Bretagne in Athens; 2nd place, World of Wedgwood and 3rd place, Claridge’s).
Like me, G thought the afternoon tea was extremely good value but was disappointed over the jam situation. I think it can be safely assumed that he enjoyed his mini lemon meringue pie and the Victoria sponge as there was of moaning…in a good way!
Service
The service was very relaxed and friendly.
Would I recommend the Gluten Free Afternoon Tea at World of Wedgwood Tea Room, Stoke on Trent – Definitely! We purchased an afternoon tea package which included afternoon tea for two persons, entry into the museum and the factory tour for £49 which I think is amazing value. The afternoon tea alone is worth £25pp so prebook and grab this deal if you can. You can find more information on the afternoon tea here.
The Tea Room was very quiet on Sunday and I was told that it’s very busy during the week so if you want a relaxing afternoon tea in Staffordshire then highly recommending popping in for scones and tea during the weekend.
xx
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