#54 The Long Time Coming Tea

The Long Time Coming Tea, Thursday 31 May 2018

The Clarke’s Arms, Rampside, Cumbria   £15.95 for Afternoon Tea

Well with the advent of the 50th Tea (and a few more) I have decided to make a few changes on the blog. I am nothing if not innovative. I am still doing Afternoon Teas, albeit at a slower rate than usual, and will be writing about them for your delight, but I won’t be scoring them now (you will still be able to tell my feelings from my writing obviously) as it’s become a bit of a blunt instrument to judge with. I may still suggest a song or two to listen to whilst you are feasting your eyes on my delightful writing and link to the website, but I am sure you are tech savvy enough to search the other links for yourselves! So onto the next blog….

Lots going on this year has meant that my first actual tea wasn’t until well into the year, and the proof is before you as to how long it has taken to write up. Good job I always take notes in my special book and lots of photos on the day or I would be sat here scratching my head for a long long time.

It was lovely to be served promptly by friendly staff almost as soon an W and I had parked our bottoms on the eclectic style furniture. the display on offer was very attractive to look at and the selection of veggie sandwiches superb. About the best I have seen anywhere. No compromise on flavour with these plentiful,fat beauties, and three of each variety. The egg mayo was eggy, soft and packed with filling, cream cheese and pickled red cabbage was a tasty surprise, the vinegar sharply cutting through the soft cheese, avocado and brie was meltingly soft and improved by a sprinkling of salt, and the final rosat pepper/tomato/pesto combo was fresh and flavoursome. We felt that care had gone into ensuring vegetarians were satisfied, and the effort was well worth it. Very impressive.

Now it was time for the cake and the infamous Cake Strategy. First was a lemon drizzle cake that was not too sharp and I followed that up with a coffee gateau slice that was strongly flavoured and topped with bitter chocolate. Hot on its heels came a chocolate fudge cake with a thick slather of fudge on the top, it was very chocolatey and needed a drink with it. The subtle flavours of a carrot cake came next and a millionaires shortcake followed that which was thick with caramel and chocolate lying on a crumbly shortbread base. Finally was a flapjack topped with caramel and seeds which was chewy with a nice flavour but again benefited from being served with plenty of tea.

The scones were pre-made, and you know of old my feelings on that matter, and whilst there were two each they were rather bland and a bot sparse on the jam, plus the cream was not clotted, so I only ate one. Restrained you see.

*Apologies for no photos, I am away on holiday and without access to my usual technical marvellosity.

Website: http://clarkeshotel.co.uk/

Song for Today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx06XNfDvk0

#50 The I’VE MADE IT TO 50 TEA

The I’ve Made it to 50 Tea- Saturday 7^th October 2017

The Chocolate Room By Anthony, Dalton, Cumbria £13.50 for Afternoon Tea

With gaps this large between teas no wonder it has taken me just over 3 years to get to 50. I can’t tell if that is good or bad!

For my 50^th Tea I stayed very local and went to the recently opened Chocolate Room in Dalton, the building has housed a fair few cafes in recent years but none with such an emphasis on chocolate. Downstairs is the shop and kitchen whilst upstairs is an airy, modern, minimal café area, which when C and I were there on a grubby-looking Saturday afternoon was empty apart from us. It was supposed to have been 3 but S couldn’t make it, which was a shame because I haven’t seen her in a while.

The lovely young man at the counter showed us up to our table and quickly brought our requested tea, which was followed quick smart by a cake stand borne by the eponymous Anthony who rapidly ran through the treats on offer. It was beautifully presented, with sandwiches and a savoury on the side, and the things that were supposed to be warm, were.

First up was a generous, crisp goats cheese and onion tart which kept its shape well when bitten into and didn’t explode all over our hands. The lovely creamy cheese was offset by caramelised onions and the pastry was just the right thickness. Yummy. Moving on the sandwiches were not as successful. The egg mayo in my first sandwich tasted like it had seen the pickle knife used in my second sandwich. A bit odd. The egg was not too juicy and for C was her favourite. Mine was the cheese and chutney, which was a lovely fresh gingery concoction full of chunky bits. The salad sandwich was a bit flavourless, even with the little bit of rocket in mine, no seasoning and watery cucumber and tomato spoiled this one.

Still we were already eyeing up the cakes. The stand had been grinning impishly at us for a good 10 minutes by now and we were compelled to dive straight in. First I tried a strawberry mousse slice. It was light and fluffy with a subtle strawberry tang and a delicious layer of marc de champagne mousse. Creamy and altogether lovely. I followed with an individual banana and walnut cake with melty, rich chocolate inside. It was warm and fresh with a bread like texture. Next was an éclair with proper smooth chocolate on top, none of your confectioners’ rubbish here, inside the cream was fresh and light and I found it lovely. On to the macaron for me next, raspberry with a gorgeous thick chocolate ganache sandwiching the two halves. It was like eating a big truffle. Finally was a chocolate and cherry bombe, a smooth mousse encasing cherry compote covered in a mirror glaze. Right up my street, and a great choice for the finale of my cake strategy.

We were a bit glum about there being no butter accompanying the (still warm) fruit scone, but the cream was clotted and we bore up. And to be honest it would have been overkill, the scones were crisp on the outside fluffy and buttery inside. The pot of raspberry jam was tangy and there were enough accoutrements to make big fat scones for both of us.

We nattered on for a while, enjoying a further pot of tea, and watched the world outside scuttle and scurry through the rain. On our departure we were a bit surprised to be charged for the extra tea – never experienced that in any of the previous 49 teas – but we put that down to having to cancel our other friend at the last minute rather than a strange new custom.

So now the 50 are done, and I had thought I would stop blogging at 50, having exhausted the patience of my audience. But I find I’m not really finished on my tea adventure, certain things about life have meant that I am having to close my 4 walls a bit tighter and be away from home a bit less. Going for an afternoon tea is a way for me to stretch my wings, albeit briefly, and whilst this continues you will have to put up with my chaotic mutterings for a wee while longer. And obviously if anyone wants to come along on one of my wacky races adventures then you just have to say…..

 

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***          Friendly and informative

Amount of Food:                ***1/2 A good amount and we did have some left over

Quality of Food:                ***          Excellent chocolate work, disappointing sandwiches

Value for money:              ***          Would have been more stars had we not had to pay for the extra tea we ordered

Comments:                         ‘Beautiful cake presentation’  ‘ someone knows what they are doing with chocolate’

The website is here http://chocolateroom.co.uk/   they are on Trip Advisor here https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g954030-d12711984-Reviews-The_Chocolate_Room_Cafe_and_Kitchen-Dalton_in_Furness_Cumbria_England.html They are also on Facebook and Twitter

And my suggested track for today’s tea could be anything from the Radio Two 80’s show playlist as that is what was on the sound system but I have picked this one as a taster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

 

 

 

#45 The MOTHERS DAY TREAT TEA

The Mother’s Day Treat Tea – Sunday 26th March

The Chetwynde Hotel, Barrow-in-Furness, £20 including 2 glasses of prosecco

Mr W is well known for his approach to present giving, inventive to say the least – filing cabinet for my significant birthday anyone?? He is also well known for not thinking to book for special occasions leading to disappointing visits to popular cafés where the only excitement is the hungry journey home. As the children have grown up The Bird has taken over the present buying duties to a greater extent and has successfully managed Christmases and Birthdays, albeit spending my money. I have also decided to take booking a table into my remit to ensure that I can at least go somewhere I want to on my special occasions. Hence our visit to The Chetwynde for Mothers Day Afternoon Tea.

We have visited here before for an evening meal and cocktails, been impressed and so I was keen to try their Afternoon Tea. Generally they do Afternoon Teas as a pre book for a minimum of 10 so their Mothers Day special came as a useful opportunity, especially as two glasses of prosecco were included in the price. It also was a good chance to get the Bird and the Big Lad out of the house in the same place that was not too far from home if anyone needed to walk off in a huff.

We were welcomed on a glorious spring day by the friendly staff and swiftly ushered through to the bar to claim the first of our drinks. For the record I had Bucks Fizz. We were then directed into the dining area overlooking the garden to our table. It was laid simply with white crockery and a lovely bunch of spring flowers and positioned so it caught the best of the sunshine as well as affording us a good view of the other diners. This was a GOOD THING as it soon became apparent Mr W and The Big Lad felt that it was a competition to finish all the food first, despite us not being the first to be seated, and they needed to be able to see what others were up to clearly to ensure they could dominate the race.

As well as the Bucks Fizz we were soon presented with large pots of tea, a big plate of sandwiches, a stand and a plate of cakes. The sandwiches were soon shovelled down by the boy contingent and I had to grab the ones I wanted quick-smart. I managed to wrestle a creamy egg mayo from the Big Lad before he ate them all but was left to scoff the tasty smoked salmon in peace as neither of them are particular fans. They also ploughed their way through chicken sandwiches and ham ones too in double quick time and said they were good.

The Bird is not a great fan of sandwiches so she avoided them and went straight for the cakes. And in fact tackled a scone first. I let her off as she is young and unaware of the Way of the Tea, but couldn’t resist educating (lecturing) everyone as we ate.

The cake strategy was a success for me today. I started with a Ginger Cake with a blob of buttercream and a raspberry on top. It was just subtly spicy and definitely had some treacle in it so was moist and sticky. Next was a squashy profiterole stuffed with cream and covered in chocolate sauce swiftly followed by a lovely lemon drizzle cake that was made even better by eating with the decorative raspberries. Finally was a tall chunk of Victoria Sandwich cake that was light and fluffy with a good thick layer of buttercream and runny strawberry jam, and it was definitely the best of a good selection for me. Despite being more than one of each cake for each person there was nothing left, those eating race boys had managed to scoff the lot.

So to the scone, and I was a bit disappointed. A pre-assembled half of a dry-ish fruit scone, without butter but with jam, whipped cream and prettily sliced strawberry. A tad of a letdown really and I actually only ate half of mine, but Mr W was happy to oblige and finish it off.

Because of our competitive eating contingent the whole meal lasted under 40 minutes, and for most of the time we were left mostly to our own devices. Although the staff were helpful when they did make an appearance, I did have to send Mr W for my second drink, as it was my treat and I was determined to enjoy it to the full. And I did enjoy it, on the whole the food did not disappoint, although I think that you pay a premium for having two alcoholic drinks included in the price.

As we left everyone was still eating – we were the definite winners of the eating race. Just because the other competitors weren’t aware they were in a race doesn’t detract from our victory.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***1/2   Everyone was very helpful and friendly but we were left to ourselves quite a lot

Amount of Food:                ***         A fair amount but not loads if you have my family involved in the eating

Quality of Food:                ***          Some lovely flavours but disappointing scone

Value for money:              **1/2     quite expensive but accounted for by two glasses of prosecco included in the price

Description:                         ‘Good selection of cakes’

The website is here http://www.chetwyndehotel.co.uk/

They are here on trip advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g190821-d244272-Reviews-The_Chetwynde_Hotel-Barrow_in_Furness_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html  and also on Facebook.

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oXLukzYoKc (I’m sure I hear this artist playing and as I love her here she is!)

#44 The PUZZLING CONFIGURATION TEA

The Puzzling Configuration Tea – Saturday 4^th February 2017      

The Townhouse, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria £12.50 for Afternoon Tea

I have taken a good while to post this review as I have had to think quite a lot about it. I was disconcerted by my reactions on the day and needed to mull things over before I put finger to keypad. You see I wasn’t certain that I was being fair given that W and I had a huge cocktail each and a bottle of prosecco between us in the spirit of celebrating birthdays (mostly hers), and I needed a bit of space to be considered in my writing. So without further ado….

W and I were celebrating her birthday, and what better way than with an afternoon tea? The Townhouse has just opened and we had heard that the food was good so we gave it a go. It was a cold windy afternoon, as February often is, and we hurried inside to get away from it. We were seated in the dining area behind the bar which has a night club feel to it. All booths, high stools and mood lighting. I’m not sure I’m a massive fan of mood lighting in an afternoon, it takes a lot of colour out of your food and is very disorientating when you emerge into the daylight.

Having pre-booked as vegetarian the staff checked that this was still required and our food was brought out. Before any drinks. Which we had to ask for anyway. Not a promising start with regards to service really, and whilst the manager was friendly all afternoon, the rest of the staff pretty much ignored us and we had to continuously ask for top ups of tea for the teeny tiny two cup pot we were given. We did manage to order a cocktail each from their small cocktail menu and when they came they were both really well made, mine was very fruity and W’s had a strong hit of basil.

The sandwiches were our first port of call, and this is where my unease really began. The bread was a bit dry on a couple, but sometimes that happens if you have made them in advance and I am prepared to overlook that. The fillings were the odd bit. There were 4 different types each and as we weren’t told what they were we made a few guesses as to their contents. The egg mayo was all right but W found it a bit bland and I thought they were a bit stingy with the filling. Then there was a grated cheese one, that we thought may have been mozzarella, that was very dry and rather flavourless. A cheese and roasted veg one was puzzling as we couldn’t work out what the cheese was, possibly mozzarella again with some other cheese that I thought was blue cheese but W thought was cottage cheese that had been washed, and it was all very garlicky. The best one  was salad, pesto and rocket, again very garlicky, but a good mix of flavours.

We proceeded to the cakes, and were pleased to see a good variety. Going for the cake strategy approach I went for a chocolate cup filled with cream and a bit of fruit first. It was fine, but could have done with a bit more fruit as there was quite a lot of cream. Next was a shot glass of what we thought was a mousse or pannacotta, but in fact turned out to be a shot of Baileys with a squirt of cream on top. Call me old fashioned but this is NOT A CAKE,  it is a drink, and an alcoholic one at that. Bit of a cop out and disappointing for those who don’t/can’t drink as they get less ‘cake’. It did make us very giggly though.

Next I had half an éclair, which had thick chocolate on top and was quite nice, and followed it with the macaron. There was one each of lemon and chocolate, so we shared then to try both. Both were nice. Finally there was a carrot cake with big bits of walnut in and was nicely spiced. It was substantial, moist and had a good flavour. The cake strategy worked today.

Finally the scone. Pre-made, not fat, no butter, whipped cream and it was dry. Not a lot to recommend it really. There was an odd taste about it too, not sure if it was vanilla or cinnamon, W and I couldn’t agree.

Still we had our bottle of prosecco to finish and settled down to people watch. Except about three times we were told we had to vacate the table by a certain time – which was nearly an hour away – so we didn’t feel very welcome after that and left quite quickly.

At least the company was as scintillating as ever.

 

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                **1/2     Manager was friendly and helpful but we were ignored by other staff

Amount of Food:                ***         adequate but not loads, good for the price

Quality of Food:                **1/2     a bit haphazard

Value for money:              **1/2     price was good but some things were just very strange for an afternoon tea

Description:                         ‘new, funky vibe’ ‘enjoyed the cocktails’

The website is here http://thetownhousebarrow.co.uk/

They are here on trip advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g190821-d11885689-Reviews-The_Townhouse_Bar_Kitchen_and_Rooms-Barrow_in_Furness_Lake_District_Cumbria_Engl.html and also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ibBPhiaG0

 

#43 The BYGONE GLORIES TEA

The Bygone Glories Tea – Tuesday 3rd January 2017      

The Imperial Hotel, Blackpool, Lancashire £25.00 for The Afternoon Tea for two

What a day for the first Afternoon Tea of the New Year! Wet, dark and grey as only blustery Blackpool can be in the depths of winter. My sister K and I ventured to this hotel to use a forgotten voucher before it expired and to spend some quality sister time. We’ve been spending a bit more time together lately, and our reminiscing about family holidays, clubbing escapades and barmy relatives has been supplemented by new adventures, which will stand us in good stead for giggles for a fair few years.

The edifice of the hotel is impressive, all Victorian grandeur and pomp, and inside the décor reflects the outside, high ceilings, grand salons with grand names like The Palm Court and The Churchill Room, all harking back to a more genteel era in Blackpool’s history. The atmosphere is sedate at this time of year and whiff of faded glories pervades. The warmth drew us in, chandeliers gleamed brightly and we were swiftly ushered to deep armchairs out of the cold and rain.

The Afternoon Tea here comes in two varieties, sweet and savoury, which is a nice touch and the friendly staff were quick to take our orders for the sweet variety with tea. Not one eyelash was batted when I asked for a vegetarian (ish) selection of sandwiches, which is the mark of a truly classy place in my opinion, staff trained to make no fuss when out of the way requests are made. They even asked as to my preference to accompaniment to a cheese variety.

A pot of tea arrived promptly, and we had time to get a good way down it before the food arrived. This is by no way of a complaint as the food that arrived was obviously freshly prepared for us and the scones were still warm, even after we had eaten the rest of the food.

Sandwiches were a fairly standard selection, cheese and tomato, egg mayonnaise and smoked salmon. All were on nice fresh bread and were tasty. The egg mayo was good and eggy, without being overpowered by mayo, and the salmon was nice and soft and not too smoky.

There was a good variety of cakes and I went with the Victoria Sponge first. It was moist but a bit bland and not particularly tasting as if it was ‘home-made’ on the premises, rather from a specialist bakery. I followed it up with a disappointing lemon tart that had soft pastry and was sweet rather than tart. Next I went for the chocolate delice, that had a lovely soft cake with a rum undertone to it, but again tasted like it was made by a bakery rather than on the premises. Finally I went with the Eton Mess, which I liked best of the cakes, so today the Cake Strategy worked for a change. There was a thick, crispy and chewy meringue layered with sweet cream and strawberries. The fruit was of the canned/preserved variety, but plump and juicy and entirely appropriate for a winter dessert.

There was still room for the warm scone, which was correctly served with butter, jam and clotted cream.  There was plenty to make fat scones for both of us, and I set about it with alacrity. I tried to persuade K she was eating her scone all wrong as she prefers just butter, she gamely tried it with jam and cream for me but wasn’t convinced and stubbornly went back to her own way. Older sisters can be pesky like that. The scones themselves were chewy with plenty of fruit and nice and buttery, so ended the Tea very nicely.

We had been left to our own devices somewhat by now, and had to go searching for refills for our tea pot and milk jug to fortify us for the journey home. By now the drizzle had turned more insistent and the darkness was of the looming variety rather than the pleasant type and a tummy full of tea was the only remedy for the gloom.

Despite my reputation for a teeny tiny bladder I can assure you we made it home without any emergency stops to find suitable bushes….

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                **1/2     friendly and unflustered but we were rather left to our own devices

Amount of Food:                **1/2    enough but not over faced

Quality of Food:                **1/2     a bit hit and miss

Value for money:              **1/2     price was good but have had better for this amount of money

Description:                         ‘the scone was nice’ ‘helpful staff’

The website is here https://www.thehotelcollection.co.uk/hotels/imperial-hotel-blackpool

They are here on trip advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186332-d214930-Reviews-The_Imperial_Hotel-Blackpool_Lancashire_England.html   and also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as part of their group The Hotel Collection.

And my suggested track for today’s tea is silence. There was not background music and it was a bit weirdly quiet, so to give you a flavour I suggest you have complete silence when reading this.

 

 

#42 The HIPSTER TEA

The Hipster Tea – Tuesday 20th December 2016      

The Fizzy Tarte, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria £22.50 for The Ultimate Afternoon Indulgence (including a glass of champagne)

I have been eyeing this tea up for a while on Facebook, the food always looks gorgeous, the venue is modern and aiming for stylish and elegant and there was a need for me and W to have an afternoon tea before Christmas. It was a quiet part of the day when we arrived and we had the choice of where to sit, so we chose a vantage point that let us see the whole of the venue as well as being conveniently located for toilets. There is quite a hipster vibe about the place, lots of young-ish trendy folk, and older trendy folk, and little boden family groups, and the music playing added to that feeling, being current artists singing more traditional Christmas songs.

When you book for afternoon tea you don’t have to choose which one until you get there and having had a quick glance at the extensive menu we chose the Ultimate Afternoon Indulgence because it included a glass of champagne and we were feeling in a champagne mood. The staff were very obliging and our bubbling glasses and a pot of tea were served rapidly (albeit we had to ask for milk and top ups of tea later on) and we were able to have a good look around whilst our food was being prepared. They had been a little non-plussed when we asked for no meat in our sandwiches, but managed to rally to offer extra egg and cheese instead.

A lovely modern stand was placed before us and the food was temptingly displayed, with cakes immediately drawing the eye for their beauty and size. Obviously we went straight to the sandwiches, having both starved ourselves in anticipation and these were fresh and tasty. The egg was a little dry but the cream cheese was really full of flavour and the smoked salmon had a beautifully smokey flavour and was lovely and soft to eat. They were accompanied by some salty, crunchy crisps which were very moreish.

There were 6 cakes between us, all of a sufficiently huge size to be able to comfortably split so we could try some of each. And this was very convenient for those of us who follow the Way of the Tea and Cake Strategy. We split 5 out of the six between us and tucked in following our own order. I went for the strawberry torte first, which was a gorgeous full flavoured light mousse with a plump strawberry nestled inside, on top of a light sponge. It was actually my favourite, so much for the Strategy! I then plumped for the banoffee pie, which W had gone for first (not being a banana fan). A soft sweet pastry cradled lovely ‘snotty’ banana (soft like you do for babies and my fave way to eat it), caramel and cream.

Moving on I went for the lime cheesecake, punchy in flavour with a nice thin base, W said it was her favourite but was just a bit sharp for my very sweet tooth. Next was a layered delice that W thought was coffee flavoured but I am positive was orange. Exquisitely thin sponge and cream layers topped with icing made this a real delight for me.  The chocolate torte was looking a bit lonely by now so I dived in, going for the truffle perched on top. It was dense and dark, in stark contrast to the lightness of the deep layer of chocolate mousse it was perched on. Nice enough, and gorgeous to look at, but not as good as the strawberry variety.

The final cake was a profiterole tower, balanced on a shortbread biscuit. We shared out the profiteroles, a good four each, the base and a good dollop of chocolate sauce. The biscuit was crumbly and buttery and the little profiteroles were crisp on the outside but full of squashy cream. The oozing chocolate sauce was rich and gooey. A good balance.

And so the scone. There was one between us, which given we were stuffed was the right amount but could have seemed a little parsimonious if we hadn’t greedily gobbled everything else. There was a little pot of jam and a bowl of clotted cream, but no butter. You should be familiar enough with my ramblings to know my feelings on all of these, one little tiptree pot of jam is not enough even for one scone and butter is, in my opinion, de rigeur. However we shared out the scone, having half of a top and half of a bottom each and proceeded to make our best attempt at a fat scone. It did have lots of fruit but was a bit dry, but as W said it wasn’t the worst we have had by a long stretch.

As we were finishing up the lighting changed over to evening mood, and the purple tinge changed to a definite deep glow. We were glad that we had almost finished eating as it did make everything on our plates look the same colour, just in different shades, and as you ‘eat with your eyes’ it was a bit odd. Larger groups had started to arrive and staff were bustling making impressive looking cocktails, which, had I not been driving, I would definitely have sampled.

W and I slipped out to have a bit of a wander around shops winding down for the day and I did manage to find a late Christmas gift for Queenie, so I was able to feel very pleased with myself. As we headed for the car the Christmas lights were twinkling, the air was chilly and there was a definite feel of Christmas approaching in an olde worlde way. Only needed a bit of snow to round out the picture. Chione did not oblige.

 

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***          prompt and obliging but we had to ask for milk/refills rather than it being spotted

Amount of Food:                ***1/2 we were full but not over stuffed, generous slices of cake

Quality of Food:                ****        lovely flavours and beautifully presented

Value for money:              ***          fairly proportionate with others locally

Description:                         ‘very young modern feel’ ‘the cakes are all very light’

The website is here http://www.thefizzytarte.com/

They are here on trip advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g190820-d10089418-Reviews-The_Fizzy_Tarte-Bowness_on_Windermere_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html  and also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBUSxSFf9TQ it’s a bit of a mish mash but a good flavour of the kind of songs we were listening to.

 

 

#41 The CHARITY CHRISTMAS TEA

The Charity Christmas Tea – Friday 16th December 2016      

Hawcoat Park Social Club, Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria £15 for Afternoon Tea

Initially I was a bit concerned about blogging about this Tea. Firstly because it was the start of our Works Christmas Party and therefore I was unsure if the attendees would be happy with my remarks going public, and secondly because as a charitable enterprise I felt that it was probably a bit mean of me to judge it against the other teas. However, due to popular demand on the night and having decided to just abandon the scoring system in this instance I felt I could commit myself to paper. I am also breaking with tradition as I don’t usually name names to spare the blushes of the innocent but in this case certain demands were made with regard to starring roles and I am ever one to try and please.

On arrival we were offered a glass of prosecco and our tables were already laid out with a fair mountain of food and decorated festively. Tea and coffee was in plentiful supply, but not one to mix my drinks I stuck to prosecco and managed to score 3 glasses from people not attending or not wanting theirs. Result!

As everything was already in front of us we tucked in with alacrity and soon wolfed down the sandwiches. I had cheese savoury and a prawn one which were both lovely and fresh and Joanna was very complimentary about the turkey and cranberry and insisted I told you she was. Lyn also was very impressed with the mixed bread ham and held it very carefully so I could take a photo to show you.

It was at this point my prosecco started talking for me and I was very insistent that people followed the ‘Way of the Tea’ and loudly berated anyone who dared to eat their scone before having cakes.

Sorry everyone, I was a bit over excited.

The cakes were lovely too. A good selection was on offer, and far too many to try one of each. So first off I had a crispy chewy mini meringue, which was lovely, a big-ish slice of bakewell and finished with a fruit tart, that was tangy and creamy. Sara, who is a girl who is quite choosy with her cake consumption, had a big chocolate cupcake with a malteaser cheekily perched on top and pronounced it delicious, moist and very chocolatey.

I was ready for my scone and I had already made allowance for the cream being whipped so was pleased to see butter and jam as well as the cream. A good show and plenty to make fat scones for all. There was some discussion about whether the butter was necessary. It is of course and anyone who thought the opposite was politely shown the error of their ways. It was a lovely scone too, fruity, moist and full of flavour.

There was festive music from a piano in the corner and a raffle to keep our spirits high. Joe won a diary and unsurprisingly Jo won a bottle of wine, which actually did end up coming home with me as it was looking very lonely and I have other bottles to keep it company. As a lovely festive treat at the end we were served with steaming glasses of mulled wine, a mince pie and Christmas cake. What excellent value for money.

So it was time to move on. The party animals were off to continue carousing into the wee small hours and piled into taxis in a scuffle of coats, bags and cheer. Kisses were liberally distributed, and festive wishes exchanged (and thank you Jack for telling me I scrub up well….) and another school term was over.

I think I need this break to recover…

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:

Amount of Food:               I’m not marking this one as it was for charity and it would seem mealy

Quality of Food:                mouthed if I did. The food was lovely, loads of it and the people

Value for money:              serving us were friendly and lovely and we had a great time.

Description:

The website is here for Hawcoat Park so you can keep an eye out for next year http://hawcoatpark.co.uk/

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgiNWfLZH2A

 

 

#40 The PEOPLE WATCHING TEA

The People Watching Tea – Thursday 27th October 2016      

The Belsfield Hotel, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria £21.90 for Afternoon Tea

A greyer day this end of the week after the glories at the start. Much more misty and spooky as befitting the proximity of Halloween and a bit drizzly indicating that the British winter is on its way. C and I arrived early for our tea here as the traffic wasn’t as heavy as feared, but it just gave us more time to admire the Laura Ashley touch this hotel has been given. A modern glass foyer has been added to a much older building giving a light open feel that is very inviting.

The hotel is tucked away on the hillside overlooking the Lake at Bowness, and you wouldn’t really know there is such hustle and bustle in the town below. It feels classy as you walk through and from our observations attracts a well-heeled couple-y clientele rather than having a more family appeal. We did spend a good deal of our time watching the people around us (and the people at the table behind us spent their time watching us, so heaven only knows what they made of our afternoon!), especially the couple we invented a whole back story for including online websites, new romance and clandestine meetings culminating in lunch and passion in Bowness.

From the selection of teas on offer I chose my usual English Breakfast and C went for an organic green rooibos.  This was provided swiftly, proper tea leaves and fancy strainers, in modern china. An initial embarrassment when they had confused us with another booking and forgotten we had ordered vegetarian was swiftly remedied and we were provided with several plates of sandwiches. Each.

The cream cheese and cucumber were nice and fresh and the cheese and tomato were full of flavour and liberally spread with butter. We also had two large slices of toasted bread each spread with hummus and sweet pickled peppers. The topping was lovely but the toast had gone a little soft with the moisture of the filling which was a shame. Finally two fingers of smoked salmon each, lovely soft smoke with a sweet cream cheese. A good selection.

Having eaten all we could, whilst saving room for the cakes to follow, we were presented with a tall unadorned cake stand with our treats. Obviously the cake strategy came into play and this time, as it turned out, I did not choose entirely wisely. First up was a popcorn pannacotta that had an oozing toffee centre and salty popcorn on top. The combination of textures and salty sweet were just right and it was judged overall a success. With brimming hope for later tastes next was a deconstructed Millionaires Shortbread served in a little shot glass. The strong chocolate top, runny caramel and shortbread crumbs were nice, but not as good as the pannacotta.

So to the cake selection. A tall slice of Victoria sandwich was a good cake but sadly lacking in filling, not the right ratio leaving it feeling a bit dry although the jam inside was very nice. The Jaffa cake ball was dry too, and the chocolate was too bitter for my taste and over powered any orange flavour there was. Finally the lemon swiss roll had a lovely tart taste to it but was a bit solid. Overall a bit disappointing.

By this time we were quite full and decided to share a large fruit scone, which, although not brimming with fruit, was lovely and buttery. The home made strawberry conserve was fruity and tasty, if a bit runny, and the clotted cream felt more like the extra thick double cream I only allow myself at Christmas because, delicious as it is, I can feel it coating the inside of my thighs as I eat. Plenty to make a fat scone to share but probably not enough if you were to eat both scones presented.

We sat for a while enjoying the view over the lake and idly listening in on conversations. By this time our romantic pair had wandered off hand in hand and giggling so we were mostly listening to exclamations about the generosity of size of the scones. It was calm and peaceful and we were reluctant to leave, but eventually we asked for our leftovers to be boxed up (there were lots of sandwiches and the scones of course) and off we toddled admiring the décor and architectural curiosities as we left.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***1/2    Observant and eager to please

Amount of Food:               ****        We were well supplied and took some home too

Quality of Food:                ***1/2    Good, but some of the cakes were on the dry side

Value for money:              ***          Definitely paying for the venue and surroundings as well as food

Description:                        ‘light and stylish décor’ ‘impressive entrance’

The website is here http://www.lauraashleyhotels.com/thebelsfield/?gclid=CLHcnbfOgtACFakK0wodjc0Awg

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g190820-d192755-Reviews-Laura_Ashley_Hotel_The_Belsfield-Bowness_on_Windermere_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html   they are also on Facebook and Twitter

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChoOH3RAUA

 

 

#39 The MUDDLED STYLE TEA

The Muddled Style Tea – Monday 24th October 2016      

The Daffodil Hotel and Spa, Grasmere, Cumbria £19.95 for Luxury Afternoon Tea

Autumn is definitely here. Honeyed sunshine, low on the horizon dappling through changing leaves and a definite chill in the air. Leaves whirling everywhere and time for half term after a long half term. W and I were determined to have a real treat to reward our hard work over the last few weeks and I conveniently had a voucher for the luxury afternoon tea at The Daffodil. I have been hoarding this since last Christmas, first I was thwarted by the floods which closed the hotel until July, then by my busy summer holidays and with the expiry date looming we decided to go for it!

The drive up was slow and lazy, the weather was warm and had brought out families keen to make the most of it before the long dark haul of winter, tour buses were out in force and crazy pedestrians leaping from crowded pavements made the slow pace seem sensible. The arrival at Grasmere was less than salubrious, roadworks right outside the hotel causing chaos in the heavy traffic, but pulling into the carpark we were able to admire its splendour. It’s a huge slate building, built on a grand Victorian scale with glorious views overlooking the Lake.

We were directed to the dining room and quickly seated at a table overlooking the lake and the flourishing show of the surrounding hillsides. Efficiency was the keyword here. Water was poured, menus brought, our tea was ordered, they checked that we were non meat eaters before we even had thought of it ourselves and we were given the drinks menu if we fancied a little something stronger. We did. W had an Elderflower Fizz (elderflower gin and prosecco) and I had a Molton Brown (Chambord, Amaretto and bumbleberry juice, whatever that is). Both great choices which made us think carefully about what to sip when.

We sat for a while chatting, sipping and looking at the newly refurbished décor. We were a little perplexed and uncertain where it was placing itself. The hotel is very large yet seems to be going for a small hotel boutique feel, dark walls (a greeny brown I really didn’t like), funky colour changing uplighters (can I just put out there that red lights give me The Rage), avant garde photos of celebrities (former clients?) on the walls. It reminded us a bit of a cruise ship lounge. The waiting staff were oddly attired too, I felt they wouldn’t look out of place at TGI Fridays with their white shirts, chinos and braces ensemble. Yet everything was delivered in a formal, silver service kind of way.

Then The Cake Stand arrived. Note the deliberate use of capitals. An elegant art deco style stand was put before us, dripping with treats, so much so the savouries and sandwiches were on their own little platter. The table was not really big enough to accommodate such riches as well as teapot, milk jug and water bottle too so they were relegated to the spacious windowsill. And the smell! I was positively drooling with greed as the staff explained what we had before us and retired to let us dig in.

The delicious smell coming from the savouries made us keen to dig in, and after requesting a little butter that is exactly what we did. A warm cheese and sundried tomato tart started us off well, a crisp pastry mouthful with a delicious filling, and was followed by a cheesy little scone that had a crisp outside and fluffy inside that butter just melted into. The sandwiches soon followed and did not disappoint either, the red pepper and cream cheese wrap could have had a little more cheese if I’m being picky but the sweet peppers were just right. Two fingers of standard sandwiches followed. The egg mayo was creamy and not vinegary, just as I like it, and the grated cheese with carrot and peppery spring onion were even better. Yet again a combination I had not tried and will certainly be giving it a go at home.

And here it was. The cakes and sweets selection. And what an exciting choice. Most no bigger than a teaspoon sized mouthful (thankfully, there was so much on offer and we would have hated to be too full to try everything). And all beautifully finished and elegantly presented. It was tricky to employ the cake strategy as there was so much to choose from. I went for a tiny loaf of cake that I though was carrot but turned out to be walnut, moist and fluffy with proper buttercream piped on top and sprinkled with tiny nibs of nut. A great opener that was swiftly followed by a jelly and pannacotta layered dessert that was well set, had flecks of real vanilla through the creamy top and a fresh strawberry jelly so far removed from a children’s party offering to be sophisticated and grown up. It was going well. I then moved on to the tiny glazed ring doughnut, my first real disappointment of the whole Tea. It had a brittle texture and was very oily so I only had a nibble. I swiftly recovered with a crisp little sweet pastry tart filled with a soft custard and fresh raspberry.

For a few minutes I had been eyeing up the two types of cake pop. I like a nice lump of cake on a stick and here were two big globes. The first was chocolate and banana with a surprise of popping candy in the middle and the other was a lovely vanilla and strawberry blob coated in hundreds and thousands. All jolly good fun. By this time I felt suitably removed from the ring doughnut experience to try the ball shaped one. This was much better, fluffy on the inside covered ion a milk chocolate glaze and filled with a rich chocolate ganache. Feeling in a chocolate mood I moved on to a chocolate square. Layers of cake, mousse and ganache topped with half a sharp raspberry. Lovely textures and mix of flavours in a dainty cube that was just the right size. By this time the stand was looking decidedly less full and the buttery little Viennese whirl was winking at me, little tease, and certainly it was as enjoyable as it promised. Crumbly, jammy and melt in the mouth. Finally I came to the macaron. Raspberry and dark chocolate, crisp outside, chewy inside and very well put together. The filling was a bit rich after all the other delights and I possibly would have put in a raspberry jelly but that is just personal taste.

Full of tummy we turned to the scones. Two each! One plain and one fruit. Fresh made jam and clotted cream were served alongside and were both as right and as yummy as they should be. I had half of each scone to give them both a try, but knew even then that I was making myself far too full for comfort. Both had a lovely buttery flavour and were crisp on the outside and were moist and fluffy on the inside. A great ending.

By this time we were groaning with all we had consumed, very little was left, one little scone and two halves of scone that I brought home for Queenie (which she thoroughly enjoyed for her supper). I must say that it was a fantastically luxurious treat, everything was well made, well flavoured and exquisitely presented and I think it would go down well as a gift if any of you are thinking of upcoming Christmas present ideas. The staff were lovely and we felt well taken care of without being too fussed over.

So we rolled our way down to the car park for an equally lazy drive home, no sudden movements as we were far too full. Now it could be that we were high on sugar but as we were tootling along we saw a large golden feline shape in a field. W and I are convinced it was a mountain lion….

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ****        Helpful, friendly but possibly a bit informal for such a classy venue

Amount of Food:               *****      Fantastic spread, other people had lots of left overs we were much more greedy

Quality of Food:                ****3/4 Outstanding (but I took a smidge off for the weird ring doughnut)

Value for money:              *****      Cannot fault it

Description:                        ‘Amazing flavours’ ‘Just WOW!’ ‘It feels like we’re on a cruise ship’

The website is here http://daffodilhotel.co.uk/

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186324-d3331515-Reviews-The_Daffodil_Hotel_Spa-Grasmere_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html    they are also on Facebook and Twitter

 

And my suggested tracks for today’s tea are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTVjnBo96Ug and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLhN__oEHaw to reflect the style dichotomy

 

 

#38 The SECOND CHANCE TEA

The Second Chance Tea – Sunday 18th September 2016      

Clarence House Hotel, Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria £16.95 for Afternoon Tea

I have had an increasingly nagging sense of unease for a week or so now. Something I have forgotten or misplaced, but I’m not sure what. I am chasing my own tail at the moment but keeping up with things generally, if erratically, so what could it be? It came to me in a flash this morning. I haven’t blogged this Tea. I am usually pretty prompt so this one has truly slipped away from me.

It was J’s birthday and we wanted somewhere to go for a treat but not too far from home. This is becoming difficult now as I have sampled most of the local establishments and am trying not to double up just yet until I reach at least number 50. I must confess I have been avoiding this place as I had a Tea there a few years ago, pre-blog, and was not impressed. It seemed a good opportunity to give it a second chance and off we trotted with W and the fragrant Mrs HW in tow.

I had a slight wobble in the carpark as there were empty cans liberally strewn along the bottom of the wall, but we were greeted cheerily enough and seated in the front conservatory briefly to order tea and wait until our table was ready. We were then led into the main dining room to be greeted by a glorious display on a beautifully set table. The cake stand was attractively arranged with sandwiches and cakes and we were eager to get started.

Having ordered ahead for vegetarians we were well supplied with a variety of non-meat sandwiches on several kinds of bread. There were cheese, tomato, egg mayo and cucumber with a rogue ham and a tuna one for J who does eat meat. Well cut into nice sized fingers they looked lovely but were all very bland and needed seasoning, and the tomato was completely flavourless, and so overall they were disappointing. The accompanying thick cut crisps were good though.

We rapidly moved on to the cakes and adopting my cake strategy I went for the brownie first. Gooey, soft and rich it was lovely and I had high hopes for the rest of the spread. Up next were two profiteroles each, full of cream but with a very soft choux pastry so I only ate one, and a macaron that looked lovely but was under baked and too soft. Next I went for the pannacotta with a tart forest fruits topping. The fruits were lovely and sharp but the underneath cream was rubbery and just too thick so I left most of it. Finally a little lemon sponge cake which was lovely. Soft cake, fresh cream and a crunch of crystallised lemon on top. Definitely the best of the lot.

So to the scones. Two each, one plain, one fruit, with plenty of jam, clotted cream, butter and strawberries to go with them. Big fat scones were made of both as I had plenty of room left having not eaten some of the cakes. Sadly the toppings were the best part. The plain one was a bit tasteless and the fruit one wasn’t cooked through. Really quite lacklustre.

Looking through my notebook for this tea there isn’t a lot written, which means that the quality of the conversation outstripped the food by a long way. It didn’t stand out enough for me to interrupt my nattering to write many notes and whilst we always have a lot to talk about there usually is plenty of opportunity to write about the food. We were also not disturbed by staff, as there seemed to be only one person there covering the whole place and we had to go looking for tea pot top ups and the prosecco I wanted to order as a treat for J’s birthday.

The company was excellent though and we lingered a fair while, sipping tea and avoiding going back to our various responsibilities. We all had a good old moan and I think felt better for it. I know I did, and I have decided that having the odd glass of fizzy now and then certainly cheers my soul. It may become a feature…..

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                **            Although they were friendly we had to look for staff for top ups

Amount of Food:               ***          It was adequate but not overwhelming

Quality of Food:                **1/2      A triumph of style over substance

Value for money:              **            An expensive venue that didn’t live up to its promise of elegance

Description:                        ‘Sandwiches a bit bland’ ‘It looks gorgeous but tastes very ordinary’

The website is here http://www.clarencehouse-hotel.co.uk/

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g954030-d578755-Reviews-Clarence_House_Country_Hotel_Restaurant-Dalton_in_Furness_Cumbria_England.html   they are also on Facebook and Twitter

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cgDIa9ndcY