#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

 

 

 

#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

 

 

#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

 

 

#37 The GIRD YOUR LOINS TEA

The Gird Your Loins Tea – Saturday 27th August 2016      

The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria £10.95 for Afternoon Tea (£3 extra for a glass of prosecco)

So the summer holidays for those of us in the English education system draws to a close and it was time for me and the lovely W to have a catch up as we haven’t seen each other since the end of July. It was also time for the now annual back to school tea to fortify ourselves for the onslaught of a new term and the dark slog to Christmas. That makes it sound like we are being forced down the pit or something. Not the right image at all. It’s just that by the time we get to Christmas the days are short, nights are long, and these balmy, hazy summer afternoons just a distant Shangri-La of hope.

On arrival our table was waiting in the main bar area and we were quickly provided with a big pot of tea and asked if we would like anything stronger too. In light of our need for bracing against the relentless pull of the Autumn Term we decided to go the whole hog and order a whole bottle of prosecco rather than just a mere glass each. A good plan. Alternating a sip of bubbles and a slurp of tea made for a jolly afternoon.

Our cake stand was of the slate variety, and definitely wobbly, but was packed full of enough food to make us want to dive straight in. The big pile of sandwiches on the bottom layer provided us with three large fingers of 4 kinds of sandwiches, all meat free as I had remembered to tell them in advance that both of us didn’t eat it. It did mean we had two fish varieties, which is not a problem for me but W doesn’t really eat much fish at all so it was a bit of overkill for her. The cheese savoury was a good sandwich, not too much mayo and a good cheesy flavour, and the sunblush tomato and cream cheese was nice too, if a little heavy handed on the tomato. W tried the tuna mayo sandwich and pronounced it just ‘OK’ whilst I tucked into the thickly filled smoked salmon and cream cheese variety. A decent selection, but rather a reliance on cream cheese I felt.

The cakes on the stand were next, and the cake strategy was put into action. Sort of. There were three little macarons each. I will not call them dainty as they were a bit lumpen and not smooth as a macaron should be and had one half bigger than the other. We decided in determining our tactics to start with one of them then have a cake, then a macaron, then a cake, finishing off with a macaron. Tasting the first macaron was a bit disappointing, it was overcooked, far too crispy, full of lumps of almond and sandwiched with cream. Not a good start. The lemon drizzle cake made up for this though. It was moist, sweet and the raspberry on top gave a fantastic tart contrast to the sugariness of the cake. I had another macaron, and was disappointed all over again so decided to call it a day with them and not go for the final one, I instead just ate the dense, fudgy brownie which was so darkly chocolatey that it left a dry after taste.

And finally we got to the scones, with jam and Chantilly cream. They were a bit dry, although full of fruit and could have done with a bit of butter before applying the jam and cream. The jam was from one of those individual pots that I am not a fan of, but was a nice strawberry flavour, but there really could have been more of it to make the scone less dry. The Chantilly cream bothered me, however. Not the fact that it was Chantilly not clotted, that I can forgive for such a bargain price. But it just tasted odd, not of vanilla as it should but very strongly almondy. In fact it was so odd I scraped most of it off my second half of scone as I really didn’t like it at all.

We sat for a fair while after we had finished eating. There was prosecco to drink and no rush to be anywhere. There were also stories of holidays to catch up on and other Teas to plan and it was nice to sit and not be rushing to drive off back home as we had both arrived on shank’s pony, having planned in advance we were having our bubbles. But as the ‘finished shopping and dropping in for a quick snifter on the way home’ crowd began to morph into the ‘early start for a good Saturday night sesh’ mob we called it a day. The venue is, after all, a pub bar without much of a view apart from the busy road outside and that can only entertain for so long.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***          Prompt and attentive in a pub bar staff kind of way

Amount of Food:               ***          We weren’t overwhelmed with food, but there was a decent amount of sandwiches each

Quality of Food:                **1/2      The cakes were generally not a good bake

Value for money:              ***          Not bad as the food was fresh and definitely made on the premises

Description:                        ‘High quality napkins’ ‘bit of a Brit Pop vibe here’

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

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g190821-d679951-Reviews-The_Duke_of_Edinburgh_Hotel-Barrow_in_Furness_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html  they are also on Facebook.

 

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

 

#34 The SECOND ANTIPODEAN TEA

The Second Antipodean Tea – Sunday 7^th August 2016      

The George, 216 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Australia AUD$60 for Grand Cru High Tea with a glass of French Champagne

Lucky old me! Another tea so soon after the first in Australia. My lovely friend A had arranged us another tea accompanied by her friend G, whose birthday it just happened to be and the perfect excuse for a High Tea accompanied by a glass of Mumm champagne in celebration.

Attracted by the promise of classy food, and a swanky environment we were keen to get started on this one. Service was quick and we were soon seated in a fairly noisy room at a rather plainly set table with our champagne, choice of tea from an extensive list and (you may have to sit down for this one, it’s a shocker…) ….red cream soda scones with Chantilly cream and balsamic chilli raspberry jam.

Yes! Your eyes do not deceive you, they served the scones first. Admittedly they were warm, crisp and dense and could be piled high with cream and the delicious jam, but they were tart rather than buttery and just a little disorientating given they were served first before anything else. The rest of the tea was delivered on a cake stand after we had finished the scones. Still we were on another continent and they do things differently here.

 

Following in the footsteps of my previous Australian High Tea there was a more generous selection of warm savouries alongside the sandwiches than is commonplace in the UK and I was happy to give them a good tasting. Again a selection to suit my vegetarian tastes had been provided (although I must admit I had also weakened on the matter of smoked salmon which I can rarely resist) and I started with a buttery croissant filled with cheese and tomato. I enjoyed the flavourful filling but A and G were less convinced with their chicken and sweetcorn as they felt it was, in fact, too sweet. We all had a puff pastry pinwheel with blue cheese and mushroom which was very nice and very mushroomy, and followed it with a gorgeous little caramelised onion and cheese tartlet which was crisp on the outside and delightfully creamy and soft inside.

Hot on their heels we tucked into the sandwiches, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. There was cream cheese and cucumber on black bread, which was the best of the three, smoked salmon and cream cheese on a bagel that tasted more like a brioche and a dainty little crostini. A and G had a chewy prosciutto, and I had a delicious garlicky tzatziki with onion marmalade which was creamy and not too vinegary.

Our final round was the bite sized cakes. Beautifully presented, some slightly ‘out there’ ingredients and looking inviting. I went with the chocolate cup filled with a white chocolate and fennel mousse first. I knew this would be the right choice as I have a slight queasiness and greenness around the gills for anything aniseedy or tasting of liquorish (and naturally completely unrelated to any student drinking episodes involving pernod). I was right. Whilst A and G decided they could not taste the fennel, I could and did not like it. The chocolate cup was nice though. Secondly I went for the macaron, of which I am usually a big fan. This was a bit strange though, too fragile and explosive, tasted of orange but not enough to overpower the almond in the macaron base. The last was a Snickers tart with popping candy, which I loved. Soft caramel, peanuts, lovely thin pastry and popping candy, what’s not to like there? This time my cake strategy worked.

I did like this tea, but left feeling a little dissatisfied. The service was a bit lacklustre, the table rather plain and there were chips in various pieces of the crockery that had to be replaced. The background music was so quiet as to be almost invisible and the overall atmosphere was really quite subdued. There were some really good points to the food, especially the savouries and sandwiches and the Snickers tart. But I am a purist with my Teas and I prefer to have my scone at the end to finish my meal and I felt that it just didn’t flow right this way.

Leaving G to work off her calories by walking home A and I strolled back to the car and drove back to her place where the men and kids were waiting for us to entertain them. We obliged.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                **1/2      Understated and quite distant

Amount of Food:               **1/2      We ate it all and were quite full at the time but were hungry later

Quality of Food:                ***1/2    Savouries and sandwiches were the stars, with a special mention for the snickers tart.

Value for money:              Again it is difficult to say as it is the equivalent of £35 and for the cost it does not compare well at all in the UK. However, against other Teas in Western Australia, and given that it is at a swanky hotel in the middle of a big city and includes a glass of expensive champagne, I think it is very competitively priced.

Description:                        ‘That tartlet was to die for’

The website is here http://www.thegeorgeperth.com.au/

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g255103-d1935378-Reviews-The_George-Perth_Greater_Perth_Western_Australia.html  they are also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPToAE5f3lI (but play it really, really quietly so you can hardly hear it to get the same experience we had)

 

#33 The FIRST ANTIPODEAN TEA

The First Antipodean Tea – Saturday 30^th July 2016      

The Lavender Bistro, Swan Valley, Perth, Australia AUD$34 for High Tea with Sparkling Rosé

The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed two things immediately about this blog. Firstly it is published a staggering 3 weeks after the event, where usually it is within days, and secondly that it was, in fact, consumed in Australia, which is the reason for the delay. Yes indeedy, I have been on my travels, taking the husband and children with me, and we have visited lovely friends in lovely Western Australia. So now I can accurately claim that my afternoon tea musings are an international, if not world-wide, phenomenon.

My dear and lovely friend A who is Australian and who I have known for years, having shared a flat together in London and many adventures that are now the subject of a restraining order all on their own, was really keen to take me on an exploration of the Australian version of the Afternoon Tea whilst I was visiting. Things are slightly different here. Dining is less formal in general, often accompanied by alcohol and the Tea here is called High Tea. I was keen to sample what was on offer and share it with A, especially as she promised that each one could be accompanied by bubbles of an alcoholic variety.

Our first adventured was in the Swan Valley wine producing area. A great place to start, and making the most of our escape from respective spouses and my children we took a short detour on the way to sample wine and chocolate. Excellent plan!

The Lavender Bistro is a busy, café style establishment with a small shop attached selling lavender themed goodies from the edible to lotions, potions and decorated gifts. We had a window table, that was lovely and bright but with a view of the car park. Good job we came for the food.

First to be served was a lovely glass of sparkling Rosé, which bubbled brightly and went down far too easily. It was swiftly followed by a cake stand filled with vegetarian treats which they had provided at short notice. The cake stand had a really pretty lavender motif on it and the plain white crockery was complimented by purple serviettes and a purple water bottle which nicely matched my phone case. How did they know?

We tackled the savouries first as they were fresh and warm and smelling too delicious to wait for. There was a crispy filo shell with a spicy red pepper filling, a warm pumpkin tart with deliciously thin and crumbly pastry and the most divine herb scone which was crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, with the right amount of herb flavour and definitely not claggy.

Next up was the sandwiches, curried egg mayo and tuna mayo with capers both bursting with flavour and tangy on the taste buds. Neither filling I had had before and both of which I will definitely be trying at home. Finally a colourful little brioche style bun with crunchy cucumber and cream cheese that tasted properly of cucumber. A good selection.

It was at this point I held forth about the Cake strategy to A. Whilst I told her I didn’t expect her to eat them in the same order she was educated in the Way of the Tea, learned how to approach the cake and to leave the scone until last and thus she became a new devotee. (No this is not another way of saying indoctrinated thank you.)

First up was a little chocolate bun with buttercream. We think it was also mixed with banana as it was not very chocolatey at all and had that strange elastic texture that you get from adding banana to cake. The buttercream was really sweet too. A charmingly presented piece of carrot cake was better and had juicy chunks of pineapple in it as well as walnuts, and the cream cheese frosting was nice. This was followed by a crisp pastry tart containing a soft vanilla custard which was lovely. The strawberry slices on top were not so lovely, very watery and no flavour to them unfortunately.

And so there was left two little lavender scones each. They were a bit chewy and rubbery and very over-poweringly lavender in flavour. The jam was nice, strawberry infused with lavender and the cream was Chantilly (I don’t think Australian tastes run to clotted cream so I am making allowances and definitely not making a fuss) but the overall scone impression was not favourable.

Our pots of tea were served at this point, mine a good English Breakfast and A had Lavender which smelled like toilet cleaner but tasted ok. The Lavender theme is strong throughout the tea, the cake stand is decorated prettily, the table had lavender flowers on it and details are picked out in a robust purple. You are in no doubt that this is a Lavender Bistro.

As July is definitely Australian Winter (laughs hysterically at the lack of cold…..) it starts getting dark early and so before we lost the light it was time to jump back into the car and head off to retrieve husbands and children who had been looking at animals all afternoon.

I think we had the better time.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***          Friendly but not over solicitous

Amount of Food:               ***          We ate it all and were full, but I managed dinner later

Quality of Food:                **1/2      Savouries by far the best part

Value for money:              Difficult to say as it is the equivalent of £20 and for the cost it does not compare particularly well in the UK. However, against other Teas in Western Australia I think it is very competitively priced.

Description:                        ‘love the herb scones’ ‘Nothing is too big’

The website is here http://www.lavenderbistro.com.au/

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g2146238-d2007515-Reviews-Cape_Lavendar-West_Swan_Swan_Valley_Greater_Perth_Western_Australia.html  they are also on Facebook and Twitter.

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxkipcAcLXs to go with the Lavender theme!

 

#32 The HIDDEN GEM TEA

The Hidden Gem Tea – Saturday 16^th July 2016      

Market Café, Ulverston £9.95

Once again at this end of the academic year life has galloped on leaving me spluttering in its wake and barely keeping up with my day to day commitments, never mind getting out and about to enjoy an afternoon tea. Spurred on by having arranged to meet my regular bunch of old school friends I was delighted to spy an advert for an Afternoon Tea on Facebook in Ulverston. Not too far to travel on an already packed weekend afternoon and a good value price for the wrong end of the month, just before payday and the holidays looming.

The Market Café is, as its name suggests, tucked away in the corner of Ulverston Indoor Market. I always find the market here quite quiet and a bit dreamy and on this warm and sunny afternoon its slow paced charm seemed perfect. The café itself has a lovely retro feel, nothing seems contrived or as if they are trying too hard to be on trend, and has pretty tablecloths and bunting that set a cheery tone.

As all of us have reached that milestone birthday this year, L being the latest to hit it, we were celebrating out joint 200^th birthday and had told the friendly owner when we booked. Lo and behold on the table was a lovely birthday card with a retro gift card inside for free drinks on a return visit. Brilliant!

We chose a sandwich filling each from a list of 6 (three of which are vegetarian friendly), L and C had egg mayo and S and I went for cheese and tomato, and we all asked for tea to drink. Whilst the sandwiches were being prepared there was a steaming cup of homemade tomato soup to sip which was delicious. Thick, flavourful and very tasty.

Each of us were then presented with our own small cake stand stuffed with food, with the sandwiches standing proud on top. And what a treat they were. Hand cut freshly made bakers bread, slathered with butter and stuffed with a very generous amount of filling, accompanied by creamy, crunchy coleslaw and crisps. The cheese and tomato was absolutely perfect for me, tomatoes that tasted of tomato and not watery and a smooth cheddar grated on top. The egg mayo was equally impressive being creamy without overpowering the egg flavour.

As we had been so busy yattering away about respective children, upcoming holidays, the general uselessness of husbands and how lovely the sandwiches were we had not really registered the enormous amount of cake set before us. We were each given a selection of 3 from six different types. Huge pieces too, especially after the BFG of a sandwich we had just demolished. Being fair minded we each cut our cakes in half so we could all try a bit of each if we wanted. Great plan for greedy guts like myself.

C claimed she was too full to eat any cake and would save herself for the scone. I was sceptical. Especially as she then dived into the light and fluffy coconut cake that was sandwiched with a delicious blob of synthetic cream. Couldn’t fault her though, it was lovely. All of the cakes were equally lovely and I couldn’t really pick a favourite. I tried a small bit of each for the sake of you, my dear reading public, and in fairness to this review so that I can authoritatively state that there was not a dud amongst them.

Apart from the coconut cake there was a dark, rich, chocolatey fudge cake, a chewy syrup flapjack, a crispy bar with a thick layer of proper chocolate on top, a Victoria sponge with a decent layer of jam and proper butter cream and a fruity, spicy slice of tea bread. All of them tasted as they should and were well made and completely yummy. My tummy was a bit bursty by now, but I poured myself another cup of tea to help it all settle so I could make the final assault on the scone.

I was expecting good things from this scone as everything so far was magnificent and I was not thwarted. Buttery, light, just the right amount of fluffy and moist. Contented sigh. Butter was provided, two types of jam (strawberry and blackcurrant, tried both, both lovely) and cream in a dinky little cup. Now this is my only sad face of the entire thing. It was squirty and I am not a fan of squirty. And you should know by now my feelings on the matter of cream with a scone – although for the price I think my expectations of cream are a little on the high side. Nevertheless I made a big fat scone half to eat and it was gorgeous.

There was quite a lot left over, despite us gorging ourselves and we were brought take away boxes to stuff so we could take home what we wanted. I took some little morsels home for Queenie, who has taken up residence at Wedgwood mansions, she had them for her supper and went to bed burping happily.

This is definitely a hidden gem of a place. The food is well made and generously served and I would recommend a visit, not just for the food, which is amazing, but for the vintage haven of calm which is restful, soothing and refreshing after a hectic day, week, month or year (or, as it seems to be in my case currently, life).

I drove us home slowly. Not just because there was a huge police van behind us so I was being angelic, but so that our very full tummies were not unduly jostled by my usual speed and two wheel corner taking. It was a good plan.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ****1/2  Friendly, helpful and nothing is too much trouble

Amount of Food:               ****1/2 Lots to take home for evening treats

Quality of Food:                *****      Home baking, fresh bread and home-made soup all delicious

Value for money:              *****      Fantastic value

Description:                        ‘I’ve enjoyed absolutely everything’ ‘Feels vintage-y and homemade. Love it!’ ‘I love the enormous cups’

There is no website that I can find.

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g499564-d8529062-Reviews-The_Market_Cafe-Ulverston_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=gSq8ZBdSxNU

 

#31 The SCONE SABOTAGE TEA

The Scone Sabotage Tea – Saturday 21^st May 2016      

Mad Hatters Tea Rooms, Ulverston £16 for two

In need of a de-stressing afternoon W and I decided this week we would escape for an hour or two on Saturday to go for a cuppa and cake and if it became an afternoon tea, then all the better. I had been eyeing up this little tea room for a while and it seemed the perfect occasion to give it a whirl. W and I are big fans of quaint and we weren’t disappointed, lovely retro pieces for display, for sale and for use by patrons. The menus are hung on the back of solid wooden chairs and each table has a magnifying glass to fit the theme but also to help those of us who need a little magnification in our lives.

We were a little late in arriving but they were still accommodating enough to make us a full afternoon tea. Jolly decent of them, especially given how long we stayed after closing time…

Both having chosen tea we were quickly supplied with a huge pot of the stuff and charmingly mis-matched crockery to go along with it. We settled down to natter, admire the things on display and (in my case) sing along loudly to the Patsy Cline music being played. I am a big fan of hers, all heart-break and man-done-me-wrong fiftiesness, great for a hearty impromptu karaoke.

So to business. Along came the cake stand accompanied by a plate with dishes of jam and cream. We were very taken with these little dishes and the little jam/cream spoons with that shell like fluted pattern that reminds me of my nana. Don’t tell W, but I am thinking of purchasing a set for her for Christmas.

We were so engrossed in our conversation that whilst we did tuck in, it was not with our usual unseemly haste and we actually managed to savour each one for a change. There was a variety of brown and white bread that was fresh and well buttered and the fillings were good and fresh too. A chunky egg mayo was not too smothered in mayo and you could really taste the egg. The cucumber nice but just needed a little salt, and the squashy layer of the cream cheese sandwich was just right to give that tang you expect.

Today’s cake strategy was difficult with the choices on offer. All looked lovely and probably it wouldn’t have mattered what order we ate them in as they were all really good and delicious. A choice had to be made so I went chocolate tart first, so it would have cleared my palate before the scone at the end. It was rich and smooth with a cake case rather than the expected pastry, and was none the worse for it. Next I went for the fruit meringue which just melted away and the fruit on top was an unusual combination of strawberry, pineapple and orange that worked surprisingly well. Finally a moist tart lemon cake that had that texture and taste that tells you it is homemade and reminds you of Sundays at your nana’s.

And just like that we arrived at the scone. Fruity, with mixed peel too, crumbly outside soft in the middle and a good size of knobbliness. Plenty of butter was provided and jam and cream. Whipped it is true but then this was not an afternoon for quibbling and for the price to be expected. With the strawberry that had been perched on top I soon made a lovely pair of fat scones, buttery, jammy, creamy and begging to be eaten. What happened next I can only describe as jealousy on W’s part. Sabotage dear reader. Sabotage! Well attempted sabotage. She callously threw the jam dish at my plate with the true aim of disturbing my perfect pleasure. Foiled! I managed to heroically to save my little scone halves and ate them up double-quick to prevent further harm. Now she claims it was an accident, but I will let you make up your own minds.

By this time it was past closing time and we had been enjoying ourselves so much we hadn’t noticed. Sheepishly we paid the bill, but then were so distracted by the bits and bobs on display we stayed another ten minutes, although W did buy a pretty tea-for-one cup and plate set and a honey jar so I don’t think they were too annoyed with us. What a truly raucous life we lead, last to leave a tea shop! I remember when we were thrown out of pubs.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***          Friendly and patient

Amount of Food:               ***1/2    Just the right amount for a Saturday afternoon treat

Quality of Food:                ***1/2    Lovely fresh cakes each with a twist and well filled sandwiches

Value for money:              ****        A good value treat

Description:                       ‘Quaint tea rooms with some exciting little knick-knacks’ ‘Home made cake just like my nana made’

There is no website that I can find.

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g499564-d5279802-Reviews-Mad_Hatters_Tea_Rooms-Ulverston_Cumbria_England.html they are also on Facebook.

 

And my suggested tracks for today’s tea are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM9BgXP6cW4