#52 The FIRST FESTIVE TEA 2017

The First Festive Tea 2017 – Saturday 9^th December 2017

The Daffodil Hotel and Spa, Grasmere, Cumbria £22.50 for Festive Afternoon Tea

Christmas is fast upon us and my Facebook feed is laden with images of festive Afternoon Teas. What better excuse do I need to pile into the care with W and A and head up to The Daffodil at Grasmere to sample their gloriously pretty offering? Plus, and I must say this was not obsessing me for two weeks AT ALL, there was a special festive cocktail menu and the Mince Pie Martini looked right up my street.

It was a cold drive up, lots of threats of snow and sleet, and being the careful driver I am I didn’t go too fast as I was keen to get there rather than have an accident! Due to my impeccable skills I got us there in plenty of time and we had a spare few minutes to admire the surrounding hills wrapped in their frosty shawls.

This is the second time I’ve had a Tea here and this time we were in a small ante-room rather than the main dining area, but it was still decorated in keeping with the theme (lots of photos of British stars from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s) and the table was set with the jaunty addition of Christmas crackers which were soon cracked to get us in the spirit of the season.

We all ordered a Christmassy drink as well as our tea, and whilst the pots of tea arrived rapidly the drinks took a little longer. I personally didn’t mind the wait as my much anticipated Martini did not disappoint. Fruity, spicy and warming, and a great addition to my food. Pots of tea and refills were plentiful and brought in rapid succession throughout the meal by helpful, jolly and interested staff who tried hard to meet every request.

All of us requested a non-meat Tea, but A and I are both partial to a bit of smoked salmon so we asked for two with the fish part left in and W asked for a completely fish free serving. After recent disappointments with the standard of veggie savouries I was hoping for a better selection here, and the arrival of the food was hotly anticipated.

As the food was set down we were given brief tour of what to expect and we were left to dive in. Given the variety on offer I adopted a savouries strategy to help me pick a way through, so I started with a smoky salmon and cream cheese roll which was a perfectly balanced combination of the two. W’s roll was goats cheese and pesto which she enjoyed but said could possibly do with a tad more seasoning. Two sandwich fingers were next, both on fresh bread and generously filled with egg mayo, which could have done with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a lovely balanced cheese savoury that was rich with red onion flavour. I moved on to the warm cheese scone, which had a good cheesy flavour but definitely needed butter, which we had to request. Finally, the star of the savouries, was a warm cheese and caramelised onion tart. Crisp pastry with a filling that was not too overpowering. A great culmination to the savoury section.

Our greedy eyes turned towards the cakes now, and what a beautiful display it was. Plenty to choose from so the cake strategy came into play. I began with a mouthful sized mince pie, crisp short buttery pastry, warm fruity filling and an absolutely lovely start. Next was a firm set pannacotta in a shot glass topped with a fruity tart jelly and redcurrants. I found it a bit thick for my taste but A thought it was just right. We all went for the cake pops afterwards, there was a light fruit cake, that was a bit dry and a coconut and white chocolate sphere with an oozing white chocolate centre. Neither I would have said was a cake pop but both perfectly nice. Moving on I went for a mincemeat macaron, and again I would not say it was what I expected from a macaron. The filling was the right buttercream type of consistency but the shells were too crisp and meringue-y, not chewy on the middle and far too sweet.

Still, we were only half way through and whilst we weren’t slowing down we were certainly feeling we had had a good variety of sweet things so far. The next thing that took my eye was a frangipan tart, the lovely pastry from before filled with a warm, soft, flavourful frangipan. The fruit layer underneath not too overwhelming but tart enough to cut through the sweetness. This was swiftly followed by a slice of chocolate log that was wrapped in layers of rich chocolate buttercream, the cake itself was dry but I thoroughly enjoyed the cream. The two delicacies I had been saving until last were the meringue snowman and the chocolate mousse Christmas tree. Both beautifully decorated and very Christmassy. The snowman was a powdery meringue with an overriding taste of the strawberry lace scarf he was wearing and not as good as I had expected, but the Christmas tree was delicious and a good choice to finish with. It was beautifully made and tasted of a strong bitter chocolate, W was not so keen on it but I found it just right.

And so we arrived at the scones, a plain and a cranberry one each. The little pots of jam and cream were barely enough for the three of us, and as we had asked for butter earlier we still had some left, otherwise we would have had to ask for it. Given the amount of accoutrements, fat scones were not in order, and the scones themselves were not overly sweet and a bit chewy. It was a bit of a lacklustre end to the tea really.

Now I’m not sure if we are just very greedy, or other people are politer than us, or after all this time we have a pre-tea strategy of starvation, but there was not much left at our table, whilst the next table had boxes of stuff to take home. We were full, but not unpleasantly so, and comfortable enough to not feel queasy on the drive home.

Equally I don’t know if we are seen as demanding guests or if venues are trepidatious when someone tells them I write a blog (looking at you A, the poor waiter turned a bit pale and went off to have a look mid way through the afternoon) but when we had finished they were keen to tell us that snow and freezing fog was forecast and the journey home might be tricky. Perhaps I am over thinking good service, perhaps I am paranoid.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***1/2    Attentive but slow at times

Amount of Food:                ***1/2 We weren’t over full, just pleasantly so

Quality of Food:                ***          A savoury triumph with a less strong sweet range

Value for money:              ***1/2    A definite festive treat

Comments:                         ‘lovely artistic spread’ ‘ so pretty’

The website is here   https://www.daffodilhotel.co.uk/  they are on Trip Advisor here 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 Instagram

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VfYKmJkxl0

#51 The CELEBRATING THE HALF CENTURY TEA

The Celebrating the Half Century Tea- Monday 21st October 2017

Low Wood Bay Resort and Spa, Windermere, Cumbria £16.50 for Afternoon Tea

Half Term was upon us and so time for a celebratory afternoon tea. W and I felt that as we were celebrating completing the half century of teas we would splash out a bit and go for somewhere we felt would be upmarket. The Low Wood Bay as a place to stay comes highly recommended so we decided to go there.

Now without generalising too much and trying to be fair we did book at the wrong time but what a let-down. The place is a building site outside as they add more to their facilities, parking is round the back and you must roam among building debris, construction vehicles and muddy paths to get near the place. Inside you navigate a maze of corridors until you find Reception and be led to your table. It is then that the newly refurbished interior can start to soothe and relax. Pre-Raphaelite art on the walls and minimal yet classic place setting and a view of the lake to quiet my mental agitation.

And so we sat for 40 minutes. No food. Admittedly the tea we were brought was proper leaves and there was a nice little interlude of steeping and pouring, but not enough occupation for hungry persons like us.

When the tea came the sandwiches were instantly whipped away without comment, whilst the cakes were set before us. We knew what was wrong, they had suddenly realised that the sandwiches were not vegetarian. It was a further 10 minutes before any sandwiches were set before us. Torture! Hunger! So we had a half of scone each to put us on (more of them later).

The sandwiches they returned to us were obviously made in a hurry, but had still taken ages to come. All were on nice fresh bread, but none were seasoned and the fillings were unimaginative. We had booked two weeks in advance, noting our vegetarian requirements, so were anticipating good things and we were disappointed. The cucumber sandwich was chunkily filled and would have benefited greatly from a dash of salt and the egg mayo was too ‘eggy’ for me and again needed a good dash of salt and pepper. The final cheese and pickle was ok because of the pickle, but it did taste like it was Branston and usually in more upmarket establishments I would expect a chutney rather than a generic slather of commercial chopped veg.

Following on, the cakes were a scarce bunch. And the size of each portion made it tricky to even think about a cake strategy, as blink, and they were gone. A tiny raspberry and mascarpone tart had short, crumbly sweet pastry and the mascarpone was airy and a good mix with a tart raspberry. The choux bun was filled to bursting with cream and had a thick chocolate top decorated idiosyncratically with meringue pieces. My final choice of Victoria sponge was not split evenly and the top half had too much cake, which made it glaringly obvious that the cake on its own was quite dry. The jam and cream filling was nice though.

Finally we rounded on the second half of our scone. Buy this time we knew what to expect and ladled lashings of jam and cream on top to make a big fat scone. We needed it to disguise the supporting disc as it was claggy, doughy, not sweet and decidedly not buttery. A very lacklustre ending indeed.

We sat for a while, nosy-ing at a wedding party who were being escorted precariously across the busy main road to a boating reception. But we soon tired of the other patrons of the room plonking themselves directly in front of us to stare out of the window too, without so much as an ‘excuse me, do you mind?’ and made our way to the bar to pay.

A bit of a glum one, this tea. Let’s hope that the next one is a bit more special eh?

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                **            Slow and rather disorganised

Amount of Food:                **1/2    Not impressive for the price

Quality of Food:                **            Disappointingly average

Value for money:              **            Not really, even given the premium for its location

Comments:                         ‘Elegant surroundings but the cucumber is too chunky’  ‘ can’t argue there’s not enough cream in these choux buns’

The website is here http://englishlakes.co.uk/low-wood-bay/      they are on Trip Advisor here https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186330-d451074-Reviews-Low_Wood_Bay_Resort_Spa-Windermere_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html

They are also on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrA

 

 

 

#47 The START OF SUMMER TEA

The Start of Summer Tea – Thursday 4^th June

The King Alfred, Walney Island  £15 for Afternoon Tea

A gorgeous sunny, summery day and perfect to take our Australian visitors out for a proper Afternoon Tea, none of this High Tea malarkey where you get scones at the wrong time or not at all (may I refer you to my antipodean jaunt of last summer). And when I say visitors I actually mean A as her other half and my other half were happily settled with beer outside watching the bowling green action get into full swing.

Possibly the most prompt service I have ever experienced, no sooner were we sat than our stand of food arrived, and was followed in due course by a big pot of tea each. Whilst it may have seemed a little tardy on the drinks we weren’t complaining as we did have a glass of prosecco to keep us company.

Having fallen into the trap of forgetting to tell them I don’t eat meat I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t be able to eat the sandwiches. I blame spending too much time with my husband, who after 26 years together still forgets – duck fat potatoes anyone? – and I regularly roll my eyes so hard it comes out of my mouth. I was in luck, a good selection included egg mayo, prawn in cocktail sauce, cheese savoury and ham and pickle. I was able to cunningly suggest to A that she needed an extra ham and I needed her prawn, after all British prawns are not in the same league as Australian ones.

All the sandwiches were on fresh bread, crusts off and well filled. Having recently come to realise I have a sandwich strategy as well as a cake one I went with the prawn first. Juicy and lots of filling and a nice balanced sandwich. Next was the egg mayo, and my favourite of the three kinds I ate, lovely butter on the bread and not too mayo-y so you could really taste all the flavours. The cheese savoury was good too, lots of crunchy veg. A was not sure about it, but never having had it before she is entitled to reserve judgement. Her favourite was the ham, thick, carved slices with Hawkshead Relish, and plenty of real butter too.

Despite the scones being warm A knows my quirks and did not bat an eyelid when I insisted on the cakes next. She was also very good about the cake strategy and gamely followed her own course of saving the best till last. I started with a homemade cupcake that was crisp on top and buttery and moist underneath slathered with a lovely buttercream, and in the spirit of the cake strategy I can categorically tell you that this was actually my favourite. Another win for the gods of anti strategy. I followed it with a vanilla slice that was crumbly and wobbly, the custard was a bit too soft and it didn’t really taste of anything but the pastry. Moving on I had a crisp little meringue nest with cream and tropical fruit, which I found very summery and finished with an éclair which had a good choux but the chocolate topping was too bitter for me.

The scone was of the fruit variety and was buttery with a crisp outside, and big fat scones were made with enough strawberry jam to satisfy us both. To be my usual picky self the cream was whipped and there was no butter for on the scone, but in fairness the scones were well flavoured enough to carry that off.

A and I continued to sit and chat over more tea as we were thoroughly enjoying being husband free and spending time together is a bit of a luxury, what with her living on the other side of the world. We were able to reminisce about our shared flat in London above a butchers shop and the disappearance of the bottle of sherry, and we also had a spirited conversation relating to hairdryers in hotel bathrooms. Satisfactory nonsense for a summers afternoon.

Wish it could happen more often.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***1/2   Extremely prompt

Amount of Food:                ***1/2 Plenty there, but not over facing

Quality of Food:                ***1/2    Pretty good, homemade and some good flavours with the sandwiches being the best

Value for money:              ***          Definitely happy with the quality and price

The website is here http://kingalfredhotel.com/ they are on Trip Advisor here https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g4427407-d7057021-Reviews-King_Alfred_Hotel-Walney_Barrow_in_Furness_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html and they are also on Facebook.

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE1lzqJCeJ0 (although it could be any one of the awesome 80’s playlist at the venue)

 

 

#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

 

 

#35 The THIRD ANTIPODEAN TEA

The Third Antipodean Tea – Sunday 14^th August 2016      

Rochelle Adonis, 2 St Albans Avenue, Highgate, Perth, Western Australia, AUD$58

The last of my Australian adventure teas, and A and I were hoping for excellent things. The reputation of Rochelle Adonis for cool chic with gorgeous cakes made us eager participants in the High Tea, although we did stop for a quick glass of bubbles before we went in as this is a teetotal affair unless you bring your own.

We were seated very promptly in a very busy and noisy room which was completely filled with ladies. Not a man or child in sight. It appears this is the place to be for hen parties, girlie birthdays and baby showers, and the cool chic of the mismatched crockery, antique silver cutlery, airy open room and no distracting music encourages that trendy style.

Our choice of tea from a small but eclectic menu (English Breakfast for me and Earl Grey for A) was brought swiftly and accompanied by the sandwich. No I have not made a mistake, there was one finger of cucumber sandwich each, presented on a little silver tray. It was a lovely sandwich to be sure, fresh cucumber with cream cheese and a dill mayonnaise. But it still felt a very small offering.

The four savouries came next, a rectangular platter each, vegetarian for me although I swapped my tomato cornet for A’s smoked salmon as she does not like it. I decided to adopt a savouries strategy to match my cake strategy as the choice was quite varied and went for a square of orange polenta topped with garlic and truffle mushrooms. I am not a fan of polenta at all but this was made bearable by the delicious mushroom on top. This is where the strategy went a tad wrong because next I had a lovely red onion and cheese vol-au-vent followed by a really not very nice smoked red pepper soup. The soup was my least favourite of all the savouries, too smoky and tasting rather rubbery. I was able to get rid of the taste with the sweet, but strange, little waffle cone of smoked salmon. A said the tomato cone was equally lovely and completely made up for the overpowering burn of the soup.

The next part was my favourite of the whole Tea, an ice lolly of a refreshing cucumber and lime sorbet that was truly a palate cleanser. I could have eaten two of them very easily. This was accompanied by a fresh pot of tea for each of us. I had my customary breakfast tea but A changed to the signature Rose Tea, which smelled and tasted of roses but not in a nasty artificial way.

In front of us now was a glass platter of three tiny cakes each. A strawberry slice with light sponge, strawberry cream and a dinky meringue and edible flower decoration was as delicious as it was pretty. The vanilla meringue with lemon filling had the perfect crunch, chew, tangy, sweet ratio, and the choux bun with the smooth chocolate crem pat filling and raspberry and pistachio topping was lovely with a strong, dark, chocolate flavour.

We sat for a while until the staff noticed we had finished and brought us a soft serve ice cream sundae, with salted caramel sauce and chocolate pearls. It was a strange thing to be offered. Very out of step with the elegance of the surroundings, more like something you would buy in a tub at the cinema. It was nice enough but the stale tasting biscuit in the bottom was very peculiar.

So to our ‘final bite’, a piece of rose, barberry and pistachio nougat which was very nice. But we were feeling a little short changed. A lack of carbs meant no full feeling in our tummies and there was certainly something very disconcerting about there being no scone at all. We were also discomfited by some of the silverware, despite being clean it was very tarnished and gave the impression of a lack of care.

Good job we were going back to A’s house for fajitas and a few games to take our minds off it.

So that is the last of my international Teas for now. A has promised she will come and visit me in the UK so we can do a spot more comparing of Afternoon versus High Tea. I am hoping that this will be soon as I miss her dreadfully and she is most excellent at ensuring my champagne consumption is enough to keep a small vineyard in business. She’s a good egg for that.

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                **1/2      Professional, quiet and unobtrusive

Amount of Food:               **            We ate it all but did not feel full, not enough sandwiches and no scone!

Quality of Food:                ***          Lovely cakes but odd notes in the savouries and the odd ice cream sundae brought the mark down

Value for money:              Yet again it is difficult to say as it is the equivalent of £33.50 and for the cost it does not compare well at all in the UK. However, against other Teas in Western Australia, I think it is fairly competitively priced.

Description:                        ‘Not enough carbs to make you feel full’ ‘Noisy, and not a bloke in sight’

The website is here http://rochelleadonis.com/

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g255103-d6954217-Reviews-Rochelle_Adonis-Perth_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=3Ko852-LS9Y

 

#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

 

#30 The WE NEARLY DIDN’T MAKE IT TEA

The We Nearly Didn’t Make It Tea – Monday 2^nd May 2016      

Armathwaite Country House and Spa, Bassenthwaite Nr Keswick, £21 per person

My long standing partner-in-crime, S, recently had a birthday of the significant kind and as a gift I had bought her a voucher for an afternoon tea for two at Armathwaite. I must admit I was secretly hoping she would take me, but managed to not beg too much. Those who know us will be acquainted with the fact that we are prone to getting into scrapes and adventures through absolutely no fault of our own. We most decidedly DO NOT screech and laugh and talk non-stop and get so over excited so that we forget important things like where we are going and what we are doing. We CERTAINLY don’t embarrass our respective children by singing, dancing and quoting from plays we have been in together, or seen together, or know. And we have NEVER had to get rid of unwanted male attention by speaking in German or sign language.

So today it was a COMPLETE SURPRISE that the voucher to pay for the tea was missing and we had to drive 20 minutes back to S’s house to find it.

By dismantling her fireplace and taking it off the wall.

Ahem.

Still the drive through the North Lakes was glorious as the sun had decided to make a rare Bank Holiday appearance and the roads were quiet and easy to barrel along. Even with our rather long detour we arrived in plenty of time at the Hotel and were promptly seated in a bright conservatory overlooking the gardens and Bassenthwaite itself. As we were led through to our table I was feeling a bit disappointed that we weren’t in one of the sumptuous lounges but this quickly dissipated as I took in the panorama before us.

Choice of tea and coffee quickly made (Darjeeling for me, cappuccino for S) there remained the choice of Scone, plain, fruit, cheese or apple and cinnamon. S went for her all-time favourite, cheese, and I threw caution to the wind with the apple and cinnamon. I did wonder if it would go with cream and jam but I am willing to be a bit flexible (sometimes).

Attentive staff bustled about and soon we had our drinks, swiftly followed by a full cake stand and extra plates of vegetarian sandwiches and a savoury. Throughout the afternoon whilst unobtrusive the staff made sure we were well supplied with food and drink and our waiter was sweet and accommodating telling us at one point we were ‘very welcome my ladies’. As the ladies that we are we giggled delicately at that (no guffawing I assure you) and blushed prettily (there was definitely no spluttering and tea spitting).

Now I must warn you that some details may be a bit sketchy. Firstly as I am writing from the perspective of this happening nearly a week ago. Secondly because of the aforementioned over excitedness of our catching up my notes became a bit, shall we say, limited. And finally because one of the treats was a lovely shot of dessert wine that made things a bit screechy and hilarious for a while.

The sandwiches were on a variety of fresh breads, the star performer being a tomato one, and were all pretty amazing. For me there were Wensleydale and mayo, egg mayo with cress and a proper cucumber sandwich where the skin had been peeled and thin slices soused in vinegar before putting on buttered bread. S had chicken and tarragon, ham and apple chutney and a cucumber one too. Each of us had a smoked salmon pinwheel on wholemeal too. We ate them all with barely a pause before moving on to a warm quiche, cheese and ham for S and cheese and broccoli for me. The fillings were deliciously cheesy and not too eggy and the pastry was buttery. The bottom of them was a bit soggy, but I am actually quite fond of a soggy bottom on my quiche so it did not matter one bit.

Then onto the amazing variety of cakes. One of the best assortments I’ve seem so far and whilst each seemed a sizeable portion there was actually only one of each so we halved each one and were not over-faced or too full for a whole fat scone at the end.

A buttery soft biscuit with a blob of jam was first and was swiftly followed by the shot of dessert wine. A great combination and leaving plenty of time for the alcohol to wear off before driving later. A sweet, creamy meringue was next that was very crisp and topped with lovely sharp fruit. Following close behind came a light fruit cake, which was not too heavy and plump with raisins and quick work was made of buttery crisp shortbread. Next was a cupcake with cream, which was actually the least flavoursome of the lot, it was black foresty but in a non-descript kind of way. A chocolate traybake restored our confidence as the sponge was light and the ganache creamy and smooth. Finally a shot glass of cheesecake each was lemony and refreshing and a bit of a palette refresher before the scones.

Each scone was obviously home-made as the irregular shapes attested, there was plenty of butter and the cream was most definitely clotted. The jam was in one of those little pots you get at breakfast which are cute but not really what I expect from an afternoon tea. I like a bowl of the stuff so I am not limited to a scraping if my scone is particularly fulsome or dry. I also think it looks more decadent and I cannot actually see that it costs any more as those little jars seem an expensive way to dish up a teaspoonful of jam. The scones themselves were lovely and fresh. The cheese one was very cheesy and had a crunchy top and S said she felt that more than one type of cheese had been used. The apple and cinnamon was a revelation. I had been unsure if the flavours would go well with jam and cream. They did and it was crumbly with just the right amount of cinnamon for me.

So we were done, and after a quick trip to freshen up we were off to pick up my car and plan our next shenanigans. It may involve afternoon tea. It may involve alcohol. It will definitely involve adventures and rather a lot of laughing. Anyone else coming?

 

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***1/2    Prompt, pleasant and good natured

Amount of Food:               ***1/2    It was all gone but not in an over-filled way

Quality of Food:                ****        Lots of variety and a good veggie selection

Value for money:              ****        Great range available and lovely surroundings

Description:                       ‘What a great birthday present!’ ‘Loving this dessert wine’

Their website is here http://www.armathwaite-hall.com/

They are on Trip Advisor https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1006863-d193564-Reviews-Armathwaite_Hall_Hotel_Spa-Bassenthwaite_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=hmOD7ayA1y8 it is a very long mix so you don’t have to listen to it all!

#26 The POP-UP TEA

The Pop-Up Tea – Saturday 19^th March 2016      

Barrow Cricket Club, Barrow-in-Furness £15 for a Buffet Style Afternoon Tea

I discovered this event by accident on Facebook and asked a few of my less regular accomplices to come along to try out with me. Tickets sell fast for the once a month events and I have had mine since early February!

Anticipation was high as the day was drenched in warm spring sun and as we walked in to a sumptuously arranged room we were greeted by two huge tables groaning under the weight of plates and plates of food.

Tables are allocated to customers and we were led to ours, out of the gorgeous sunny room into a dark little side bar room with a few tables set up and instead of a view of the cricket pitch we were treated to an old slot machine, a grimy pool table and a wall of football and rugby shirts. To say we were disappointed was an understatement.

Service of drinks was prompt and attentive all afternoon, plenty of top ups of hot water and at least 13 offerings of coffee, every time declined as none of us drinks it at afternoon tea and we did say this. Every time. It made us laugh, immoderately. Every time. We are somewhat predictable I fear.

At this point I must mention the crockery. Shabby chic mismatched cups, plates and saucers give a jaunty feel and some of the items were delightful. Of particular note were the selection of comedy teapots, including a cabbage and a crown, and a fantastic teacup shaped like a gazunder that S had to drink from, which made me helpless every time I spotted it. Sorry S.

Each person had a plate in front of them to go and help themselves from the buffet tables. Dutifully we trooped off. Going between the gloomy little ante room we were in and the main room seemed to highlight our banishment as the main room was buzzing and bubbling with life. Still we were looking forward to the food. And the entertainment, which was a local young lady who is very talented and deserves a much wider audience. She was excellent.

Savoury selection first, open sandwiches of ham, beef, and cheese savoury were joined by closed egg mayo sandwiches and little pastry quiches. All were heavily decorated with salad and accompanied by large bowls of carrot, pasta and green bean salads. All perfectly nice, but nothing stand out or unexpectedly amazing and it was the colourful decorations that made them attractive.

Cakes next and we had already had a look at what was on offer. G and the youngster T had only had cakes as they had stuffed themselves at lunch earlier in the day so had been merrily chomping those whilst we ate our savouries. C and I trotted up and chose fresh tea plates for ourselves and S (who is incapacitated due to an unfortunate incident with a rogue washing machine). We had one of everything comprising: chocolate tart; cupcake with a meringue on top; cupcake without meringue; cheesecake in a pot; scone with jam, butter and cream. Not a huge selection and not as different and exciting as the photographs on the Facebook and web pages seem to suggest. Plenty of strawberries to tart everything up with though.

The chocolate tart looked lovely with plenty of red fruit on top but the middle was a bit Nutella-y and gloopy and the cake was just a plain cupcake with a blob of lemon curd and a really sugary meringue on top (or not in the case of the other cupcake) and was a rather odd combination. They looked like bought in items assembled in an interesting way rather than specially created. I know that this is the deal with large scale events but for the price I did expect a little more pizzazz. So at this point the cheesecake was actually a lovely surprise, crumbly base with creamy cheese topping and lots of fresh fruit. Best of the lot.

Finally the scone. Again a bought in item I guess, very uniform in size and colour. It was ok, a bit dry a bit flavourless but ok to put butter, jam and (whipped) cream on. Not a lot more to say about it really.

There was plenty of time to chat afterwards as the event runs for 3 hours and we had our usual uproarious time, which is surely the main part of going out for tea. The company was definitely the best part of the whole occasion by a long way.

We did think that a little more consideration could have been given to placing tables in the bar room. The customers paid the same price as everyone else for a lesser experience in my view, and it did impact our viewpoint of the whole afternoon. Another irritation, although not the organisers fault, was the group of little girls who invaded the pool table and started throwing pool balls around and crawling under tables. Staff did come to stop them once we alerted them to what was happening but as the parents were in the other room they had no idea what was going on and the girls soon returned to their play. Hoping not to sound too much like a grumpy old woman, why would you allow your child out of sight at an event like this and allow them to spoil other peoples’ experience?

Reading this back I know I sound grumpy and curmudgeonly and I don’t think I usually do. I think it’s my disenchantment at the whole thing, and it probably stems from the table placement. I did not feel particularly like we were part of the whole event, more like a bit of a Cinderella, wanting to go to the ball but not quite getting the same experience *stamps feet in a temper*.

 

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ***          Extremely attentive (and only serving drinks)

Amount of Food:               ***          Buffet Style so plenty there but the choice was limited

Quality of Food:                **1/2      Nice but nothing to ‘WOW’

Value for money:              **            For the choice and quality of food, the buffet styling and the room we were seated in the price seemed high

Description:                       ‘Enjoyable because of the company’ ‘Honestly we do not want any coffee at this table’

Their website is here http://www.popuplakedistrict.co.uk/

They do not appear to have any entries yet on Trip Advisor. They are on Facebook though.

 

And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pBlzgdMJok this is the singer who entertained at the event. She is really good and needs to be more widely known.

#25 The SIGNIFICANT BIRTHDAY TEA

The Significant Birthday Tea – Monday 15^th February 2016      

Betty’s Tea Rooms, Leeds, £39.95 for the Lady Betty Champagne Afternoon Tea

This has been a much anticipated day. Last year my lovely friend W suggested a Birthday jaunt to York with a celebratory tea thrown in at Betty’s. Her equally lovely other half had come up with the idea and as our birthdays are coincidentally in the same month we agreed with him that it was a magnificent plan and it was all booked quick smart. As it is rude to ask a lady her age, and she would never tell you anyway, I will not enlighten you as to my age. Let’s just say it was a significant anniversary.

For those of you who are unaware of the charms of Betty’s (and to be frank I am a little slack jawed at that, is it not world famous??) this bakery, tea room and café mini empire has been ruling Yorkshire for nearly a century. Delicious handmade fancies and savouries served with quality teas (other beverages are available) or a glass of something fizzy if you are lucky. And I was a VERY lucky girl today.

We were seated in the Art Deco elegance of the Belmont Room where light flooded in highlighting original features (including, sadly, my own), a talented and versatile young pianist and food of the most delicious kind. A lovely atmosphere of unhurried enjoyment about the whole room. Staff sailed grandly around the room, seating customers with charm and an unhurried air.

Our choice of Champagne was very easy. Pink and frothy please! Just right for the jubilatory mood we were in and when it came it was frothy and sparkling like a blushing cascade. The tea choice was somewhat trickier, there was a vast choice and our lovely waitress had tried them all. Both of us decided to try something other than our usual afternoon blend selection. W went for a robust Rwandan Gisovu with milk whilst I went for a more delicate and sweeter Ceylon Blue Sapphire without milk. Both were most excellent.

After ascertaining our dietary requirements (regular readers will know W is vegetarian and I don’t eat meat but occasionally do eat fish) our Starter was swiftly presented. A teeny prawn cocktail on lettuce and avocado puree for me and a tomato salsa on the same for W. Both a mere mouthful that left you wanting more, and just a little bit salty for my taste. It gave us an opportunity to discuss the inherent eroticism of the shape of avocados, which is somewhat marred by their tendency to be textured like soap.

Bobbing in its wake came a side plate of Savouries. Cold mushroom frittata for both, very stongly tasting of mushroom too and not wet as some eggy things can be, then a Smoked Salmon Roulade for me and a Red Pepper one for W. Both were presented on a crunch crouton base and both strongly tasting of their designated flavours. Lovely!

As we finished the last little nibble we eyed our tea stand hungrily. Sandwiches, tiny scones in two flavours and three fancies each. Considerately they had ensured that all cakes were vegetarian friendly so we each got one of each cake offered, rather than sharing the 6 different ones from the usual tea served. Our sandwiches were all veggie friendly too – and best of all extras were available!

First up were cucumber roses laid on a nutty salty sourdough bread and dotted with crème fraiche, the saltiness of the bread accentuated the flavour of the cucumber and even W, who is not a cucumber fan (I think I’ve noted before that she generally thinks it is a waste of good sandwich space), tucked in enthusiastically. Next was a squidgy egg mayo, nice balance of egg and mayonnaise on a lovely chewy crusty bread. Finally a long finger of cream cheese and red onion marmalade. The marmalade was delicious, sweet and savoury at once but my only note is that it over powered the cheese which could have been layered a little more thickly for my taste. Still a nice sandwich though.

All this while the pretty cakes had been flirting with us, demanding our attention and brazenly shouting ‘Eat us, eat us!’ and we were about to oblige when the pianist did a little taradiddle and  broke into Happy Birthday whilst a waitress came and presented us both with a surprise brownie cupcake adorned with a lit golden candle. A lovely thoughtful touch which whilst it made my cheeks a little rosy also made my day.

The cakes could be restrained no longer and a delightful coffee religieux leapt onto my plate and quickly was demolished. A crisp biscuit base balanced a stack of choux buns decorated with coffee icing and cream. Every single element could be tasted and Mary Berry would have been in raptures. A chewy meringue basket was blousy with softly whipped cream and studded with plump fresh fruit and when eaten was squishy, light and fruity and utterly gorgeous. It was topped with a white chocolate lattice that gave it a rakish air. The final of the cake choices was before me. This is always the point where I wonder if I have chosen my cake strategy well, the delicate little Apple Caramel macaroon had all the appearance of amazingness but would it live up to it? Worry no longer dear reader for it was magnificent. Fruity, chewy, lovely butter cream filling and utterly more-ish.

Before the scones it was time to blow out the candle on our brownie birthday cupcakes and tuck in to our little surprise addition. They were also delightful, melt in the mouth and not too heavy either.

And so, with the cake stand emptying we turned to our scones. A lavender and a sultana one each. Two sweet little rounds on which to finish, but which first? As a traditionalist to the end with my choices I went lavender first, light buttery (and buttery enough not to feel the lack of an extra smear of the stuff on top) and ample lavender to pack a punch but not taste like hand cream. The final titbit was another buttery sultana scone, moist with a crisp outer shell on which to heap a fresh strawberry conserve and the holy grail of clotted cream. Perfect ending in my opinion, with a final slurp of champagne.

Desolately we looked in vain for more treats. Not one scrap remained. Probably a good job as we were both full and needed a good walk afterwards to help our digestion. However we were presented with a lovely little tin of loose leaf afternoon tea as a parting gift and in indulging in a short chat with the staff to thank them we realised that, once again, we were last to leave. Laughing. Raucously.

I fear we will never make it in polite society….

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                *****      Knowledgeable, chatty, funny, observant with impeccable manners

Amount of Food:               ****1/2  Not a crumb left over (only being critical as I might have wanted something for a doggy bag to eat later but we had scoffed the lot)

Quality of Food:                ****1/2  Almost every flavour present and popping

Value for money:              ****1/2  Excellent value for the food, service and surroundings

Description:                       ‘Special treat tea’ ‘Do you think they’d mind if I sang along with the piano?’

Their website is here https://www.bettys.co.uk/tea-rooms/locations/york

They are on Trip Advisor here https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186346-d698157-Reviews-Bettys_Cafe_Tea_Rooms-York_North_Yorkshire_England.html     they are also on Facebook and Twitter

 

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

#24 The DEFINITELY FESTIVE TEA

The Definitely Festive Tea – Saturday 19^th December 2015      

Roundthorn Country House, Penrith, £14.95

I had been looking forward to this one all week. My trusty Afternoon Tea finder and wedding photographer extraordinaire Steve Hillman (http://www.shphotographer.co.uk/) had shared this little gem after he photographed a wedding there. Although I am convinced he does it to ensure I stay portly, he very kindly shares some lovely venues for my blog that he has discovered. I was looking for a setting to help me imbibe a little festive spirit as I have been decidedly Grinch like recently and, needing a North Lakes location as I was meeting my long standing partner in crime S, this looked like it would fit the bill nicely.

After a bit of a kerfuffle finding the place (we drove past the driveway) involving a bit of a detour through a puddle and down a lane we arrived at the impressively fronted Georgian building. Inside it was warm and cosy with a crackling fire and a pretty Christmas tree. We were quickly served with drinks, hot chocolate for me and the Bird and coffee for S and her lovely daughter A. Beverages were plentiful throughout the afternoon and we had orange juice, decaf coffee and tea as well so we were well lubricated. Their coffee machine was playing tricks but the staff were prompt and apologetic with replacements so we were in no way inconvenienced.

Having notified them in advance of my lack of meat eating, when the cake stands arrived I was presented with my own plate of fresh sandwiches. This gave us an enormous variety to choose from, S and I tucked in heartily. The girls are a bit fussier and wouldn’t eat things with salad, things that looked a funny colour to them or generally anything resembling proper food. Typical teenagers! What a huge variety to choose from though. Forgive me if I don’t remember them all but we had chunky egg mayo, turkey and cranberry, ham and pickle, cheese savoury, brie and cranberry, salad and smoked salmon. All fresh, on springy bread and all very nice indeed.

As has been noted before S is a bit of a rebel to The Order of The Cake and went with the scone first. She loves her scones though and didn’t want to miss out having stuffed too much cake beforehand. And there was rather a lot of cake, perched on a precarious silver cake stand that wobbled every time we took something off so there was a bit of stealthy jenga strategy employed to ensure things didn’t leap onto the table.

I went with a slice of carrot cake first. It was moist and sweet with a nice cream cheese frosting covered with crunchy nuts. I followed this with some caramel shortbread that had lovely gooey thick caramel and a crumbly base. Next was a meringue with vanilla cream, fruit coulis in the base and fresh fruit on top. It was sweet, chewy and fruity and light as a feather.

So now it was my turn to be a bit of a rebel and go with the scone next. This was partly because I wanted to eat it whilst it was still warm and partly because I wanted to save the really festive part to the end. So rebel I did. It was not too big, with fruity jam and whipped cream, again with a hint of vanilla. I was almost prepared to forgive the lack of clotted as this scent of vanilla was a gorgeous addition to my feast, especially as my fat scone had a strawberry perched on top. But only almost, my love of the clotted remains intact.

As the afternoon wore on and darkened the Christmassy atmosphere intensified with twinkly lights and the small room became busy with a Christmas works party rowdy with alcohol and fattened with cake. I felt sufficiently festive and ventured a thick finger of fruity boozy Christmas Cake which hit the right note, and followed it with a warm, succulent mince pie. The pastry was oven fresh and buttery and finished the tea perfectly.

Our girls had eaten daintily, S and I had feasted mightily. There was quite a spread left over and the friendly staff kindly provided bags for us to squirrel away our best bits so I was able to enjoy a mince pie later that evening. As we weren’t quite ready to leave we adjourned to the bar area to lounge on sofas and embarrass the girls with singing songs from out past Youth Theatre triumphs including selected highlights from ‘The Matchgirls’ complete with dance moves, cackling and innuendo.

All too soon it was time to hit the dreary road back home, aqua-planing along rain drenched motorway squinting into the darkness whilst being buffeted by mighty side-winds over Shap summit. Not your traditional Christmas weather I give you. The long journey, even in that weather, was worth it though. Obviously to see S but also for the Tea itself which was plentiful and certainly a jolly start to the season.

 

Overall marks (out of 5 stars)

Service:                                ****        Friendly, helpful and patient

Amount of Food:               ***1/2    A generous amount, although the girls didn’t eat much

Quality of Food:                ****        Lovely fresh food, some straight from the oven

Value for money:              ****        Brilliant value

Description:                       ‘Very festive’ ‘Loads of cake’

Their website is here http://www.roundthorn.co.uk/

They are on Trip Advisor http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186328-d209907-Reviews-Roundthorn_Country_House-Penrith_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=0A8KT365wlA