The Are We Going To Get There? Tea – Sunday 29th November 2015
Briery Wood Country House Hotel , Windermere, £19.90
Well, what a journey W and I had to get there today! It seemed everything was conspiring against us. What with the Dickensian Festival in Ulverston providing kamikaze pedestrians, Storm Clodagh blowing a hoolie and making everywhere seem like we were being transported off to Oz with Dorothy and traffic chaos caused by a serious accident on the A590, we were feeling like we would never get there. Being every resourceful and quite good at jiffling ourselves across country (with a little help from Maud the Sat Nav) we managed to do a Wacky Races route across the hills and re-join the road at Greenodd.
Just the 45 minutes later than we anticipated.
Fortunately we had left plenty of time to get there as we were also going to Hayes for a spot of Christmas shopping and a quick photo opportunity with their Polar Bear. Shopping goals achieved in record time we headed off to Briery Wood. A tight little drive brings you to the Hotel which has a certain country charm to it, even in the torrential rain.
Once inside the charming staff whisked us quickly to a comfy sofa by a window overlooking the gardens and ensured we were comfortable and warm enough. We were then presented with a selection of teas in test tubes to sniff and choose from. Now usually I am a traditionalist and go for good old English Breakfast as I think it goes well with sweet and savoury courses, and W chose just that. Today I was tempted by the Pear Caramel tea and trepidatiously made that my choice. Steaming pots arrived rapidly and I carefully sipped, oh the glories! It was gorgeous, not too sweet, full and rounded and perfect for the spread we noshed.
The tea was rapidly followed by a tall cake stand and, both being hungry by now after our magical mystery tour to get there, we tucked in. The hotel had remembered that we were both would not eat meat and provided four different types of sandwich. Good show! The Tuna and cucumber had a lovely tuna flavour with crisp cucumber, Cheese Savoury was tangy and crunchy, egg mayo was fresh, eggy and had just enough cress to give a peppery tang and finally the cheese and tomato were full of flavour, not wet and soggy as tomatoes can be at this time of year. The bread was fresh and springy and we each had the equivalent of 5 chunky fingers.
By now I was drooling to start on the sweeter items. First up a pretty martini glass full of the most delicious cherry parfait I have ever had. Topped with a whole tangy black cherry and an edible flower it was creamy, enchanting and light with a full cherry flavour. Next was a chewy, sweet macaroon with freeze dried raspberries scattered on top. I’m not sure what the flavour was as I hadn’t remembered what the waitress said and was too embarrassed to ask again. It was fab though. W and I shared an individual fruit cake loaf (the other one came home with me for later) which was gently spiced and had just enough fruit to not be heavy.
Finally we approached a cupcake that I at first took to be chocolate but was in fact sticky toffee pudding. And the proper deal sticky toffee pudding at that! It was not too sweet but had an amazing toffee pudding stickiness and depth of flavour that was delightful. W thought it was possibly one of the best items she’s ever had on our afternoon jaunts.
At this point I was getting a bit nervous about the scone. Everything had gone so well so far. What if it turned out to be a disappointment? Girding my loins I bravely ventured forth. I split one of the large ovals and sniffed. Buttery smell – a good sign. Feeling encouraged I buttered (already provided, no need to ask), jammed (a lovely smooth strawberry conserve) and creamed. The first blip! It was whipped, not clotted. Nicely sweetened but still whipped. I forgave this slip as I bit into the lovely fat scone I had created. It was indeed buttery, with a crisp shell and a tender inside. I forgave the slip so much that I actually had that half a scone and most of another half as well because it was so tasty. I must be mellowing.
Darkness had dropped quickly whilst we had been eating a chatting. The room was empty as we were the only guests so we had been a little loud and jolly, but the attentive staff took this in their stride, making us feel well looked after. The whole ambience was lovely, comfortable and cosy décor and music perfect to the occasion, modern, melodic and relaxing. So perfect I had to ask who it was and have included a track as my suggested track for the tea. The lovely Australian lady who looked after us turned out to be from Brisbane and we had quite a chat about Morton Bay and wild dolphins. (I hope she finds this blog as we were chatting about it and her parents are visiting in the New Year and she was looking for some suggestions as to where to go.)
The flash of lights through the trees from the road below lead us back to the car and off we ventured into the windy night.
Overall marks (out of 5 stars)
Service: **** Friendly, professional and helpful
Amount of Food: **** Just the right amount to be full without leftovers
Quality of Food: ****1/2 The cakes/desserts were particularly well made
Value for money: **** We got a special Sunday deal of 20% off so great value, at the usual price I would say it would be good value
Description: ‘No buts about this one ‘Feeling really looked after’
Their website is here http://www.lakedistrictcountryhotels.co.uk/briery-wood-hotel
They are on Trip Advisor http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186330-d574824-Reviews-Briery_Wood_Hotel-Windermere_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.htmll they are also on Facebook and Twitter
And my suggested track for today’s tea is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK4rhSdUwg8
helenwedgwood 