Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends, now it was Mother's Day in the UK this weekend and as some of you may know that is where our love affair with afternoon tea first began. We have been taking mum for afternoon tea on Mothering Sunday for years and years now...enjoying some time together in beautiful surroundings, while sipping tea and eating cake. It's a tradition that we all love and look forward to each year.
This year we visited somewhere that I have wanted to try for a while now, The Palm Court at The Langham, in London. The Palm Court has been serving afternoon tea since the Victorian era and offers guests a beautiful lounge to enjoy tea in. As soon as you are ushered into the room you leave the hustle and bustle of Regents Street far behind, the air is sweet with roses and everyone smiles at you and makes you feel very welcome.
Everything about The Palm Court is elegant and under-stated, from the beautiful china to the fresh red roses on each table....
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| A beautiful setting awaits you at Palm Court, The Langham |
As it was Mother's Day we enjoyed The Mother's Day Langham Afternoon Tea With Wedgewood, which was served with a glass of Laurent Perrier Champagne.
There were thirty different tea blends to choose from, which included something for everyone. I decided to play it safe with the Langham Blend, which was a light black tea perfect with the cakes scones we were about to enjoy.
Lorna enjoyed the Exotic Blend which smelt like grannies (aka roses) and Mum tried both The Langham Blend and also the Peach tea, which was a black tea lightly flavoured with peaches (a very subtle blend).
As we enjoyed our champagne (which was lovely!) we were served a wonderfully light lemon posset to begin our afternoon tea adventure...
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| Lemon Posset - the perfect start to afternoon tea at The Langham |
Once we had finished the posset, the sandwiches were brought out on silver trays. The waiters described each sandwich in turn and we could choose which ones we wanted to try....as you can imagine we opted to try all of them (well we had to make sure all the flavours were good - all in the name of research!).
The sandwiches are served onto individual plates for guests to enjoy.....
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| Afternoon tea sandwiches The Langham, London |
These were perfect examples of finger sandwiches, small and crustless and made with the freshest bread. The two small rolls were also very fresh and easy to eat (although the ham was a little messy).
The fillings in the sandwiches were as follows:
London cured smoked salmon with whipped brie and rocket
Corn-fed chicken with tarragon mustard and plum tomato
Cucumber with cream cheese and chives
And in the rolls we enjoyed:
Burford Brown free range egg and mustard cress
Smoked mountain ham with Comté cheese and white truffle oil
I enjoyed each of the sandwiches, although my favourite was the egg roll.
Once we were finished we were offered more sandwiches, which on this occasion we declined as we wanted plenty of room for the delights that lay ahead. At this point we were told that scones and pastries can be taken home, but sandwiches cannot.
Next the sweets were brought to the table....let's start with the scones which were served warm, wrapped in a napkin....
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| Scones at The Langham |
We had both plain and fruit scones to enjoy, with clotted cream and strawberry preserve.
The scones were perfect (yes I just said perfect!)....probably the best scones I have enjoyed. They were small, fresh and light as air. The clotted cream was rich and the preserve sweet and full of flavour - the perfect scone experience.
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| Scones dressed the Tea With Me and Friends way at Palm Court, The Langham |
Lorna and I might have enjoyed extra scones....just to make sure they were as good as we first thought!
After we enjoyed the scones we moved onto the sweet plates....
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| Sweet afternoon tea treats The Langham |
Now, first of all I am pleased to confirm that each guest received one of these plates - so no fighting over these beautiful treats! Secondly.....they all tasted as good as they look.
Our waiter explained each item to us, then suggested an order to try them in:
First off it was the English rose and lychee log at the front - which had a light biscuit base and a beautiful rose and lychee filling, wrapped in thin white chocolate. Again, it was light as air, fragrant and delicious - the lychees burst in your mouth as you took a bite.
Next we moved onto the beautiful miniature Victoria sponge which was flavoured with strawberries and white balsamic. The sponge was surprisingly light and the icing encasing the sponge, thin and sweet....
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| A tiny, but perfect Victoria Sponge Afternoon Tea at The Langham |
After the sponge we moved onto the cinnamon teapot cookie and then the raspberry and lime macaroon....
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| Raspberry & Lime macaroon Palm Court at The Langham |
The macaroon had a small square of raspberry jelly in the middle, while the lime came from the cream surrounding it. The macaroon itself was light and crisp - all in all a lovely treat.
Next we moved onto the lime pana cotta in the shot glass which acted as a palate cleanser before the final sweet....
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| Chocolate, raspberries and pistachios at The Langham |
This treat featured 64% chocolate, raspberry and toasted pistachio - making for a rich and indulgent end to this afternoon tea feast! Those tiny little hearts were made from creamy white chocolate.
This is definitely one afternoon tea adventure that you enjoy with your eyes as much as your taste buds, everything looked so pretty! But Pastry Chef Cherish Finden has ensured that as well as looking good, every element tasted wonderful too....
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| Afternoon tea Palm Court - The Langham |
At £59.00 per person, this is definitely a treat rather than an every day afternoon tea experience.
However, every part of the tea is well thought out and well delivered. The service was friendly and attentive - our tea cups never ran dry - the surroundings comfortable and beautiful, and the food of a very high standard. It's no wonder that Cherish was named pastry chef of the year 2012 by the Craft Guild of Chefs.
I thought I would leave you with one last look at that beautiful sweet plate...
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| Afternoon tea sweet plate The Langham, London |
More information about the current afternoon tea on offer at The Langham can be found on their website.
So, over to you - where has been your most favourite afternoon tea experience...we'd love to hear from you....
Thank you for popping by today,
Rachel & Lorna
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