My lovely friend Sabine (who has featured on these pages before) was over from her new home of Tennessee and requested the pleasure of my company for afternoon tea.
A caveat here: I am not a big fan of sweet food, so afternoon tea is always a bit hit and miss for me. But I loved this one, a modern twist on the Mad Hatters tea party from Alice in Wonderland, at the Sanderson Hotel.
Despite a rain lashed June (welcome to London) we arrived and sat outside, albeit under plastic awnings.
We're given the tea leaves to smell in individual jars, I pick the strawberries and cream, and Sabine goes for the rhubarb and custard. The lovely waitress asks if we're upgrading to the champagne afternoon tea. Of course we are, what a ridiculous question.
While we're happily quaffing our champagne, the tea arrives. I love strawberries and cream tea, could drink it by the pint, and proceed to do so. Check out the adorable Alice themed crockery, available to buy there, which I would have done had I had more than two glasses.
And then the food arrives. It's a total OMG moment. We're told what everything is and how it's all edible, and then I get stuck into the sandwiches in the hope that by carb loading and drinking fizz, I can shake off the last vestiges of a mild hangover.
But sandwiches are not the purpose of afternoon tea, a welcome addition though they are. Sandwiches are the sort of thing you can buy in Marks and Spencer. The real beauties are the cakes. And there are two of everything, this avoiding that very British "you have it, no, no, you" scenario.
These sweets are pretty darn fine (high praise from lack of sweet toothed me). I'm not overly fussed on the edible chocolate pot with green tea mousse, but that's a personal choice of not liking green tea. And I confess to not trying the Victoria sponge cake in the shape of a clock, or the sweet scones, although I manage to force a savoury one down.
But this little beauty is my particular favourite. The stripy outside is edible white chocolate, the inside is vanilla cheesecake and there's an 'egg yoke' of mango purée encased in the mousse, just waiting to be broken open with a spoon. It is DIVINE.
To round the calorie extravaganza off, there's also a little sugary potion, entitled 'drink me'. Even I can manage this, despite being stuffed to the gills.
By the end of the afternoon, we can't actually move. We both agree that the tea was excellent value for money at £45 including a glass of champagne, although our bill might have been slightly higher as we may have had more than one glass of champagne. We stagger off to Oxford Street, far too full to try on any clothes and vowing to never eat again.
www.sandersonlondon.com
Location:The Sanderson Hotel, London
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