Another quarter had sped by and I was so excited that it was time for the next #LDNBloggersTea, organised by the fabulous Selena of Oh the Places We Will Go! After being spoilt rotten at the Royal Horseguards Hotel by Chef Ben and team, it was going to be hard to top that experience, but I was also looking forward to catching up with some familiar smiling faces and meeting some lovely new ones.
Champagne is a good way to start… anything!
Milestone Hotel is located in Kensington and I enjoyed a lovely walk through Hyde Park with Emma of Adventures of a London Kiwi before the tea. We were escorted by lovely staff into the gorgeous private room that Milestone had set aside for us, and settled into our table for champagne and gossip.
The trays of ‘normal’ afternoon tea were soon brought out, and it all looked delicious – and they had massively overestimated how much we could all eat! In fact, I couldn’t eat most of what was on them, but as I’d requested a dairy-free afternoon tea I wasn’t worried – I was looking forward to comparing these scones with those from the Royal Horseguards, which I had crowned the best lactose-free scones I’ve ever tasted.
My lactose-free sweet treats… or were they?
I thought it was a bit odd that my sweet treats were brought out first… especially as one was sorbet. I’m quite traditional and I do like to have my savoury before dessert. I also wasn’t 100% sure that one of the plates was lactose-free, as it had a couple of short-breads, which are traditionally fairly buttery.
The gluten-free version… eventually.
The poor gluten-free girls would gladly have traded allergies with me, as theirs took even longer to arrive. It was just as well we had such great company to distract us! When I enquired as to my lactose-free sandwiches, the waitstaff got quite confused, and it transpired that the meal request had not made it past the sweets producer. They did bring me a massive plate-load of delicious sandwiches, albeit that had clearly just been put together, but could not produce dairy-free scones at all. Chef Ben, Louise and team – the title remains with you for now!
Mmm avocado – always a winner
At the end of the day, the most important thing at #LDNBloggersTea is catching up with all of the wonderful bloggers, and from that point of view I had a great time at the afternoon tea. In addition, the Milestone staff were apologetic and gave me a full refund, which was a much-appreciated gesture. I know Selena had a fantastic experience the first time she went to the Milestone, and certainly the hotel itself was gorgeous. It’s just sad that I can’t recommend the dairy-free option more!
Have you had a good high tea in London or elsewhere? What made it so great for you?
