Two Feet, One World

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason

What this?  Another foodie post after the culinary delights of Paris?  It most certainly is!  While my sister Zoe was here we just had to share one of my favourite girlie experiences in London – a fabulous high tea.  We chose the gorgeous Diamond Jubilee tea salon of the Fortnum & Mason department store in Piccadilly for our sister tea.

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

Fortnum & Mason has been in Piccadilly since 1707, starting out life as a grocery store, before branching into a full-blown department store as its reputation for stocking luxury and speciality items grew.  Fortnum’s is famous for its tea and its picnic hampers – I haven’t tried the hamper yet but with beautiful Green Park practically next door, it’s on my list for next summer!  Fortnum’s has long offered afternoon teas, but with the opening of the beautiful Diamond Jubilee tea salon by the Queen in 2012, it has definitely stepped up the game.

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

I’ve tried a few of London’s high teas by now, and Fortnum’s is definitely a treat experience – the decor and service are a step above!  I love the gorgeous colour scheme and of course the beautiful roses on every table.  The waitstaff are very attentive and helpful and we felt very special while we were there.

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

Fortnum’s distinguishes between a full ‘High Tea’, which features a mini-meal instead of sandwiches, and the classic ‘Afternoon Tea’, which starts with the more usual sandwich stack.  Zoe opted for the High Tea with a lobster truffle bisque which she reported to be delicious!  I had the classic Afternoon Tea which was fully dairy-free.  I can really recommend Fortnum’s if you have a food intolerance – they do vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free and many more options!

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

The tea menu is hugely extensive and it was pretty tough to narrow it down!  In the end I had the wedding breakfast tea which was created for the royal wedding of Prince William and Princess Kate – it wasn’t like it had gold flakes or anything, but it was a lovely light tea.

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

My dairy-free goodies on the left and Zoe’s “normal” ones on the right

They certainly don’t skimp on the servings here – you could ask for more plates of anything, and we took advantage by sampling all the different jams on offer.  The dairy-free scones were deliciously light and fluffy – a rival to those at the Royal Horseguards for the best I’ve tried!  The soya margarine as a stand-in for the cream was a nice thought too.  The sweet treats were also so tasty – my favourite was the berry almond loaf, although the perfect raspberry macaron was a close second.

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

Perfectly satiated we wandered down the stairs to the main section of the department store, where our eyes were met with rows of perfectly-arranged teas and other goodies.  If I’d had any room I would have been sorely tempted – maybe next time!

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

High Tea at Fortnum & Mason, London, England

Ain’t that the truth

While Fortnum & Mason is one of the pricier afternoon teas I’ve had (£44 plus service for the classic), it is one of the best as well – a delicious meal in a beautiful setting!

Have you tried afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason?  Do you like the ritual of taking tea?

 

 

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May #LDNBloggersTea at the Milestone Hotel

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.

Afternoon tea, Milestone Hotel, London

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.

Afternoon tea, Milestone Hotel, London

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.

Afternoon tea, Milestone Hotel, London

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.

Afternoon tea, Milestone Hotel, London

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!

Afternoon tea, Milestone Hotel, London

Mmm avocado – always a winner

Afternoon tea, Milestone Hotel, London

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?

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#LDNBloggersTea at the Royal Horseguards

There’s nothing quite like that feeling of delight when you find a kindred spirit.  I knew I’d found a whole room of them at the #LDNBloggersTea when our delicious afternoon tea was served and, instead of diving straight in, we all whipped out our cameras and phones and began snapping away!

Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

Twenty bloggers converged on the Royal Horseguards Guoman Hotel in Embankment on a beautifully sunny Sunday afternoon for the second #LDNBloggersTea organised by the lovely Selena of Oh, The Places We Will Go!  I couldn’t make the last one so I was so happy to be able to meet a whole lot of wonderful new blogger friends, and spend time with some equally wonderful ladies I’d met before.

And then there was the afternoon tea.  The fantastic Chef Ben had been tweeting all week – if you don’t follow him already, definitely do!  – so anticipation was high as we walked into our private terrace room.  Being greeted with a chilled glass of champagne is a great way to kick things off, and the delights kept coming when we took our seats and the gorgeous stands of goodies were brought out.

Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

Instagram time!

Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

The sandwiches were delicious but let’s be honest, they aren’t generally the make-or-break of an afternoon tea.  That honour falls to the sweet plates and, my goodness, did Chef Ben and his team deliver.  These were easily the best dairy-free scones I’ve ever had – light and fluffy, I wolfed them down.  This led to the catastrophic situation of being nearly too full for my own personal plate of dairy-free sweets, but in the interests of research I tasted a bit of each, in between swapping blogging and life stories with the fabulous Jess, Ngaire, Melanie, Geraldine and Jaklien whom I was seated with.

Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

I didn’t join in the great cream-or-jam-first debate of 2014 – but I was still happy!

Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

Chef Ben had us in the palms of his hands… his delicious-pastry producing hands!  He explained to us how Royal Horseguards keeps their afternoon teas seasonal and also plays with flavours – so the Persian Pomegranate tea, a favourite with many, was echoed in the sweet treats.  Such a great idea!

Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

I get to eat MORE?!

Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

A whole lotta love for this delicious afternoon tea!

As a final flourish, Royal Horseguards provided us with goodie boxes to take home the many leftovers, and a bag of truffles each – except lucky me, who got my own bag of the passionfruit and raspberry meringues, and a bag of truffles for the grateful flatmates!

Afternoon Tea, Royal Horseguards Hotel, London

For more by the other bloggers who attended, including some of the many, many great photos taken during the afternoon, check out Selena’s link-up here.  A massive thanks to Selena for organising, and Chef Ben and the Royal Horseguards for hosting a lovely afternoon.  Also a big thanks to London for putting on this beautiful day – it was so nice to see some sunshine!

London Eye, London, England

Please note, this was not a complimentary tea.  All effusiveness in the post is generated purely from how awesome the afternoon was!

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Afternoon Tea at the Montagu

My love for a proper English high tea has been documented on here before, but it had been some time since I’d last indulged in delicious scones and tea.  I gathered together a group of lovely ladies to check out the afternoon tea on offer at the Montagu at the Hyatt Regency in Portman Square.

Afternoon Tea at the Montagu, London

I loved the gorgeous crockery – and the yummy glass of champagne!

Afternoon Tea at the Montagu, London

The Montagu bills its high tea as ‘traditionally British’ and it certainly fit the description, with coronation chicken, salmon, and ham fillings in the sandwiches, deliciously light scones, and an array of pastries and sweet goodies.   The dairy-free and gluten-free versions were also much appreciated, with all disappearing in short order!  For those on the hungrier side, the attentive wait-staff were on hand to offer free refills of the plates, and also kept us topped up with our selected tea.

Afternoon Tea at the Montagu, London

Afternoon Tea at the Montagu, London

The service was a trifle slow at times, perhaps because there were 12 of us, but the slight delays resulted in an end to our afternoon that was much appreciated by all.   Full to the brim, we were beginning to wrap up when the staff explained that they needed our table for the dinner service.  Rather than simply hustling us on, they prepared a cosy spot by the fireplace for us and offered everyone a complimentary glass of champagne for the slight inconvenience of moving.  Funnily enough, we were all very happy with their offer, and it was a lovely way to finish a great afternoon.  Well played Montagu… well played!

Afternoon Tea at the Montagu, London

Bits & Pieces

Afternoon tea at the Montagu is £30 for the classic afternoon tea, or £37 for the champagne afternoon tea (plus service)

 

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