Afternoon Tea at the Dorchester 2013 - Review

Yesterday I revisited Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester, I can hardly believe it has been 3 years since my last visit. In the meantime I have been to The Dorchester for various events and the food has always been exceptional, so I was really looking forward to returning for the whole 'afternoon tea' experience. Pictured above is The Promenade where afternoon tea is served. The Promenade stretches the same length as the London landmark, Nelson's Column.

The entrance that greets you with the most incredibly delightful floral smell.

We were a party of 4 and were seated just in front of the live pianist, to my delight. I have mentioned before how much I appreciate live music when taking afternoon tea, it definitely adds to the whole experience.

All together for a photo :-)

Back to our own seats with the pianist pictured behind us.

The tea selection is varied with plenty of options there is one bound to appeal, however you are able to change your tea at any time. Three of us opted for the Paris Tea. Listed under the Delicate and Scented section it is described as a black tea blend flavoured with currants, caramel and bergamot. I had this the last time I was at The Dorchester and it is quite frankly the best tea I have ever had. The other in our party opted for the Arabian Mint Garden also from the Delicate and Scented section. This is described as a light and refreshing Green Tea with a hint of Peppermint.

The Food 

Sandwiches - 

We were presented with 5 different sandwiches.

Cucumber and Cream Cheese on Caraway Bread
Egg & Cress Mayonnaise on White Bread
Roasted Vegetable on Brown Bread
Salmon on Granary Bread
Chicken & Wholegrain Mustard on Tomato Basil Bread

(Sandwich offerings change daily)

One of the party asked for no mayonnaise on her sandwiches and this was dealt with easily and promptly.

Palette Cleanser

Scones were brought to our table warmed, these were light and fluffy in texture. Served were plain and raisin scones, clotted cream, strawberry and blackberry jam.

The delicious desserts and pastries 

Lemon cake
Banana and passion fruit mousse
Chocolate mousse
Strawberry and Pistachio
Tonka Bean Eclair - my favourite

(Sweet selection changes 4 times a year)

My thoughts 

As expected the food and drink was fantastic and filling., no complaints at all. The ambiance wonderful, the welcome pleasant and the space allocated warm and intimate and yet informal.  Afternoon tea is very deceptive, however the sandwiches were plentiful and replenished as many times as we wished. The few niggles I have are to do with the service, if these are sorted this is a first class afternoon tea destination.

When you first arrive the staff are very attentive, however at first there was an error with the wrong tea being poured for one of the party, she had to wait a while to receive the correct tea. To their credit they dealt with any deviation from the standard tea brilliantly. Once the initial tea is poured and sandwiches delivered the staff leave you to it. I would have liked to have not had to pour my own tea and we had to ask for the tea to be refilled in the pot as it had gone cold, we had to wait ages for this and the staff member apologised as he had forgotten to bring us the new tea. Nearing the end of the tea the staff seemed to disappear and so we had to get up and approach a desk to ask for the bill. After 10 mins we had to repeat this.

A parting photo in front of one of the huge floral displays.

Traditional Afternoon Tea is served daily at The Dorchester and costs £41 per person.

Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester - Review

I absolutely love Afternoon Tea and have been quite a few times already. I try to have it at least once a year. However, lucky old me has actually been 3 times this year!

My husband and I visited The Dorchester for Afternoon Tea in January of this year, just after Christmas. It was a great time of year as The Dorchester was still decorated for Christmas -There was a huge Christmas Tree in the foyer.  There was also the threat or should that be the promise of snow...

We arrived in plenty of time and deposited our thick coats with the attendants and sat down to enjoy our 'experience'. The venue - The Promenade - is a long corridor of a room, with seating arranged down the centre of the room and on either side - imagine 3 long rows. We were seated in the centre on a double armchair with a big sausage cushion separating me from the other guest and Nik (my husband) sat opposite on a huge Chair .. as he is 6ft 2 and I am a mere but not insignificant 4ft 11 we looked ridiculous so we swapped. I looked like Alice in Wonderland sat in this huge chair but at least we were now level.

As we are not huge Champagne drinkers we opted for the Traditional Afternoon Tea which is priced at £35.50 per person. Prior to our visit I had also emailed a dietary requirement of a non dairy option for Nik so we were curious as to what this would comprise of....

The waiter brought us our menu of tea to choose from - Nik selected the Dragon Pearl Jasmine tea and I opted for the 'house' tea - The Dorchester Blend - A blend of silvery Ceylon and golden Assam.

We were then brought our finger sandwiches, a selection of 4 types - Cucumber with cream cheese on caraway seed bread, egg mayonnaise with shiso cress on white bread, chicken with wholegrain mustard mayonnaise on basil bread and finally smoked salmon on granary bread. Nik's versions came without the dairy and they did bring a different sandwich instead of the Cucumber and cream cheese but sadly my memory fails me as to what it was.

After 3 plates of sandwiches and endless cups of the nicest of teas, we decided to move on to the scones - oh I love warm scones - 2 varieties were on offer - plain and raisin, jam and clotted cream. You have to be careful though as if you eat too many you will not be able to have the pastries/desserts to finish. A real treat of pastries desserts were on offer, tiny enough to be finger size but big enough to satisfy a sweet tooth.

I decided to change my tea at this point and the waiter  was able to recommend me a tea which unfortunately wasn't really to my taste - Bangkok ( green tea blend of lemon grass, ginger and coconut) if you like ginger this may appeal- but he was a cheerful soul and so attentive that I didn't mind one bit and he wasn't offended either ...He then brought me another teapot containing his recommendation - Paris - and this time I was in heaven - this tea is truly fabulous and one of my favourite teas ever. This black tea blend is flavoured with fruit, Bergamot and caramel - very, very nice and highly recommended. If, however none of these appeal there are plenty more to choose from!

So there I was sat with 3 teapots on my table as well as Nik's! How many teapots can a lady need? Good job the table was big enough to take it all! I am sure had I asked they would have removed them.

As Nik couldn't have the scones he was brought a huge platter of fresh fruit to the table and we had many a longing look from the other guests at this feast of his..it was very nice of them to do this, there was so much fruit he could barely finish it all. So I got to enjoy some fruit too and he didn't feel left out that he couldn't have the scones and some of the pastries.

To my delight we were sat right near the pianist :-) I loved listening to him play so exquisitely and with such elegance. So relaxing.

You can see him just behind me in this picture

And a picture of Nik and I enjoying The Afternoon Tea and his huge platter of fruit! Click on the picture for a closer look.

Well after all this food - it is deceivingly filling so you do need to pace yourself - we were left content and happy with all aspects of the day. We were there for just under 2 hours and Nik said this has been his favourite Afternoon Tea.

The day ended perfectly with snow flakes tumbling down as we left - truly magical. A perfect way to spend a cold wintry afternoon.

Afternoon Tea is served at The Dorchester 5 times a day. Please check website for more details and booking.