Sorry this is quite long - I died & went to heaven (where, I can confirm, one does have access to NR! :giggle
Anybody thinking of going to Claridge's, or taking somebody else as a treat, definitely do it. It's worth every penny.
There are SO many teas to choose from on the menu, which our waitress helped us with – I originally chose a Darjeeling which she asked if I’d had before as apparently it was more of a green than black tea, even though it said it was a black tea. She advised another I might like which I had instead & was lovely. She went away to get the tea, a full pot each made with tea leaves, which she then poured for us via a dinky little strainer. All very quaint!
She confirmed that one of us (me) was vegetarian, and asked if I ate fish and eggs etc, then she returned promptly with two trays with 5 delicate little finger sandwiches (although a couple were triangular rather than fingers). We were nearly finished with those when they were replenished rather quickly – three times in the end (oops!) They do check with you each time if you would like more sandwiches, or whether you are ready for scones & pastries. The sandwiches were beautiful and very tasty.
The scones on the other hand…. Oh, absolutely to die for. They were warm, nice & crisp on the outside but like fluffy clouds in the middle. She explained there were two apple and sultana and two plain, with a pot of clotted Devonshire cream and Marco Polo tea infused jam. She did say if we would prefer ordinary strawberry jam then she would get some for us but I felt the jam alone was worth the trip! The scones were small, mini scones but there were two each – and then she was back asking if we wanted more. Errm, yes please! So we had two rounds of those too (oops, again!) When the scones were brought out she also brought a tray of mini pastries; one dark chocolate cake, a strawberry pink meringue, a fruit tart and a shot glass of panna cotta with fruit coulis. The chocolate cake OH & I shared but was far too rich for me as I’m not a lover of dark chocolate, but that’s just personal taste. The others were also delicious and SO pretty to look at!
She was back periodically to top up our tea or fetch a fresh pot. I asked to look at the menu again so I could try another one – this time, a herbal passion fruit and orange tea which was delicious (and bright pink!) We had a break to let the scones go down before we embarked on the mini pastries although by this time we were quite full anyway.
As we were watching Claridge’s go by and laughing at ourselves for being all posh, the pianist came back from his break, did a long run of notes up the piano and started playing Happy Birthday. Half a dozen waiters/waitresses then appeared with a plate each with a small, individual milk chocolate slice of dessert/cake, each with a candle in – I was more surprised that one was delivered straight to OH! There must have been quite a few people there for birthday treats! I have to say, I was dead impressed at the attention to detail, that they had remembered from my email it was his birthday. The plate also had Happy Birthday written in chocolate on it that had been piped on by hand. OH was very touched. Unfortunately when the waitress got to our table the candle had gone out but then from nowhere another waiter literally leapt to our table, lit it with a lighter, and was gone as quick as he had arrived! It’s that kind of attention to detail that is dead impressive.
My only criticism is that the piano was a tad too loud for me, however I am a touch hard of hearing in my right ear so OH & I couldn’t have in depth detailed conversation over our little table. If we had been sat any closer to the piano it would have been impossible, but on the other hand all the others in the room were in conversation so it didn’t seem to be a problem for them. I think if anybody wore a hearing aid or was especially hard of hearing it *could* potentially be a significant problem but then there is also another slightly sectioned off part through a wide arch way that had sofas as well as tables for afternoon tea so if one was sat in here it would not be a problem.
All in all, highly successful. The total for both of us was £78 as they automatically add a gratuity fee of 12% or thereabouts but I felt happy to pay that as it was a lovely experience, a one off treat for OH’s birthday & I felt we were very well fed and looked after. *thumbs up*
Anybody thinking of going to Claridge's, or taking somebody else as a treat, definitely do it. It's worth every penny.
There are SO many teas to choose from on the menu, which our waitress helped us with – I originally chose a Darjeeling which she asked if I’d had before as apparently it was more of a green than black tea, even though it said it was a black tea. She advised another I might like which I had instead & was lovely. She went away to get the tea, a full pot each made with tea leaves, which she then poured for us via a dinky little strainer. All very quaint!
She confirmed that one of us (me) was vegetarian, and asked if I ate fish and eggs etc, then she returned promptly with two trays with 5 delicate little finger sandwiches (although a couple were triangular rather than fingers). We were nearly finished with those when they were replenished rather quickly – three times in the end (oops!) They do check with you each time if you would like more sandwiches, or whether you are ready for scones & pastries. The sandwiches were beautiful and very tasty.
The scones on the other hand…. Oh, absolutely to die for. They were warm, nice & crisp on the outside but like fluffy clouds in the middle. She explained there were two apple and sultana and two plain, with a pot of clotted Devonshire cream and Marco Polo tea infused jam. She did say if we would prefer ordinary strawberry jam then she would get some for us but I felt the jam alone was worth the trip! The scones were small, mini scones but there were two each – and then she was back asking if we wanted more. Errm, yes please! So we had two rounds of those too (oops, again!) When the scones were brought out she also brought a tray of mini pastries; one dark chocolate cake, a strawberry pink meringue, a fruit tart and a shot glass of panna cotta with fruit coulis. The chocolate cake OH & I shared but was far too rich for me as I’m not a lover of dark chocolate, but that’s just personal taste. The others were also delicious and SO pretty to look at!
She was back periodically to top up our tea or fetch a fresh pot. I asked to look at the menu again so I could try another one – this time, a herbal passion fruit and orange tea which was delicious (and bright pink!) We had a break to let the scones go down before we embarked on the mini pastries although by this time we were quite full anyway.
As we were watching Claridge’s go by and laughing at ourselves for being all posh, the pianist came back from his break, did a long run of notes up the piano and started playing Happy Birthday. Half a dozen waiters/waitresses then appeared with a plate each with a small, individual milk chocolate slice of dessert/cake, each with a candle in – I was more surprised that one was delivered straight to OH! There must have been quite a few people there for birthday treats! I have to say, I was dead impressed at the attention to detail, that they had remembered from my email it was his birthday. The plate also had Happy Birthday written in chocolate on it that had been piped on by hand. OH was very touched. Unfortunately when the waitress got to our table the candle had gone out but then from nowhere another waiter literally leapt to our table, lit it with a lighter, and was gone as quick as he had arrived! It’s that kind of attention to detail that is dead impressive.
My only criticism is that the piano was a tad too loud for me, however I am a touch hard of hearing in my right ear so OH & I couldn’t have in depth detailed conversation over our little table. If we had been sat any closer to the piano it would have been impossible, but on the other hand all the others in the room were in conversation so it didn’t seem to be a problem for them. I think if anybody wore a hearing aid or was especially hard of hearing it *could* potentially be a significant problem but then there is also another slightly sectioned off part through a wide arch way that had sofas as well as tables for afternoon tea so if one was sat in here it would not be a problem.
All in all, highly successful. The total for both of us was £78 as they automatically add a gratuity fee of 12% or thereabouts but I felt happy to pay that as it was a lovely experience, a one off treat for OH’s birthday & I felt we were very well fed and looked after. *thumbs up*
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