My favourite way to see London is from great heights. I think it truly puts it into perspective of how glorious the concrete jungle capital is. It is so amazing to admire people below who scurry around like little ants, counting the number of cranes in the skyline and naming all the famous landmarks. When dawn turns to dusk, the sun sets and the city lights start to glow, London’s beauty never ends.
The Shard has to be my favourite place to watch over the city, it being the tallest building in the city, it provides the most specular views from all angles. When I have been before, I have never really had enough time to sit and enjoy the views. Normally, I am there for a purpose, which involves me going off in a chatty tangent.
I recently had the chance to experience afternoon tea at Aqua Shard. The best part about afternoon tea is that it’s a extremely relaxing affair, giving you the chance to really unwind and spend time catching up with friends. In this case, I also had more time to sit and just really feel at one with my London – some overdue bonding time was required.
A bottle of Veuve Clicquot was ready for us, chilling next to our table in an ice bucket when we arrived. Our waiter kindly popped the cork for us and poured us some golden goodness. Cheers, to you London, my love.
As our flutes clinked together, it was a sign that our afternoon tea had officially begun. So, our waiter brought out a the complete 3-tier afternoon tea set with savoury sandwiches.
The selection looked absolutely amazing, I was so excited to get stuck in. The waiters were so attentive and listened to every request of ours, especially as I don’t eat seafood or pork. They replaced them with vegetarian sandwiches, without a fuss.
We were served up two perfectly moulded sautéed spinach and Innes goat’s cheese quiches that were utterly divine, so flavoursome. Followed by sun-dried tomato and cream cheese & cucumber sandwiches. Each of them were garnished with a little bit of watercress.
After we finished the savouries, we moved onto the freshly baked vanilla and white chocolate scones. It was so nice to have scones that weren’t plain and raisin and much preferred the selection on offer at Aqua Shard.
The scones were served with a scoop of Cornish clotted cream and homemade raspberry jam and honey toffee, both served in Aqua Shard branded tubes. I think the honey toffee was an incredible creation and complimented the clotted cream so well on the unique and divine scones.
Moving up a tier, we started on the first set of sweet treats. There was hazelnut sponges, with meringue and lemon curd. For those that follow my blog regularly know how much I love all things lemon related, especially sweet things. It was definitely one of my favourite of the sweet treats. The second treat on the plate was white chocolate mousse, blood orange gel outer coating with a base of plain almond macaron.
The final tier of our afternoon tea boasted marmite milk chocolate centre with rose raspberry jelly base, topped with a pistachio crunch. The treat was garnished with a fresh, ripe raspberry and a pipette of raspberry coulis. Spooning through the layers and mixing all the different flavours together was super delicious. The final treat was a porcini ganache served in a chocolate cup with coffee sponge cake and garnished with a chocolate mushroom and edible flowers. It was one of the most well thought out sweet treats and would be a dream for any chocolate lover.
If you’re not a huge fan of champagne, there is an alternative option. As a part of London Food Month, the bartenders at Aqua Shard have put together a special cocktail to have with your afternoon tea. The cocktail is made with Tanqueray No. Ten gin, Galliano L’Aperitivo (a bitter citrus liqueur) and earl grey tea, before being finished up with soda.
Overall, another grand experience at Aqua Shard. You can always count on the staff to look after you like you’re royalty with amazing views and food to die for.
Until next time…
