When I first moved to London for university, I was housed with a few American students who had come to study for a semester. Being new to London, they had all these stereotypical preconceptions of what England was all about. One of the questions I was asked ‘Is afternoon tea really a thing?’ and much to their amazement, I nodded. I think they just thought it was the sort of thing that is just portrayed to happen in movies but never realised it was real. I guess I never really knew that much about afternoon tea until I came to London. It is definitely more popular here than it is back in Bournemouth.
I love afternoon tea though, so much that it has it’s own category on my blog. I just think these is something so pleasant about getting together with your friends and catching up over a glass of bubbly and freshly brewed tea. Not forgetting the lovely sweet pastries, freshly baked soft scones and the assortment of finger sandwiches. We’re extremely lucky in London, especially with so many magnificent hotels offering their take on afternoon tea’s and each one changes with the seasons and events occurring.
I recently had the pleasure of visiting one of Knightsbridge’s boutique hotels, The Wellesley. I took my trusty friend and life coach, Jasimmine from Posh, Broke and Bored for a good catch up.
We were greeted by the opulent luxury of the hotel, with a warm welcome as we entered the hotel. We were then taken into the tea room and shown to our table. The room was lit by a precious chandelier that I definitely fell in love with.
The room itself is filled with bright white table clothes and fresh flowers on each table. I also loved the teal and dusty pink colour theme that ran through out the room, keeping it really modern yet elegant.
There was a great selection of teas on offer. Each with their own unique aroma which could be experienced with their tea box.
Starting with some freshly brewed teas, I ordered the Jasmine Pearls which is two leaves and a bud of the jasmine tea plant, rolled into little pearls. Therefore, giving off a lovely delicate aroma as the tea was poured. Jasimmine ordered the Rose of the Orient which is a blend of various teas, such as Sencha, Gunpowder, Pai Mu Tan and rosebuds.
We were brought out a long three tier stand of scrumptious looking finger sandwiches, little bagels and sweet treats.
The sandwiches were made up of chicken and sweetcorn, beef pastrami and cumber and cream cheese. Simple, yet classic.
We were given a few extra savouries in the form of salmon and tomato with mozzarella and basil purée in bagels. Something a little different.
At first I was a little confused as to why the scones didn’t come out on the tiered stand. As normally I would go straight to the scones after the sandwiches. Things are done a little differently at The Wellesley, but that’s okay. Always nice to try different ways of eating afternoon tea. I mean there is already the clotted cream vs conserve first/last argument when it comes to scones.
There was a great selection of sweet treats from indulgent cheesecake tartlets, mandarin domes, rum and coffee lollipops, vanilla macarons and tiramisu cups. Not forgetting the wonderfully branded iced cakes and cannoli cigars filled with chocolate mousse. The cakes were extremely moist and just perfect. The pastry chef at The Wellesley sure knows how to put together a delicious, quality afternoon tea.
Returning back to the adorable bite-sized scones that were served. Three different selections were on offer, plain, raisin and chocolate. It was a great way to end the afternoon tea, as often enough you get full on the sandwiches and scones. However, I felt like I was able to enjoy the sweets without being full and getting a quick, small taste of each of the scones after. They also had a delicious lemon curd that was served with the conserve and clotted cream. Right up my street, as I love tangy lemon flavoured things.
The ambience was lovely in The Wellesley. We were attentively looked after whilst listening to the amazing pianist playing beautiful songs for us. We got chatting with the pianist and Jasimmine shared her love for Disney songs, turning into karaoke session with Grant playing a medley of famous Disney tunes and us both singing along. An afternoon to remember, that’s for sure.
Have you ever been to The Wellesley?
Until next time…
