Oscar Wilde Afternoon Tea

Tea consumption increased quite dramatically during the early nineteenth century when Anna, the 7^th Duchess of Bedford is said to have complained of ‘having that sinking feeling’ during the late afternoon.

  The solution was for the Duchess to have a pot of tea and a light snack in her boudoir during the afternoon.
After returning to London the Duchess would invite her friends round for “tea and a walking the fields”. It wasn’t long before other social hostesses quickly picked up on the idea and all of the fashionable society were sipping tea and nibbling sandwiches.

Many people who visit the UK still image that we are a nation where ‘at half-past three, everything stops for tea’. Sadly Afternoon Tea in London is quite expensive and is usually reserved as an occasional luxury, a Birthday Treat and so on. 

However my Mum and I feel that Afternoon Tea is our treat to one another.
We love deciding where we will go next, which hotel’s tea we haven’t tried and even though it can be expensive; The Ritz charges £58 per person for traditional afternoon tea (not including champagne) There are still offers to be had and other hotels that are worth trying.

   So with that in mind, Mum and I decided to visit ‘The Café Royal’ for an Oscar Wilde themed tea. 

Inspired by The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and in celebration of it’s return to the West End, Café Royal have created a witty and rather interesting menu. 

The sandwiches were very different to anything I've had before.
They included:
Smoked Wild Boar, Crackling, pickled apple and English Mustard Bun
Gold Puff Goats Cheese and wine jelly engagement
Onion and Chorizo Wellington
Smoked Salmon, quail's egg and cress Prism
Original 'Cucumber' sandwiches

Followed by my absolute favourite....scones

Nothing beats a delicious warm scone with clotted cream and jam. These ones even came with lemon curd.

Shortly afterwards, this arrived.......

Again, what tea is complete without an entire tier of cakes and pastries.
I won't bore you by explaining what each and every one was. Instead, you'll have to go and find out for yourself.

You can find them Here

I do recommend that you book to avoid disappointment. 

If you are thinking of booking an afternoon tea, I always try to look at the offers on the Afternoon Tea website, which you can find Here

You can often find 2 for 1 offers or Champagne deals and the website also tells you which hotel has won the prestigious ‘Tea of the Year’ Awards. 

I hope you've enjoyed my little post about Tea. I'll try and do another post soon about a different hotel. 

Where have you been for Afternoon Tea? Have you been to the Cafe Royal?

Let me know in the comments.