In December I went down to London for the day to have afternoon tea at The Wellesley Hotel which was noted best-themed tea in the 2017 Afternoon Tea Awards.
The Wellesley Hotel is situated in Knightsbridge and overlooks Hyde Park. It has a lovely classic and welcoming feel. The entrance hall was beautifully decorated as we visited just before Christmas and very tasteful white lights and winter twigs. The afternoon tea is served daily in the Jazz Lounge, with live piano music daily. The Wellesley Hotel is said to have been one of Churchill’s favourite restaurants. The jazz lounge is decorated in teal and dusky pink, pristine white linen with a decadent classic Art Deco style and sophistication.
We were promptly seated at our table and given menus to choose which tea or coffee we would like. I picked the Assam tea as I prefer a strong tasting tea and it was just as expected.
The savoury and sweet course was served on a three-tier cake stand. the sandwiches, bagel and roll were delicious and rather moorish. I particularly liked the dark rye bread and the beef and horseradish just melted in the mouth.
Next, we were served three mini scones each; plain, sultana and chocolate. They were served warm and accompanied by clotted cream, strawberry preserve and the most delightful lemon curd.
Once we had finished the delightful scones were brought our ‘themed’ part of the afternoon tea; a filo pastry cannoli cigars with dark chocolate mousse. As Churchill’s favourite restaurant, the Wellesley Hotel have based their themed afternoon tea around Churchill’s iconic cigar.
They were out of this world! Even though dark chocolate can often we quite bitter, it really didn’t taste bitter at all. the filo pastry wasn’t dry yet broke in your mouth with each layer literally just melting into the surprisingly sweet and creamy chocolate mousse. The icing band around the filo cigar didn’t taste overly sweet considering it was icing and piped chocolate.
We went down to London during the second week of December and the Wellsbury had a festive twist to the afternoon tea and had added an extra course of mulled wine and a mini mince pie. Both were a lovely addition to the afternoon tea and really made it feel very festive and that little bit more special.
The sweet course consisted of a cheesecake tartelette and mandarin dome, bowler-hat shaped tiramisu cup, macaroon, Battenberg and a rum and coffee and mango and raspberry lollypops. I had the cheesecake, Battenberg and mango and raspberry lollipop which was amazingly tasty and the perfect amount of tang to finish the meal.
The afternoon tea is priced at £35 per person, £50 per person with a glass of Brut Champagne or £55 per person with a glass of Rose Champagne. Bookings must be made 24 hours in advance and can be booked here.
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