Afternoon Tea at Harrods

A few weeks ago, I was asked to go and review afternoon tea at Harrods. We didn't actually have a trip to London planned, but decided on a whim to pop down over my birthday and check out what was on offer at the iconic London store. 

Afternoon Tea is taken in the Georgian Restaurant, which is on the fourth floor. We managed to locate it without too much trouble (that place is seriously like some sort of Labyrinth - without talking worms), and we were seated promptly despite the fact we were ridiculously early. Everyone around us seemed to be having exactly the same thing, which felt a little odd in all honesty. 

Service is efficient and prompt, but lacked the warmth we have enjoyed at similar places - formality does not need to mean spiritless service. We have been to restaurants with three Michelin stars where the charm of the Maitre d' is as memorable as the dishes we ate.

We picked our teas; an Afternoon Special and Assam Gold Rush, as a platter of preserves was delivered. There was a thick strawberry jam, rose petal jelly and thick clotted cream.

Within a few minutes our triple tiered afternoon tea arrived. Although this looked magnificent, we were given very little explanation of what it included. It did look fairly self explanatory, but it's always nice to be told.

The finger sandwiches included roast beef with sweet onion relish, cream cheese and cucumber, egg and cress, smoked salmon and a prawn and lobster brioche roll. Between us, there were a few of these that we weren't keen on, but that was just personal preference. We both liked how Betty's in York give you a small sandwich menu to choose from, therefore solving the problem. The flavours that we did like were lovely, and perfectly sized. The beef and onion ones were delicious.

The platter came with both plain and fruited scones, both of which were still warm from the oven. They were by far the best part of the show. The rose jelly was a pleasant alternative to standard strawberry jam, but it was nice to have the choice of both.

The cake layer included a lemon meringue tart, raspberry macaron, iced fruit cake, chocolate hazelnut delice and a mille-feuille Napoleon. They may have been small, but boy did they pack a punch! All were beautifully finished and topped the afternoon tea stand off magnificently. I think my favourite had to be the mini lemon meringue tarts.

Buy a Gift offer this package at £59 for two people, which is about standard. Afternoon tea is a bit of a treat, a decadence that we rarely indulge upon unless it's a special occasion. I think this would be a lovely gift for someone who can easily access central London. What's particularly nice about the service they offer is that if you do buy it for someone, and it's not really up their street, it can be exchanged for any of their other experiences instead. I stuck with the afternoon tea, as the segway rally wasn't really for me...

Disclaimer: I was given a voucher to cover the cost of afternoon tea by Buy a Gift. I was under no obligation to write a review or tell porkie pies of any sort. This is my honest opinion.

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