The weekend before last, I met up with some friends at Chewton Glen in the New Forest (near New Milton) in southern Hampshire to have afternoon tea. The house of Chewton Glen was built in the 1700s, and one of its claims to fame is that it was visited by naval captain and novelist Captain Frederick Marryat. He stayed in the house for awhile in the 1840s as his brother owned it during that time, and his stays in the area is how he got his idea for his most popular novel "The Children of the New Forest", which he wrote later in life. After being owned by Marryat's brother, the hotel was owned by other families. In 2006, Chewton Glen became a five star hotel. It was also the location for a charity drive hosted by Chris Evans in 2010 for the charity Children in Need.
The afternoon tea is named after Captain Marryat, and all of the ingredients are local except for the salmon, which comes from Scotland.
The tea is from "Tea From The Manor", who create loose leaf teas. Most of us had the Darjeeling tea, though we found it to be a bit bitter, and it brewed too strongly. I believe that they should have used less of the loose leaves.
The selection of sandwiches included smoked salmon with dill butter, egg and mustard cress, roast beef with horseradish sauce, and Somerset brie with pear chutney.
Next up were the scones, which were presented with clotted cream and strawberry jam. The scones included a plain and a fruit one.
The top tier contained the sweet treats. Included were a banoffee cream puff, Battenburg cake slice, apple tart, chocolate Black Forest cake mousse, and a lemon/lime macaroon.
Overall, the afternoon tea was tasty, but there were a few problems on the service side. First of all, we were not given a menu to see what the sandwiches and options were for the afternoon tea, so we had to explain we had some dietary requirements. Unfortunately, this was difficult because the staff member could not speak English as a first language, and this was a struggle for us whereas a menu would have really helped. Second, the staff did not follow up with us nor ask whether we needed additional tea or sandwiches. Third, they kept getting the orders incorrect. So, overall, the poor service made this a disappointing experience.
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