One of my friends celebrated her birthday today, so we went to Rhinefield House Hotel in the New Forest (in Hampshire, southern England) for a late sitting of afternoon tea. I did not have any expectations as I've never been to the Rhinefield House Hotel before, unlike my other friends, but by the end of the evening, I was impressed with the venue and the quality and value of afternoon tea at the Rhinefield House Hotel.
We arrived at the venue near Brockenhurst as the sun was setting, and we got a quick glimpse of the hotel in the waning sunlight. I preferred the photographs taken on the way out of the building. The hotel is a large estate designed in the gothic and Tudor styles, and one of the rooms is inspired by the Alhambra Palace in Spain. Although the building looks to be from much older times, it was actually built in the late 1800s. Before the present building, the site was occupied in William the Conqueror's time and was used for hunting; hunting lodges existed here. In 1950, the family had to sell the house.
I had a glass of champagne with my afternoon tea. The sandwiches on offer were ham and mustard, salmon and cream cheese, coronation chicken, egg mayonnaise, and cheese and pickle. They were very accommodating to dietary requirements. My favoruite were the ham sandwiches; the ham tasted of good quality.
Next up were the scones, which came with plenty of clotted cream and a little pot of strawberry jam. A plain and fruit scone was served per person. These were also very tasty and good quality.
We had the sweet afternoon tea, but there was also a savoury option for those who did not want the sweets. The pastries included a piece of salted caramel brownie, a chocolate chip cookie, Victoria sponge, mille feuille, and an chocolate and orange-flavoured tart. My favoruites were the cookie and the brownie.
On the drive back home, the moon was very low and a golden colour; it was very large in the sky. By the time I got home, it did not look so close and the golden colour had gone, but I managed to get a decent photograph. I will have to see what it looks like tomorrow evening, if there's no cloud coverage.
Overall, I was very impressed with the Rhinefield House Hotel afternoon tea.
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