Parker's Tavern in Cambridge serves afternoon tea, meals and drinks near the centre of Cambridge and is a popular restaurant with residents. I booked the champagne afternoon tea here at the end of June while I was exploring the city. Visitors to the restaurant can book the afternoon tea inside or can order it to take away; Parker's Tavern is at one of the edges of a large green space called Parker's Piece, so some may wish to have a picnic here. I arrived fifteen minutes early and opted for a couple of cocktails before being shown into the parlour where I had the afternoon tea.
I ordered the "Just a Hunch" and "Bloomsbury Boozer" cocktails. The "Just a Hunch" is an ode to public artwork commissioned by the University Arms to show the hotel has been successful since 1834. Vodka, rose, lemon, blackberry, and soda are some of the ingredients of this cocktail, which has a slight rose taste. The "Bloomsbury Boozer" is an ode to writers and intellectuals with met at Cambridge. It consists of dry gin, elderflower cordial, lemon, and raspberry. I didn't care much for the taste of it.
Afternoon tea is served in the parlour, which is a more relaxing room to the dining and bar area that I was seated in for enjoying the cocktails.
The sandwiches included were cucumber and mint, smoked salmon and chive creme fraiche, smoked coronation chicken, truffle sausage roll and crayfish and dill in pasty boats.
Next up are the scones, which were served with a small pot of clotted cream and strawberry jam. They were both plain scones.
A selection of teas was also available, and I started with a glass of champagne, which was an optional cost.
For the sweets, I was given a Ferrero Rocher (chocolate and hazelnut), a lemon posset macaron, rhubard and custard cheesecake, Victoria sponge with cream and blueberry jam, and eton mess. Unfortunately, these were not the best sweets. There was no filling to the macaron, which you can see below. The cakes tasted dry, and there was not much to the eton mess dessert - a stingy slice of meringe, a few slices of chopped berry, and a spoonful of coulis in the glass...
What is my verdict? It's not great. Although the restaurant was not busy when I arrived, it took over fifty minutes to receive part of the afternoon tea. And the last item (the eton mess) did not come until the end; my total time spent inside the restaurant was nearly three hours, and I grew very impatient during the last thirty. The service was incredibly slow and got worse as more tables filled up. The food was also bland and even embarrassing with th macaron served without a filling (I did ask about it and was told that that is how it comes), and overall, they just really missed the mark here. The sandwiches also tasted a bit dry, and one of the cocktails I had did taste okay, but the other one had a slight spoiled taste. I won't be rushing back.
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