Earlier this month, a group of friends and I went on our annual festive afternoon tea tradition. This year, we had it a little earlier due to availability, and we ended up at Hotel Cafe Royal at Piccadilly Circus as they were one of the first to launch their festive afternoon tea offering. We could not have been happier. The food was delicious, and we were looked after very well by excellent service.
The interior of the cafe was designed like a Parisian cafe. Many famous people have dined here from Winston Churchill to Louis Armstrong, and we were sat at the table where Louis Armstong sat.
I had a glass of champagne with my afternoon tea.
The first course was the amuse-bouche, which is a little starter. I had the vegetarian option, which was a parsnip and apple panna cotta.
My non-vegetarian friends had the truffle scones of chicken liver parfait and Port jelly.
Next up was the sandwiches. I had the vegetarian sandwiches, but I am ok with chicken and turkey so I had the turkey. The vegetarian options that I had includedroasted pumpkin with chickpea, cucumber, egg, and roasted chestnut. Salmon and turkey was on the non-vegetarian menu.
Next up are the scones. We had clotted cream and two types of jam. One type of jam was with Earl Grey tea, and the second was a spiced plum and cinnamon. I really liked the spiced plum and cinnamon jelly.
Next up is the sweets. One of my friends is completely vegetarian so had a selection of the sweets which did not contain gelatin from animals. They are photographed below.
For the rest of us, we had the following options: Chestnut mandarin and yuzu compote with gingerbread sponge, a winter cherry mousse with chocolate sponge, coconut ganache with meringue and blueberry, and a prune Cognac with speculoos tart. One friend doesn't like coconut, so he had a strawberry tart instead. I really liked the tart, which was shaped in a rectangle with a Christmas pattern in white chocolate.
We also received a small slice of cake at the end. Christmas cake was the offer, but they accommodated me when I informed that I dislike Christmas cake. Instead, I recived the lemon drizzle slice. My friend received a birthday Christmas cake slice.
The hotel was also decorated with all of the festive flair.
Everyone loved the experience, and I would definitely return to Hotel Cafe Royal for their afternoon tea.
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