Afternoon tea | Ox Pasture Hall | North Yorkshire

Back when I posted about Ox Pasture Hall, I explained I was holding a few posts back as they deserved extra special attention. One of these was their afternoon tea. 

Warm scones, delicate finger sandwiches and a selection of cakes, what's not to love about afternoon tea? Plus with the addition of an open fire, what could be more perfect for a cold November afternoon.

I feel like I post about afternoon tea a lot, you must think this is all I do with my weekends. It's not, but i couldn't think of a better way to spend them. Although until a few months back when I visited went bridge house, I'd never had afternoon tea. Ohh how do things change quickly. These days I feel I've got pretty good knowledge at spotting where the good afternoon tea's are and Ox Pasture Hall proved a brilliant choice. 

The sandwiches were a good selection, Yorkshire ham, smoked salmon and cream cheese and cucumber. A nice balanced mix and they all tasted great. My favourites as you may have guessed was the smoked salmon. 

The scones were warm with a large pot of clotted cream (why is there's usually never enough of this) and choices of jams. I always go for the raspberry. As a kid I was always taught jam first them cream, but I've adopted cream first than jam now a days. 

The cakes were exceptional and there was a really nice mixed selection. A raspberry tartlet with meringue top, lemon cheese cake, short bread biscuit and a classic sponge cake with delicious vanilla butter cream filling. The short bread was crumbly, the cake moist and the the cheesecake..well it was cheesecake and lovely, like cheesecake should be. My favourite was the mini tartlet which was quite tart due to the fresh raspberry's but a very nice addition to the heavier cakes.  

The service here was brilliant and the staff are extremely welcoming. As soon as we arrived we was given a choice of coffee, tea or speciality tea's. We could choose where to have our afternoon tea, in the main dining room (the courtyard restaurant), by the roaring fire in the lounge area or on warmer days there's the option to dine outside. I would love to return here in the summer when I can sit outside as the place really is truly beautiful. 

Sammie

Mad Hatters afternoon tea party | Cedar Court Grand York Hotel

If your a regular reader of my blog you will know I've recently become a fan of that good old English tradition of afternoon tea. Delicate sandwiches, delicious cakes, tea and the sophisticated feeling, is something every gal (and guy) should experience at least once. After Kel introduced me to my first afternoon tea (read here) I instantly understood why afternoon tea is such an English tradition and such a special little treat. Therefore when I was invited to the Mad Hatters afternoon tea, something which appeared quite enchanting (and with a price tag of £33.00) I had high expectations.  

We all arrived on time at 3pm and was shown into the dining hall, the tables were set neatly and I was excited to see just what creations were in store. The table settings were perfect and I was very impressed by the little touches on the table, how adorable are the mini milk churns. 

The waiter brought over the "drink me" yoghurt drinks which was pineapple flavoured, it was delicious and tasted a little like cheese cake, the waiter also took our orders of tea and coffee. The "drink me" drink was small but just enough as it was rather sweet. 

Tea and coffee arrived, I did not that everyone on the table who ordered tea had an individual tea pot but the coffee drinkers had to share one, this wasn't a big complaint but you all know I'm a little fuss pot. 

The waiter bought us out scones for the table which were nice and warm and everyone enjoyed these, we were then told to start enjoying the display of enchanting food. I was really quite shocked that the event was a glorified buffet, not the traditional cake and sandwich stands served at the tables. 

At £33.00 (one of the most expensive afternoon tea's in Yorkshire) I was expecting something special which included table service, not a help yourself, everyone piling up their plates just in case they may miss out on one of the treats, buffet! It really took away the concept of an afternoon tea. I was expecting sophistication and something magical not a buffet with a few props. Buffets are for children's birthday parties, not afternoon tea at 5 star hotels. 

I'll begin with the "sandwiches" which were in fact little rolled up wraps. There was a good choice of salmon, cream cheese and cucumber, egg, smoked chicken and ham. However the "wraps" tasted gloopy and claggy and it was hard to actually know what you was eating as all I could taste was the dough. Been a savoury person the sandwiches are usually my favourite at afternoon tea and this was exceptionally disappointing. I can understand wanting to make them a little different for the theme of the day, however it appeared taste quality didn't cross anyone's minds. 

Since there was such display of wonderful hand crafted deserts I thought this would be the highlight and wavered my disappointment from the dough tasting wraps. I was wrong, starting with the displayed cups of what appeared to be a green drinks was in fact a strawberry and vanilla tasting (almost panacotta like) creamy mouse. This was quite simply the sweetest thing I had ever tasted and was far to sweet to eat to the point it was inedible. 

Moving on to the white chocolate and raspberry truffle pop things, there were even worse.To the point it was now becoming a joke at the table, its more edible than the cake, less edible than the green cup. After trying the chocolate cakes, the macaroon mushrooms and the white chocolate candles I feel would of given the healthiest of person diabetes. It was pretty clear the display was there to look good and it seemed actual taste was thrown out the window. 

The only edible concoction on the table appeared to the be "queen of hearts strawberry jelly" which in fact contained pieces of fresh raspberry, not strawberry and tasted fairly bland. 

It may have been a good thing that the deserts proofed to be non-edible as after 10 minuets it was only then the waitress came to warn one member of the group with a nut allergy some of the "cakes" contained nuts! I think checking if anyone was diabetic would of also been appropriate. 

As a whole the hotel was stunning and I could see the idea behind the theme of the afternoon tea was good just not executed at all well. At £33.00 per person there are defiantly much better afternoon tea's to be had. Maybe the idea of afternoon tea needs to stay simple and elegant, I think to pull of a Mad Hatters tea party there needs to be some exceptional skills in presentation and taste which this unfortunately lacked. 

Sammie

@LilBlondeSammie

Afternoon tea at Wentbridge House

It feels like forever since I've blogged, if I'm honest I have become a little bit of gym freak at the moment. I actually still can't believe I'm saying that, although I suppose it's a healthy addiction. I actually found myself Friday morning working out at 7am, looking round in the gym thinking what kind of freaks are these people, up at this time doing exercise, until it suddenly dawned on me that I was one of those freaks. 

However fear not blog readers it hasn't been all work and no play, last weekend I was away at the races and this weekend I joined Hayley and Kel for a spot of afternoon tea at the rather stunning Wentbridge House. Check me out I returned from a little blogging break and come back all sophisticated. Don't worry I haven't changed too much...to pull thinks back to reality after too many glasses of wine Friday I was doing my usual spot of drunk cooked when I accidental sliced my finger in the blender trying to stop it whilst still spinning, so in case you feared you are not reading Little Blonde Life, think again, I'm still here as common as ever. 

Anyhow enough about me, I'm sure your all expecting pictures of tea and cake, so here goes. 

Arriving at Wentbridge House was rather idyllic and a refreshing change to spending my Saturday afternoons tucked up in bed. The sun was shining the birds were tweeting and I felt rather sophisticated for once. In typical Sammie style I then spent 10 minuets hobbling down the steep drive way of the hotel as my choice of footwear is forever far from sensible, however my new killer heels deserved some special attention and I had certainly arrived at the right place. 

We were all promptly greeted by the friendly staff and shown to the bar area for a quick G&T before heading into the dining room. The dining room it's self was a little hub of elegance with large bay windows looking out onto the gardens, large armed chairs and a few neatly placed tables with shiny cutlery neatly placed to perfection. The nice small number of tables created the perfect tea party atmosphere with the only missing except of a white rabbit to lead me into the intimate little space, it was pretty much afternoon tea perfection. 

The waitress came and took out tea order, I opted for a rhubarb tea at her recommendation. I'm not sure if it's the Yorkshire in me but I do love rhubarb. As delicious as the tea was and the fact it smelt like rhubarb crumble (well actually just rhubarb..but it sweet smelt quite obviously reminded me of rhubarb crumble) I was secretly more pleased by the champagne that followed. 

The first course of delicate finger sandwiches soon arrived, smoked salmon and cucumber, cream cheese, ham, egg and tuna. Been the only smoked salmon eater I got stuck in. I did feel a little pressures to eat all the smokes salmon ones however I can assure you this was a challenge I took well. 

With a slightly fuller belly and a few slips of champagne later the main event of cake arrived. I say cake when they were more like individual pieces of heaven. Firstly a slightly more unusual afternoon tea selection of pear panna cotta, however exceptional tasty, rose meringue, chocolate cake, strawberry shortbread, cream scones and the star of any afternoon tea miniature macaroons. All incredibility tasty with my favourite been the strawberry shortbread. 

We neatly picked cakes of the 3 tied stand, chatted as we sipped our champagne and I felt like such a little grown up. It was cute and a lovely experience to share with my friends. This was actually the first afternoon tea I have ever had, however the expert tea and cake lady of the group Kel assured me this was one of the nicest she has come across. 

Overall I would recommend Wentbridge house for an affordable taste of luxury with impeccable service. It's always nice to treat yourself and it was certainly nice to spend the Saturday afternoon with some of my favourite ladies. 

Have you been for afternoon tea?

Sammie

Afternoon tea at Just Grand! Hand Picked Hall Leeds

Sunday afternoon me and Kel took a little trip for afternoon tea at Just Grand at Hand Picked Hall. I'd read some really mixed reviews so it was nice to go and check the place out for myself. 

For all of you guys unaware hand picked hall is in the Grand Arcade Leeds and hosts a selection of craft and vintage shops. It really did feel like a typical Sunday shop browsing the cute craft items and the vintage clothes. I did however feel a bit like a child in some shop and could hear my mum in the back of my mind telling me not to touch anything. 

After a good browse we seated ourself down for afternoon tea. The seating area is a real mix of vintage items from all different eras with unmatched chairs and retro/vintage lamps . For some people the unusual mix of taste may have felt like a charity shop but I adored it. Sat working out if I was in a 1930's cafe a 50's diner or a 70's kitchen, it was fun and had so many little details which made quite the talking point.

I ordered the grand afternoon tea £9.50 (sorry no pictures) which included 4 mini sandwiches (olive and houmous, egg mayonnaise, ham and cream cheese and cucumber), fruit cake with Wensleydale cheese and a scone with jam and clotted cream. 

I liked the addition of the olive and houmous sandwich it was pretty unusual for an afternoon tea choice but I really liked the thought of something a little different on there. My favourite was the scone with clotted cream and jam.

Overall for a cheap afternoon tea and a trip through a tardis it's worth a visit. It may not have the most glamorous of settings but it's certainly fun and quirky. 

Where would you recommend for afternoon tea?

Sammie