Covent Garden Hotel Afternoon Tea

    This post comes to you from lovely Essex as I rely on the generosity of friends to keep me off the streets here in London. We have found a flat we like and our offer was accepted yesterday, but unfortunately the property isn't available for us to move in until the 25th at the earliest so I've got some time to kill while I apply for jobs and try to get my life together.

Photo courtesy of afternoontea.co.uk

   My parents were in town last week which was wonderful as getting to this stage of finding a flat was an absolute nightmare and it was nice to have someone to hold me as I sobbed hysterically every night. I think I gave my parents a fairly accurate view of what it's really like to live in London. While they were here I took my mum out for afternoon tea as an early Mother's Day present as I won't be around for the actual event. We looked at a few places online at www.afternoontea.co.uk and selected the Covent Garden Hotel due to it's appealing menu and lovely looking dining room. We were not disappointed. 

photo courtesy of tripadvisor.co.uk

   Tea is held in the hotel's restaurant Brasserie Max and my mum and I were sat right on the window at a lovely little silver table for two looking out onto cobbled streets and shoppers. I'm afraid all the pictures on this post are stolen from other websites as it was so lovely inside that I didn't want to ruin the moment by pulling out my phone and snapping pictures. I suppose this is something I'll have to get over if I wish to continue this blog! The staff were friendly and attentive from the moment we turned towards the hotel and the doors were opened for us by two lovely gentlemen who showed us to the restaurant. Mum and I selected one Vintage Tea menu and one Covent Garden Tea menu to give ourselves a bit of variety. Each tea includes coffee, hot chocolate or basic tea. Herbal teas are extra, but they gave me some soy milk for my Earl Grey free of charge.

photo courtesy of tripadvisor.co.uk

 It was a bit of a wait for the food, but we didn't mind as we knew it was because everything was being made fresh and we sat, sipping our tea and enjoying the people watching. Our food arrived on it's traditional three tiered platter and the waitress explained what everything was. We had a selection of finger sandwiches including smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, egg, cheese and pickle and chicken salad. The bread was so soft and fresh and the fillings were flavourful and perfectly paired. We enjoyed them so much we even went for a second round! My only complaint was that the bagel crostini with the smoked salmon was so hard I thought I was going to break a tooth and my mum had to resort to eating the topping off and leaving the bagel which she remarked made her feel a bit like a five year old who only eats the icing. We followed our sandwiches with plain and strawberry scones both of which were soft and moist on the inside with a delicious crunch on the outside. I could've gone for a second round of those as well, but I knew I'd better not! After that it was onto the desserts which ranged from a chocolate caramel opera cake to a rhubarb custard mille feuille to a mini banoffee pie. Each was flavourful and sweet without being overly sugary or too strong. There was even a cucumber elderflower jelly that mum and I both enjoyed very much even though neither one of us was expecting to. 

photo courtesy of tripadvisor.co.uk

   We left, stuffed and filled to the brim with two pots of tea each, and all for about £50 thanks to a %20 off from afternoontea.co.uk. I will definitely be returning when I have the funds to indulge again! 

-Holly