The Stafford hotel afternoon tea for mothers Day - St James Place London

 Saturday  I took my mum to afternoon  tea at the Stafford hotel in St James Place London for her Mothers Day gift. I came across this on the www.afternoontea.co.uk website  and it looked nice and I had not been there before. It was reasonably priced at £45 each. 

Upon arriving at the hotel we had to walk past a lovely garden area outside at the back which was like a courtyard. The hotel was traditional and nicely furnished inside and the afternoon tea is served in the Game Bird restaurant.

Once seated we were handed the menu and asked f we had any allergies. I explained that we did not eat fish and my mum does not like mustard or mayonnaise . We ordered a cappuccino  and a glass of tap water each. 

Afternoon Tea A Journey through St James’s 

Sandwiches 

H Forman & Son smoked salmon 

Cucumber and cream cheese

 Honey-roast Wiltshire ham and mustard 

Savoury Truffled egg and watercress brioche bun 

Scones

 Plain and raisin, whipped clotted cream, strawberry jam Paxton & Whitfield Westcombe Cheddar, soft cheese and chives

 Sweet

Foster & Son’s chocolate shoe horn

 Henry Poole & Co shortbread ‘Tuxedo’ James.

 J. Fox chocolate cigar chocolate and hazelnut mousse

 Floris English strawberry and rose water cupcake 

Lock & Co white chocolate and lime ‘Top Hat’ 

£45 per person 

With a glass of Louis Roederer Collection 242 Champagne £60 per person

The coffee was very nice and I noticed that the restaurant was getting busy. We waited about 15 minutes for the cake stand to arrive 

The cake stand was an oblong shape rather than the traditional round style. My mum got her sandwiches on a separate plate as they made her an egg roll without the mayonnaise and ham without the mustard. 

We got 3 sandwiches each and a little roll . They were nice and fresh but would of been better if some of the sandwiches had brown bread  not just plain white. Also I think they could of given  another sandwich each as looked rather small on the plate 

The middle plate had  2 scones each plus a tiny savory cheese scone. They were freshly baked as still a bit warm. I think they were slightly over baked  as bit dark on top !!!! 

We got a large pot of cream cheese and chive to go with the cheese scone which was very small  and I  would of liked more of them. It was a bit dry as baked too long in oven but tasted nice once topped with the cream cheese. 

The fruit and plain scones were nice but nothing special. 

Whilst eating the scones we ordered another coffee each 
 

Lastly we tucked into the cakes ...I was disappointed that we only got one of each so had to cut them all in half !!!!

I thought the theme was very good as the cakes resembled  the shops within the St James area near the hotel. On the way to the hotel we passed the J, Fox cigar shop and the Floris perfume shop. The chocolate cigar was extremely chocolaty with a very soft mouse inside . The top hat had a thin shinny dark chocolate coating with a soft white mouse which had a subtle lime flavor. This was my mums favorite.  The shortbread biscuit was nice and the shoe horn was just white chocolate. I think I liked the vanilla cupcake best however I did not get the rose water flavor . The butter ream flower on top was nice but the sponge slightly dry . 

As I ordered another coffee at the end the waitress did offer us some more cakes.. 

I asked if I could  have another cupcake so she brought us two one each.  Its a shame they did not offer us any more sandwiches however I did hear another table ask for some.  To  be honest with you we did not want any extra sandwiches but I think it is always good service to be offered them. 

The overall service and tea was OK but nothing special......

Nearest Station :     Green Park underground - about 6 minute walk

Best bits : The clever theme of the cakes 

Worst bits : The overbaked scones and only one of each cake 

Value for money : No as did not get many sandwiches and cakes on the stand  

would I go back? :  No unless they have a new theme or special offer  

Melody restaurant afternoon tea exceeded expectations - St Pauls hotel in Hammersmith , London

 I have decided to go to at least one afternoon tea every month for this year which should not be too hard to do.  January I took my mum to Café Royal for her birthday and for February I went to a lovely afternoon tea at the Melody restaurant in the quaint St Paul's hotel in Hammersmith, London. I got a great deal on this champagne afternoon tea for 2 from Buyagift. it is currently on offer priced at  £49 instead of £76 and then I had a £10 discount code to use so cost me £39 for 2.....which was a bargain as it was very nice indeed. 

The hotel is small and was originally St. Pauls School designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1884, the architect of the Natural History Museum. St. Pauls was the location of the historic meeting of Eisenhower, Montgomery and Winston Churchill to plan the D Day landings. St Paul's Hotel was also the setting of the 1971 film “Melody”, an international cult film about youth and lost love.

To get inside the hotel we walked through a brick arch with a door to the reception and the other end led out onto a long patio area with outdoor seating . The reception was small and traditional looking inside with a door leading into the Melody restaurant and Whiskey bar. 

The Whisky bar looked amazing with so many different bottles of whisky on shelves and in cabinets . I will defiantly have to bring my husband here at some point.

The restaurant is small inside with about 12 tables and chairs light inside with large windows looking onto the outdoor seating area. It's painted in a light fresh colour scheme with panels  and has a lovely Chandleier hanging down in the middle. 

The waitress seated us by a window and confirmed our allergies with us. The menu did not go into detail of the sandwiches or cakes just the price but it did have a long list of different teas. 

I decided to try the summer berries fruit tea and my mum ordered a cappuccino. A waiter then poured us each a lovey glass of chilled bubbly....not sure what it was but tasted very nice. 

When the tea stand arrived it was very  full and my mum got her sandwiches on separate plate without any mayonnaise. 

There was a cucumber and cream cheese one, chicken, egg mini brioche roll and a crisp bread with beetroot on top. I liked the egg brioche one best. They were nice a fresh and tasty 😋

The scones were very large and we got a cinnamon fruit one each plus a plain one along with a large pot of jam and clotted cream. They were slightly warm still so freshly baked. 

We both thought they were extremely nice and light and fluffy and my mum said that the cinnamon fruit one was one of the bet scones she has had.....I second that.  The only complaint we had was the jam was more like jelly than jam with not much flavour. 

Before tucking into the cakes we ordered a coffee each as I had finished my fruity tea which was I did enjoy. 

There were 6 little cakes each on the top tier and they all looked nice. They consisted of a chocolate cream choux bun, fruit cream tart, mini red coconut Battenberg ,  Lemon macaroon, panna cotto with orange and a very chocolaty ganache black forest slice. They were very different from each other in flavour. I liked them all equally and did not have a favourite.

Throughout our afternoon tea the service was very good and although we did not get offered any extra food I think they would of given us some if we had asked. 

Lovely little hotel and would recommend 

Nearest Station :     Barons Court or Hammersmith   underground - about 10 minute walk

Best bits : The delicious scones and cakes 

Worst bits : The jelly like jam which lacked flavour but that is the only thing

Value for money : Yes defiantly as service very good and plenty of lovely food  

would I go back? : Yes and I think I will take hubby there