Had a lovely afternoon tea on Saturday with my mum that we customized to suit our taste. This is the only afternoon tea that I have had so far that you get a choice from the menu for each course.
It is situated inside the Radisson Blue hotel in Oxford Street London just by Bond Street station. There are also 3 other London branches in Canary wharf, Kensington and Bloomsbury
I booked it via open table as they had a great offer of free bottle of prosecco per 2 afternoon teas booked. We paid £34 each for the afternoon tea and the prosecco would of cost us additional £38. Not sure how long this offer is on for as it does not say so if you fancy it book up soon!!!!
Our table was booked for 1pm and the restaurant was empty when we arrived but by the time we left 2 hours later it was very busy.
The restaurant is on the 1st floor of the hotel and large in size with lots of tables and brown leather chairs. We were shown to a table for two next to a window overlooking the street below
Before we sat down we used the bathroom which was nice and clean and I was impressed with the little white cotton fannels rolled up on a large dish and the nice smelling hand wash and matching hand lotion. It's these little things that make a hotel stand out and feel luxurious.
The table was laid with pretty pastel cup and saucers and a crisp white napkin plus a sugar pot and silver tea strainer.
The manager handed the menu to us and explained that we could choose 2 items each for each of the four menu sections below
OUR HOT KITCHEN Spiced scallops and cauliflower beignets
Lobster brandy bisque with a warm cheese scone
Oysters Rockefeller
Sticky Beijing beef fillet
Poached free-range egg Florentine
Lamb cutlet, mint, lemon and Cyprus parsley crust
Wild mushroom arancini with creamy spicy mayo
SCONES All served warm with country preserves and Devonshire clotted cream
Pecan and apple
Maple and sultana
Vanilla
Seville orange
Valrhona chocolate
Cheddar cheese
SANDWICHES Chicken Caesar with rosemary focaccia
Oak-smoked ham with English mustard, rocket and tomato bread
Free-range hen’s egg and watercress
Rare venison gin and tonic
Cucumber with a white bloomer
Steak and balsamic onions with toasted sourdough
Smoked salmon, crayfish and dill crème fraîche with a toasted bagel
Croque madame
DESSERTS Strawberry shortbread with whipped cream
Chocolate whisky cake and candied orange
Lemon meringue, blackberry compote and lime syrup
Strawberry tart with crème Chantilly
Sticky toffee pudding, brandy snap and clotted cream
Poached rhubarb with custard and a gingerbread biscuit
Dark chocolate crème Chantilly
Raspberry and prosecco jell
I mentioned that I had booked the afternoon tea offer with free bottle of prosecco, and he said that he would sort this out for us. About 5 minutes later a silver ice bucket and stand appeared along with a nice, chilled bottle of prosecco. Whilst deciding what to order we sipped on our prosecco which was very nice.
Whilst the manager took our order we chatted to him and I mentioned to him about my blog and how impressed I was with the menu choice. He was very friendly and interested in our opinion's.
I found it hard to choose from the menu as it all sounded nice. In the end I decided to have the beef fillet and mushroom arancini balls to start which was a very good choice. The steak was in stripes in a soy flavor sticky glaze and was so tender and the arancini balls were crispy on outside and the spicy mayonnaise was perfect with them. The potion size was bigger than I expected too.
Our prosecco glasses were kept topped up from the bottle and the manager and waiters ensured we were happy with everything throughout the service.
For the next sections on the menu I found it difficult to choose which scones to have until the manager explained that we got two small scones of each flavor so that meant four scones each, so we decided to order four different ones to share.
We ordered Apple and pecan, maple and sultana, seville orange and then chocolate. These were freshly baked and small in size, but we did get four each!!!! They tasted nice and each one different in flavor. We both liked the orange one best as was lighter in texture than the others and just the right amount of orange flavor.
For the sandwiches we both had the steak on sourdough and Croque madame which was a small, toasted cheese sandwich topped with a fried egg. It was lovely and we were both glad we choose it
Then desserts, I had my favorite stocky toffee pudding and then Lemon meringue pie.
These were all brought out to us on a three-tier cake stand with a pot of clotted cream and two different jams. The jam was strawberry and also rhubarb however they were more like a compote than jam as a bit runny. Anyway, we did not mind as they tasted nice.
The sticky toffee pudding was in a small teacup with a dollop of clotted cream and brandy snap biscuit on top.....Wow it tasted so good.
The Lemon meringue tart was delicious too.
My mum had the strawberry tart and strawberry shortcake which she said were lovely
The food was all top notch, and the service was excellent, we could not fault it in anyway. The manager was very friendly and took time to chat with us which made us feel special and welcomed.
You must give this a try and you will not be disappointed......
Nearest Station : Bond Street Station - about 4 minute walk
Best bits : The fact that you can choose from vast menu and the excellent service. Plus all the food tasted very nice.
Worst bits : Nothing
Value for money : Yes it is as you get a lot of food for your money and the hotel is nice. Excellent value if you can get the free bottle of Prosecco currently on offer !!!!
would I go back? : Yes defiantly want to take my hubby there.
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