Afternoon Tea at Aubrey Park Hotel - Hemel Hempstead

 It was my Sister in Laws 60th Birthday on Sunday so she arranged for us to meet up over a nice Afternoon Tea.  

The Hotel is set in 6 acres of meadow with 137 bedrooms. it has a lovely restaurant and hosts annual events and is also a wedding venue. 

My sister in law had pre booked and paid for it in advance priced at £27.50 each. 

Menu

 Spring Afternoon Tea @ Aubrey Park

 £27.50 Per Person

 Selection Of Sandwiches

 Coronation Chicken Open Sandwich

 Roasted Red Pepper & Hummus 

Finger Sandwich

 Egg Mayonnaise & Watercress

 Smoked Salmon & Cucumber

 Honey Roasted Ham & Tomato

 Scones

 Freshly Baked Plain & Fruit Scones with

 Tiptree Strawberry Preserve & Clotted Cream

 Mini Desserts

 Vanilla & Fresh Fruit Tart

 Classic French Macaroon

 Mascarpone & Blueberry Cup Cake

 Dark Chocolate Brownie, Salted Caramel

 Banana & Cranberry Flapjack

 

Me and my Mum arrived first and was warmly greeted and shown the options for where we could sit. We had a choice of outside as it was a sunny day or in the lounge / bar area that had comfortable velvet  armchairs and doors that opened up onto the garden at the back.  I opted to sit inside by the doors as I knew it could of got too hot outside. 

They laid the table nice with fancy folded  crisp cotton napkins sat on china plates with silver cutlery. 

The lovely friendly waitress took our tea and coffee orders and asked if we had any allergies.  My mum just informed them no mayonnaise , mustard or fish for her. She explained that they did not have the smoked salmon sandwiches that were on the menu and offered us complementary glass of prosecco . 

It was only myself and my Niece that took her up on the offer !!!!!  We did not mind there was no salmon as its only my sister in law that likes it.  

My mum got her own special tea stand just for her with no mayonnaise or mustard and we got a further two stands to share between the four of us. 

The sandwiches were nice and fresh in white and bread bread. We got different to what was on the menu. Ham and Mayonnaise , Cucumber and cream cheese, Coronation Chicken and Cheese and pickle. 

Once we had eaten majority of the sandwiches we had the scones that were still slightly warm. They were generous in size and we just got plain ones two each.  To go with these we got a pot of Tiptree strawberry jam each and a dish of very thick clotted cream to share between two. I thought the scones were very nice and had a light texture inside.  I put plenty of cream on mine as my mum gave me her cream as well. 

Before starting on the cakes we ordered another hot drink. 

The cakes consisted of the following and we each got one of each so did not have to share or cut in half. 

These are very different to what was stated on the menu 

Bakewell sponge square

Chocolate Brownie 

Macaroon

Chocolate mouse truffle cake Triangle 

The Bakewell cake was my favorite as really moist sponge and strong almond taste.

The macaroons were all different flavors and I was lucky to get a caramel one that was really nice. 

I found the brownie and bit too dry and hard and the Chocolate mouse cake was a bit too rich and very soft.

Overall a pleasant afternoon tea and the staff made us feel welcome and looked after us well. 

 

Afternoon tea at sea on P &O cruise

 My husband and I were lucky enough to go on a 7 night cruise around Norwegian fjords. The scenery was breathtaking and we had nice weather too. 

Most of the food is included in the cruise price however there are a few restaurants that charge extra like the glass house tapas menu. The afternoon tea served  at the Market Cafe is charged at just £8.95 each which we did not mind paying extra for using our free on board spend money. 

I could not go on this ship without sampling their afternoon tea and adding to this blog!! Unfortunately I only took a few photos. 

The menu below includes a hot drink of our choice 

Once we had placed our order the table was laid with art deco style plates 

The glass of sparkling wine we got from the glass house bar and was included in the drinks package we had. This was our third glass so far that afternoon!!!!

When the food arrived I was pleasantly surprised that it was served on a silver plate stand. 

We got 3 sandwiches each that were made of thin slices of bread rolled up will fillings inside. The cheese and onion one was my favorite and my lucky husband got to have my salmon one as extra. They were very nice and fresh and I liked the different types of bread used. 

Next we had the Eton mess scone which we cut in half. It was already filled with cream and topped with meringue and strawberry. After this we got a plain scone each that was freshly baked and crispy on the outside yet soft in middle. They only gave us enough cream and jam for one so we had to ask for more. As you know I like lots of cream on my scones. Whilst eating our scones we both ordered a cappuccino each. 

We then had the cakes that we cut in half. 

There were 5 different to share. First we had the Victoria sponge that looked like a sandwich. It was filled with cream and jam.  Then I cut the blueberry tart in half. This was nice and filled with a creamy custard and blueberry. The pastry was thin and crispy just like it should be. 

Then we had the banoffee ice cream pie that was delicious with creamy vanilla ice cream and caramel. 

We should of had this first as the ice cream had started to melt. 

Then I cut the red berry heart in half and it was filled with a creamy mouse on thin biscuit base with a berry fruit center. We saved the chocolate one to last and this was very good too. 

Overall a lovely afternoon tea with fresh sandwiches and nice flavored cakes.