Afternoon Tea Adventures - The Ritz!

Hello there lovely readers!

Aaah the Ritz...well I couldn't very well do an afternoon tea series on my blog & NOT include the infamous & quintessentially English institution that is "Tea at The Ritz" now could I? ;)

The world famous Ritz hotel in Mayfair is well known for its award winning afternoon tea affair & tis one that is on many afternoon tea fans 'must try' list including mine! So of course I was excited to finally be able to attend for mumma bears birthday last year. (yes its taken me THIS long to write about it...bad form Aysh)

Our reservation was booked for 1pm during the weekday, yet despite this it was still completely full! I'd wager bookings have to be made a good few months prior for the Ritz which makes sense. We arrived at the hotel after a lovely stroll down Bond Street perusing the shops & were led to the breathtakingly & beautifully decorated Palm Court dining room where we would be partaking in our afternoon tea. There is a smart dress code at the Ritz, so no jeans or trainers folks!

Once seated we spent some time simply gazing at the pretty surroundings (seriously the stuff of pastel & baroque gold dreams) & enjoying the pleasant background music provided by a live pianist amongst the other guests chatter, before our waiter arrived with the tea menu which consists of up to 16 intriguingly flavoured teas to choose from. We were recommended to try the Ritz Royal English special blend, especially as the mother ship bless her, despite being as avid a tea drinker as I, doesn't like anything too 'complicated' & we were very happy with the choice!

Despite being obviously fully booked, our afternoon tea arrived promptly which was a good thing as our tummys were very much protesting at this point. The tea is brought out & poured for you from a stunning silver tea service with accompanying pretty china crockery.

There is a lovely mixed selection of sandwiches served on a variety of breads, including the classic cucumber with cream cheese & smoked salmon which are always favourites of mine. You can request of course at the time of booking if you have any special dietary requirements, be it vegetarian, halal options etc.

The assortment of sweet delights on offer were so pretty to gaze at & even more wonderful to sample. The classics such as macaroons & custard slice went down a treat! Of course the ever present scones where served also, both sultana & plain, accompanied with Cornish clotted cream & strawberry preserve.

At this point we were naturally close to reaching food coma stage & were happily sat back in our seats sipping on our tea which was refilled for us regularly. However it was not over yet as our waiter then came through the Palm Court with a trolley filled with even more intriguing cakes to consume! Of course we couldn't refuse as that would have been extremely rude, so mumma bear & I managed to partake in a wee slice of cake each as well, which it goes without saying...was DELICIOUS.

Absolutely fit to burst by now but utterly content we partook in a final teacup of chai before heading home most satisfied. One thing to be aware of is that The Ritz doesn't allow you to take any unfinished food home with you, some sort of legality issues I believe, so do make the most of your tea. 

Overall the whole experience at The Ritz was divine, we were very well looked after by the waiter & truly enjoyed our time there.  Yes at £54 per person it is an extravagant treat but one I definitely recommend everyone should try once :)

Thank you for reading and you can catch all my previous Afternoon Tea reviews HERE.

Lotsa love to ya!