Bean´s birthday happened to be during our recent visit to London. Crumpet had a nice idea up her sleeve, she decided to take Bean to Ritz´s Classic Afternoon Tea to celebrate the occasion (last year it was Harry´s Bar in Paris). We pondered how we shoud dress for the occasion, as it stated in the dressing code that jacket and tie was required for men, so would we be on the same level with other patrons?
Our worries were not called for, as we soon found out. Other people participating were also tourists like us and we were, or atleast we thought, the best dressed couple in the room. People seemed to have very relaxed attire, some people were wearing a combination of cargo pants with unmatching jacket and tie. Atmosphere was also relaxed and not uptight at all. Maître d’hôtel led everybody to their tables and showed where you could place your purse or bag (under the table). Waiters were very courteous, but could take also a more relaxed approach, if they found out that particular customer could appreciate it.
Large selection of teas was available naturally, after all this is afternoon tea. We decided to go with Assam, always a good choice. Bean took coffee, since they were serving dark roasted coffee, which Bean likes very much. Three level catering plates were brought to table. On the uppermost level we had assortment of pastries and in the bottom assortment of sandwiches. Scone plate was added to the middle later. Sandwich assortment consisted of cucumber, ham, smoked salmon, chicken, mature cheddar sandwiches and egg mayonnaise bridge roll. These were pretty much your basic sandwiches, Bean´s favourite was smoked salmon, Crumpet preferred the ham sandwich. Waiters were on constant look out to top up the sandwich plate, so basically this was all you can eat situation (no need to leave hungry).
After sandwiches we decided to try the warm scones, which were served with strawberry jam and clotted cream (almost butterlike cream with high fat content). These tasted a bit like Finnish raisin buns, although jam and cream were a particularly good bonus. After scones it was time to move to level three, the pastries. Ritz´s classic chocolate cake was good, as expected, with enough dark chocolate. Also tartalettes with raspberries and blueberries were delicious. A good performance, I would say, because we had spent a week and a half admiring patisseries of Paris before arriving to Ritz.
Ritz Afternoon Tea was delightful experience overall. Pianist was playing through the tea, doing classics like "As time goes by", but also rendition of "Empire state of mind" by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z, which was quite fun. Palm court was beautiful with fresh flowers, as you can see from the pictures, and they had nice little touches in the serving, like non standard sugar lumps. Ritz afternoon tea was a nice peaceful experience in the midst of one of London´s busiest areas and excellent way to celebrate a birthday.
By Bean & Crumpet
