The perfect way to celebrate a summer’s afternoon and E’s birthday was with an Afternoon Tea at The Lanesborough. Making up the party was Dodo, Caroline, Moira, Lidia and Mike. Having been to The Ritz and Claridges already my expectations for The Lanesborough were very high. Not as glam as The Ritz and not as formal as Claridges The Lanesborough was still an experience.

As it was E’s birthday we went with the Champagne Afternoon Tea which entitled us to, in addition to the usual courses, a glass of champagne (which, after drinking half a glass, I proceeded to feel very sick … will I never learn!) and a bowl of beautiful strawberries.

This opening “course” was followed up by the traditional three-tiers which had sandwiches on the lower level, mini-loaves on the second and pastries and cakes. As a bonus we were also served some small quiches. Lovely. But dare I say that it was almost too much! To finish it off we were served some scones and toasted fruit buns. The sandwiches at The Lanesborough are the best I’ve had to date. The smoke salmon was served interestingly in a sweet bun, the egg mayonnaise was nice without being too eggy, the tuna was fresh tasting and even the cheese and pickles was very tasty (loved that one.) The twist on the traditional chicken sandwich was serving coronation chicken in raisin bread. Delish!

Although the tea menu offered quite a variety of teas strangely enough the first tea offered to us was the Lanesborough special. To me this translated to “a tea that doesn’t have such a great taste and therefore we have to sell it as The Lanesborough special”. It didn’t take long for Caroline and I to switch teas. Disappointingly we weren’t given individual little tea pots which meant having to be waited on if we wanted refills so I was often drinking luke warm team. Still I could understand why they didn’t give us individual tea pots – no room on the table with all the food!

If there was anywhere The Lanesborough was let down it was in the service. Though friendly it was a little slow. It probably didn’t help that our non-English waiter was thrown by Mike asking for a Rum and Coke (I get the feeling not too many people at Afternoon Tea ask for such a drink!) But our waitress was very sweet and seemed to thankfully know what she was doing though she was often off busy serving other tables.

I think I’m really getting into the swing of these afternoon teas but I still can’t help over-eating and over-drinking …