Scones of the Month - April 2014
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Baglioni Hotel
April has been another busy month which has involved some delicious scone eating in London, Birmingham and Exeter and saw me trying scones with nutella, I will give you my verdict about that shortly. I should start with a warning as this month’s blog is a bit longer than usual as I have included a few non scone photos for a couple of the venues I have visited as they have been rather special.
A few weeks ago Davide tweeted about an Italian flavoured afternoon tea which included scones with (his beloved) nutella at the Baglioni Hotel London. He knows me well, I couldn’t resist blogging about this. We were joined by Helen Langley and Joe and we had a delightful and fun afternoon. The hotel is one in a small, exclusive chain of luxury hotels owned by an Italian family. It’s located opposite Kensington Gardens and very close to Kensington Palace and it’s their only branch in Britain.
Baglioni Hotel
We ordered their traditional afternoon tea which comes with an Italian twist and it arrived attractively presented on a three tier cake stand. On the lower tier were a selection of finger sandwiches and my vegetarian ones were served separately. As well as the more traditional smoke salmon, egg and chicken sandwiches, there were some with Italian influence such as cucumber and ricotta cheese. However everyone’s favourite was the grilled Mediterranean vegetable on warm focaccia bread which was just wonderful. The Italian theme charmingly continued with the pasties which included tiramisu, double stuffed profitteroles, Italian lemon meringue tart, chocolate brownie and cannoli Siciliani filled with ricotta cheese and chocolate chips. Everything was delicious, although the cannoli was disappointingly soft rather than crispy. Quote of the day was Davide being congratulated on his good Italian pronunciation, to which he replied that he is Italian!
Baglioni Hotel
The large fruit and plain scones were served warm. They were accompanied with dishes of strawberry jam, clotted cream and nutella, a chocolate hazelnut spread, which were all quickly replenished. I am sorry to say I’m not a fan of nutella so no one was more surprised than me to discover that the combination of scones, clotted cream and nutella is utterly fantastic. It was extremely delicious, the scones had the perfect texture crunchy on the outside with fluffy soft interior and the topping combination worked well as they weren’t too sweet. They are a definite contender for Scones of the Year.
Baglioni Hotel
It was accompanied with a pot of tea of your choice, so I had Assam. We had consistently good service throughout our visit and the atmosphere was very relaxed. The afternoon tea was great value at £28.50. However what we all enjoyed most was that the hotel offered something a little different with authentic Italian influences on the menu. The décor is contemporary with an Italian flair and we loved their mega comfortable armchairs which we all just sank into. It was lovely discovery as it’s a luxury hotel off the usual tourist radar and offers something genuinely authentic and delightfully different from the usual afternoon tea fare. It’s one of the best afternoon teas I’ve had and I hope to return there again soon.
Ratings: Scones: 3, Accompaniments: 3, Service: 3, Ambience: 2, Overall: 11/12
Earlier this month I had a day out to Birmingham to visit the Coffin Works and the Pen Museum (both of which are well worth visiting). While researching my trip I discovered the Centenary Lounge, an art deco café located inside Birmingham Moor Street Station. It sounded right up my street so I just had to visit. The café is counter service and I ordered a scone and a ginger beer. The service was good and I did not have to wait very long for my scone to be served warm to my table. The fruit scone was large and accompanied with two packets of Duerr’s strawberry jam and a generous pot of clotted cream. As I was at a railway station I thought it was a nice touch that the napkins had the GWR (Great Western Railway) logo on them. The scone was delicious with a soft interior. The café also offers afternoon tea and has a good selection of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. The prices were good value with my scone and drink costing about £5 -6.
Centenary Lounge
The café is utterly delightful and when you walk in its like stepping back in time into a 1930s GWR station refreshment room. The art deco décor beautifully recaptures the glamour and nostalgia of the age with its walnut panelling and stylised lighting. The mirror behind the buffet bar is etched with the GWR logo.
Centenary Lounge
The café is quite compact with only a handful of tables. It had a period art deco fireplace originally designed for the director’s office at Paddington Station and above it is an original 1930s map of the railway network. This is a very unique and special place, I just adored the art deco decoration, the food was lovely and I hope next time I return to Birmingham to go back to partake of their afternoon tea.
Ratings: Scones: 2, Accompaniments: 2, Service: 2, Ambience: 3, Overall: 9/11
I have had Tea and Tattle on my must do list for a while so I was delighted the other week that, after visiting the British Museum with Dr Immy Smith, we managed to acquire a table there. The traditional tea rooms are charmingly hidden away on the lower floor of a bookshop (Arthur Probsthain Oriental & African Bookseller) just opposite the museum so unless you know about it you might never find it. We both ordered afternoon tea, which is excellent value at £15pp or £29.50 for two people. Each person has a sandwich and cake of their choice plus a scone with a choice from a selection of different home made jams or marmalade, a pot of leaf tea and a glass of homemade lemonade. On the menu there are about a dozen different types of sandwiches to chose from but we both decided on mature Cheddar with Westmorland chutney and these were served first on individual plates and accompanied with our own pots of tea, in teapots with their logo on it.
Tea and Tattle
After the sandwiches the refreshingly tasty, homemade lemonade was served and the scones and cakes arrived beautifully presented on a two tier glass cake stand. The cakes were of a regular portion size rather than the miniature ones that one usually gets with afternoon tea. Immy had chosen coffee and walnut and I had lemon drizzle cake. Both our cakes were delicious and other options were chocolate, carrot and Victoria sponge.
Tea and Tattle
The scones arrived beautifully presented, already prepared with our choice of jam on them and were served cream first. The plain scones were served warm and with clotted cream. There was an interesting choice of damson jam, raspberry and vanilla jam, strawberry and black pepper jam and fruit marmalade to pick from. Immy had damson and I had the strawberry and black pepper. My jam was a delightful combination with the pepper emphasising the fruity flavour of the jam. The plain scones were of medium size and were delicious. The waiter service was good and nicely relaxed throughout our stay. The décor is a mixture of traditional and contemporary with Oriental wallpaper. Tea and Tattle is a great option as it offers a quirky and hidden away location but with the all the reassurances of good quality, homemade food. This is one I can certainly see myself coming back to soon.
Ratings: Scones: 2, Accompaniments: 3, Service: 2, Ambience: 2, Overall: 9/12
April saw me attending an Agatha Christie conference at Exeter University so I just could not turn down the opportunity to have a cream tea while I was in Devon. The building was previously known as the Royal Clarence Hotel, is reported to be the first hotel in England, and is in a beautiful located opposite Exeter Cathedral. The blue plaque, to the left of the doorway, states that Franz Liszt performed two recitals there. I arrived without a booking and about half an hour before they were scheduled to commence serving afternoon tea. However customer service was exceptional, as one of the members of staff checked with their pastry chef , and I was quickly seated in the Champagne Bar and ordering my cream tea.
Abode Exeter
My cream tea was attractively served on a tea tray. There were two warm and very plump scones topped with a sprinkling of flour, one plain and one fruit. They were accompanied with two individual pots of Wilkin and Sons Tiptree strawberry jam and plate with two humongous balls of clotted cream. The food was accompanied with a pot of Eros English breakfast tea.
Abode Exeter
The scones were very tasty and the clotted cream was absolutely delicious and very rich, so much so that for the first time ever even I could not finish all my clotted cream. The cream tea was excellent value at £7.50. The service was great and the décor of the hotel is contemporary. It was a nice start to the holiday and a I would be very happy to return in the future.
Ratings: Scones: 2, Accompaniments: 2, Service: 3, Ambience: 2, Overall: 9/12
Until next time…
The author of this blog is a qualified City of London and City of Westminster Tour Guide who leads guided walks combining world famous landmarks with hidden treasures often missed by the crowds.
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