Scones of the Month – October 2015
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The Farmacy – Philadelphia
This month’s scone blog features two fabulous afternoon teas but I’ll start off with a little controversy. Last month I was in USA and it was lovely to see @keftiugal again. She took me to some very cool and amazing places, but nowhere we went to had scones on the menu. The nearest I got to eating my beloved scones was when we went for Sunday brunch to The Farmacy, a restaurant in West Philadelphia near the University, and on the menu were American biscuits. We ordered our food and decided to share a pastry basket, costing $7, as a starter. The basket was beautifully presented and contained two slices of cake, two small cakes with cream cheese on the top and two biscuits which were cut in halves and was accompanied with a pot of home made strawberry jam.
The Farmacy
The buttermilk biscuits looked very similar in appearance to a scone and we ate them with jam. It was served warm and was delicious. While scones and biscuits share many of the same ingredients, I found the biscuit was less sweet than a scone, and the texture was crunchier. The strawberry jam was tasty and contained chunks of fruit. On the menu the biscuit was also served as a side portion, accompanied with gravy, as it is often eaten as part of a savoury dish.
The Farmacy
My main meal was Build Your Own Eggs Benedict, which start from $12, and I have to say there was quite a bewildering selection of options to mix and match from. For my base I chose the buttermilk biscuit, so I could compare how it is when it’s served as part of a meal. My protein was tomato and kale and I chose a Hollandaise sauce. For an additional add on I had pickled red onion. It was served accompanied by fried potatoes. I’ve never had custom made eggs Benedict before and when it arrived it looked amazingly colourful. The biscuit provided a firm base and their lack of sweetness made them the perfect accompaniment for the eclectic selection of savoury toppings. I was already feeling quite full before I started so I didn’t even try the accompanying fried potatoes.
The Farmacy
The restaurant specialises in brunch, it’s quite small and is extremely popular. It was very busy when we arrived so we had to wait about 20 minutes for our table and during that time we were seated. When we did get our table I regret to say that service was a bit on the slow side and there was quite a wait for us to be served both our starters and mains as it slightly let down an otherwise fabulous visit. However the food was definitely worth the wait as it’s freshly prepared to order and uses good quality, local ingredients. Altogether lunch was quite an incredible experience. I’d like to thank @Keftiugal for showing me round Philly and making my visit so fabulous and I would like to dedicate this October’s Scones of the Month to her.
Ratings: Scones/ Biscuit: 2, Accompaniments: 2, Service: 1, Ambience: 2, Overall: 7/11
Jumping across The Pond and back in London, my first afternoon tea was a James Bond themed affair, to coincide with the release of Spectre and it’s being served at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower’s Chinoiserie restaurant until 23 November 2015. I have to thank Julie, my fellow afternoon tea-er, for spotting this one, BTW I’m delighted to say Julie is now on twitter as @TownTours.
The afternoon tea is served on a stylish cake stand with the sandwiches and pastries being served first. The savoury course consisted of sandwiches. Julie had the James Bond themed sandwiches which were served on the top shelf of the cake stand. They consisted of Saffron bread filled with Laverstoke park mozzarella, avocado cream and tomato, Brioche bun with roast peppered beef, watercress and grain mustard and Sussex goat’s cheese and lemon thyme muffin with Loch Fyne smoked salmon and shaved caviar. My vegetarian selection was served on a separate plate and consisted of four sandwiches and a wrap and included egg and cress, cucumber and cream cheese, cheese and pesto, halloumi and tomato (which was my favourite) and roasted vegetable wrap. We both really enjoyed our savouries as they were beautifully prepared and the combinations of bread and fillings tasted delicious. On the tea menu there was a good selection of fruit and regular loose leaf teas. I chose my usual Assam and our teapots were accompanied with a pot of hot water and were regularly topped up. Note the small dish of strawberries that was also served with our tea. Once our food arrived a smaller table appeared and our tea drinking paraphernalia was placed there, which gave us more space on our main table to enjoy our food.
Jumeirah Carlton Tower
Once we had finished our first course we were asked if we were ready for our scones. They arrived warm and were put on the bottom tier. All the scones were large and there were two plain and two raisin scones.
On the top row was the selection of pastries all with a fun James Bond theme and there were two of each. From left to right they were Apple Tonka dome mousse with salted caramel sauce in a shaken, not stirred mini martini glass “Casino Royal”, Raspberry chocolate mousse volcano with Matryoshka “From Russia with Love”, Classic coffee opera cake with Bond, James Bond and Sable Breton with roasted white chocolate ganache “On her majesty’s secret service “. They looked impressive and they all tasted so good it was hard to select a favourite. However the white chocolate ganache crown was a sublime piece of chocolate.
Jumeirah Carlton Tower
However returning to the scones, they were served accompanied with generous portions of Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry preserve served in pretty silver containers. The accompaniments were attractively presented in a traditional style.
Jumeirah Carlton Tower
Both my scones were delicious and they had the right texture with being firm on the outside with a soft interior. Due to their large size they felt very filling but in a delightfully satisfying way. Both the plain and the raisin scones were equally enjoyable and delicious so I didn’t have a preference.
Jumeirah Carlton Tower
I know this is a scone blog but of all the pastries the detailing on the Apple Tonka dome mousse with salted caramel sauce in a shaken, not stirred mini martini glass “Casino Royal” looked so cool I thought I’d include a close up photo of it.
Jumeirah Carlton Tower – with its beautiful floral patterned ceiling
Although the Jumeirah Carlton Tower is not one of the famous named luxury hotels usually associated with afternoon tea, based on our visit I would say it’s one it deserves better recognition. It’s in Knightsbridge, in a very convenient location just off the Sloane Street, close to Harrods and a short walk from Sloane Square. The hotel building itself is modern and to be honest a bit non descript from the outside. However the hotel certainly makes up for it once your inside both with its elegant décor. The Chinoiserie restaurant is located on the ground floor of the hotel opposite its main entrance, in its own separate and distinctive space . It’s a luxurious and attractively decorated. In particular we loved that it’s pretty, floral patterned china matched the design of the ceiling.
One of the other things I really liked about the hotel is that the toilets were discreetly out of sight but were adjacent to the restaurant and didn’t require stairs to access them. This along with the restaurant’s location on the ground floor might make it a good choice for people with mobility difficulties, however I would advise that if that is important for you that you check that out directly with the hotel before you book.
Jumeirah Carlton Tower
The service throughout our visit was excellent with the staff being very attentive but unobtrusive. They frequently refilled our teapots and asked us if we required more food. The atmosphere is relaxed and there is no time limit on the table reservation which makes it the ideal place to catch up with friends and family. If the food is not enough there is a resident harpist that played throughout our visit. The harp music was delightful, providing soft, relaxing background music and really providing a sense of occasion to our visit. This made an already wonderful experience extra special. The James Bond afternoon tea cost £42 and we totally loved. The food was playful and creative, while being of an extremely high quality and the service and ambiance was excellent.
Ratings: Scones: 2, Accompaniments: 2, Service: 3, Ambience: 3, Overall: 10/12
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel – Hansom Lounge
It’s a well known secret that St Pancras Renaissance Hotel is my favourite building in London as it has a magical, fairy tale quality to it, so I was very excited when Dr Immy Smith and I went there for afternoon tea. I’ve visited the hotel a few times and featured them previously, in Scones of the Year 2013, for their cream teas. The hotel was designed by George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic Revival style and originally opened in 1837 as the Midland Grand Hotel. We visited midweek when tea is served in the Hansom Lounge. Originally this space was the former taxi rank to St Pancras Station, still retaining many of its original features, it has been lovely been transformed into the hotel’s lobby.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Once we both stopped admiring the architecture we both ordered the Classic afternoon tea. Shortly afterwards a three tier cake stand arrived which contained two identical plates of pastries, I love it when each person has their own selection of cakes. On the bottom row of the cake stand were our teapots. There’s ten different loose leaf teas on the hotel’s menu. I chose Jasmine, as my usual tea of choice Assam was not on the menu.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
At the same time the cake stand arrived, our savouries were also served on individual plates at our table. It’s not often I say this but the sandwiches looked just as amazing as the cakes. There was an imaginative savoury selection both in terms of the variety of breads used and the choice of fillings. Immy and I are both vegetarians so we had three brioche buns with roasted vegetables and sun dried tomatoes including one seeded onion brioche bun with tomato. The finger sandwiches were cheese and pickle on pane con noci bread (the combination of the nutty bread and cheese was my favourite combination), cucumber, mint and lemon curd cheese, and egg mayonnaise, mustard cress on cranberry bread, which is also on the regular menu. The regular menu offers chicken, ham, salmon and roast beef. The server came to our table with a plate of savoury food and offered us more sandwiches.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Once we finished our savoury course our scones were served. There were two plain and two fruit scones. They were large, served warm with an inviting glazing on the top.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
They were accompanied with generous potions of Devonshire clotted cream, strawberry jam and apricot preserve. Both Immy and I commented with delight in how thick and very fruity the preserves were and that there texture meant that they were easy to spread onto our scones. Although I am quite a traditionalist when it comes to my choice of jam, as I usually prefer strawberry, I have to say the apricot preserve just blew me away, in terms of taste and texture it was one of the best jams I have tried this year.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Both the plain and fruit scones were extremely tasty. They had the correct texture of being firm on the outside and soft inside. The fruit scone was bursting with fruit. However they both were very enjoyable, especially as they were served hot and fresh.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
The pastries consisted of Raspberry Macaroon, Apricot jelly with almond panna cotta, Black forest tian, Lemon drizzle cake and Caramel nut tartlet, which was my favourite as it just oozed caramel. All the pastries were not only visually appealing but each one was also utterly delicious.
The service was fabulous throughout, it was efficient but also inconspicuous. We appreciated the topping up of our teapots and being offered additional food. As mentioned earlier we had our tea in the Hansom Lounge on a weekday afternoon, we were booked for 2pm and were not rushed. We had a very enjoyable, relaxing and leisurely time chatting over our meal and it was about 7pm when we eventually left. The classic afternoon tea cost £35 which we both thought was excellent value for such a delightful meal in such impressive and luxurious hotel.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
The beautifully restored hotel is full of stunning features and certainly has the wow factor. However we couldn’t leave without having a quick look at its most famous feature, its magnificent Grans Staircase. I love dramatic staircase and this is considered to be one of the best in the country. This three storey high, double staircase is rich in gothic decoration has wrought iron balustrades and the original gas fittings.
The staircase might look familiar it features in the Spice Girl’s Wannabe video, and before you ask no we didn’t do a re-enactment of the dance routine!
Overall I think it rates as one of the best afternoon teas in London as it sores highly with excellent quality food, attentive service and the hotel’s unique and majestic architecture, it all go to make it an extremely special day out.
Ratings: Scones: 2, Accompaniments: 3, Service: 3, Ambience: 3, Overall: 11/12
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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