Four Seasons Hotel London At Park Lane Afternoon Tea Review
Friday we visited the Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane and its acclaimed Garden Tea to celebrate Afternoon Tea Week (14th-20th August). The Four Seasons had partnered with premium tea brand JING Tea to launch a limited-edition Fruit and Floral afternoon tea experience in the heart of Mayfair.
JING’s Fruit and Floral teas have been two years in the making and are hand-crafted using purely natural ingredients such as real fruit, whole flowers and natural herbs.The flavours available were the Pineapple & Osmanthus, Raspberry & Rose, Strawberry & Rooibos and Green Apple & Hibiscus. We both had the Strawberry & Rooibos tea. We both had mixed reviews about the tea, my guest didn’t like it and I didn’t mind it, especially as it did taste like strawberries the longer it brewed in the tea pot.
The floral teas were created as part of the ‘The Garden Tea’ menu designed by Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane in partnership with Chelsea Physic Garden. The Afternoon tea includes a selection of sandwiches, pastries, scones and jams made from the finest seasonal ingredients grown in Chelsea Physic Garden.
The Four Seasons were brilliant in ensuring that my dietary requirements were taken into consideration and replacing it with more suitable options. So no cucumber or cinammon for me!
There’s a nice little selection of tea sandwiches for those without dieatry requirements including the Cucumber with Lemon Butter on White Bread, the Cornish Manuka Smoked Salmon Borage with Sorrel and Cream Cheese on Cumin Brown Bread, the Fresh Portland Crab with Creme Fraiche, Chives, Breakfast Radish on White Bread, the Holden’s farm hafod cheddar cheese with Pickled Veg on Cocoa Rye Bread and the Curried egg with Coriander Salad on Seeded Vadouvan Bread.
I’m always more of a savoury fan when it comes to afternoon tea, so I demolished my sandwiches. The tea pastries, however, are where the real amazement started.
The pastries consisted of the Perfume (Rose | Orange Blossom and Jasmine Mouse | Cinnamon and Cocoa Nib Biscuit Spiced Cream), Poppy and wild Strawberry Macaron, Cocoa Chocolate and Long Pepper Tart and the Beehive (Honey and Oat Biscuit | Blueberry Jelly | Honey). There was also Sliced Honey and oatmeal cake with apricot and lavender and a selection of plain and raisin scones and clotted cream with Strawberry and Vanilla Jam and Pink Grapefruit: Citrus Paradisi & Assam Tea Jam.
The Poppy and wild Strawberry Macaron nad the Beehive were our definite favourites of the meal, followed by the Beehives. I didn’t try the Perfume due to the cinnamon but my guest didn’t enjoy this one. She said despite it being very pretty, the textures were just too strange for her.
You can never go wrong with scones with clotted cream and we recommend having them with Strawberry and Vanilla Jam for sure! They were amazing. We couldn’t fit in all our desserts, so luckily the Four Seasons were happy to box up our left overs so we could enjoy them at home.
JING’s Afternoon Tea Week experience was available between 14th – 20th August, however, Tea lovers can find out more about JING Tea and buy the new Fruit & Floral range via: www.jingtea.com/shop/tea-type/fruit-and-floral-tea
The Garden Tea is served daily from 1.30pm to 6.00pm in the Amaranto Lounge at Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane and starts from £42 per person. Though if you want to be a bit fancier like we were, for £61 have it with a glass of Veuve Clicquot, Rose N.V Champagne. You’ll love the venue and be whisked away to an afternoon of absolute elegance when you visit.
To book visit: www.fourseasons.com/london/dining/lounges/amaranto_lounge/Instagram: @jingtea | Twitter: @jingtea | Facebook: Jing Tea
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