I was checking my email one day when something caught my eye. Now anything with 'Alice in Wonderland' in the title or description will instantly catch my attention and make me want to read more and this is exactly what happened when I found out that Bookatable.com were offering a £29 per person deal for an afternoon of tea at the Sanderson Hotel. My next step was trying to find someone else that will appreciate this offer and bingo only one person came to mind. Luckily she too was intrigued and so I booked for 2 people the following Friday. The booking on the website was incredibly easy and they didn't even ask for my credit card details (in case of a no-show) but the hotel did call me up one day before just to confirm my booking. The hotel was very easy to find and is only 5-10 minutes walk from Oxford Circus station, I never even knew there was a hotel hidden away up there. Upon entering the hotel it was filled with a lot of random furnishings but somehow they made it work, one of these was the lip couch and another was a swinging oval chair. We made our way to the restaurant which is just past the Long Bar and it wasn't long before we were seated.
Our waitress for the day presented us with 4 tea leave flavours and these were Strawberry and Cream, Mint Chocolate Chip, Apple Pie and Rhubard Custard. We were then left to smell these to pick our tea. S.D went for Strawberry and Cream which smelt heavenly but very sweet and I went for the Apple Pie because I liked the cinnamon added to it and thought it'd be perfect combined with sweets and savoury. We were not disappointed with the flavours! Our teas came in a King and Queen teapots with little cardboard crowns cut-out on top. Nice touch on the Mad Hatter's theme but a bit twiddly when pouring the tea.
I'm not sure how long we waited as we were busy talking and catching up but then we were served with this cake stand by another waiter who said that our waitress will come-by and explain to us what everything is in a moment. This moment turned out to be at least 10 minutes later which by then me and S.D had already dug-in. Honestly the food was very hit and miss. Starting from the top were these carrot meringues which has no flavour as it was just orange-colour meringue but it was cute. The marshmellow mushrooms were suppose to be strawberry and cream flavoured but it was tasteless to me. Now the 2nd tier! The Victorian spongecake was delicious and the green-tea mouse in a dark chocolate cup was my favourite. I do love anything green-tea but it balances a sweet dessert. The mango cheesecake was a bit weird, the outer colourful part was chocolate and inside the white cream cheese was a mango ball which looked like an egg-yolk in which you have to pop and mix with the cheese. The bottom tier, the scones were lovely and we had jam, butter and cream cheese on the side to add to it. My favourite sandwich had to be the mustard and ham sandwich and the one I liked the least was the salmon one because it was not fresh at all.
 |
| I'm not quite sure what this drink was but it was very nice! |
 |
| Me and S.D :) |
Like I said the food was quite hit-and-miss, some things were lovely and some things not so much but the whole experience is worth going for. If you're into anything cute, then the Mad Hatter's themed afternoon tea is something you should try. Now I am off to find my next afternoon tea hunt!
