Afternoon Tea at Kingsway Hall Hotel

After my first experience of afternoon tea at The Sanderson Hotel, I have been meaning to try another place for ages now. Today it was suppose to be the 3 of us but V.P could not make it at the last minute so it was just me and S.H, both of us having only been to one other afternoon tea before. S.H actually picked out Kingsway Hall Hotel and upon researching it, I found it had decent reviews and for only £19.95 for the traditional afternoon tea, but they also had the option of champagne tea and vegetarian afternoon tea. They do have a 15% service charge but one of the things I noticed immediately was how good the service was here. 

Kingsway Hall Hotel is literally 5 minutes walk away from Holborn station (and about 8 minutes walk away from Covent Garden station). When we entered the hotel we saw the receptionist and was going to go up and ask them where we go for afternoon tea but seconds before we made it there, a friendly staff member came striding in from the right to greet us and then showed us to the restaurant which turns out, was only to the left of the reception desk. We were then led to our table by a waitress who first let us choose where we wanted to sit. 

The one thing that saw of gnawed at me this afternoon, was the dimming of the lights. Now when we first went into the restaurant and this was around 4:30pm it was already too dark for my liking but as time went on the lights must have dimmed at 3 different intervals, each time getting darker, someone obviously not happy with the initial setting.

The tea selection at Kingsway Hall Hotel is from Twinings, S.H had the traditional English and I tried the white tea and pomegranate. I was really scared the white tea would be slightly perfume-tasting as white tea is a popular scent for hotels in Hong Kong but when I tasted the tea I was pleasantly surprised, it was not too bitter or too sweet and you could actually taste the pomegranate coming through.

Okay so some people just delve into whatever they want first but like having a 3 course meal, I like to start with the savoury (bottom plate) and make my way up to the scones and then the desserts. There were 4 different sandwiches; ham and mustard, egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon, and lastly cheese pickle. They pretty much were just standard sandwiches and edible, however I realized I am not a fan of salmon sandwiches. I rather have them sushi-style and fresh. Although the smoked salmon was not fishy here so that is a bonus. My favourite had to be the cheese sandwich with the nutty bread.

These scones were just amazing. Seriously. They were plain buttered scones but one had raisins in it. The outside was slightly crispy and the inside was nice and soft, and warm! I just realised I did not take a picture of the jam and clotted cream. Shame on me. But there was a separate plate with a small bowl of strawberry jam and a ball of clotted cream which was soft and easy to spread onto the scone. I think the scones were definitely the stars of this afternoon tea.

Another thing that I loved about this afternoon tea is that the desserts and scones were unlimited! S.H had to double-check because she thought she heard wrong when our waitress told us that but yes it is (I was in my own world, I thought the waitress said animated and was wondering what the hell that had to do with cakes and pastries). First off was the fruit tart which we shared, I liked the creme filling and the fruits were fresh but the pastry was slightly too thin and crispy for my liking. Second I had the carrot cake which was very stodgy, I found it was more a brownie than a cake (maybe it was). Third I had the lemon eclair, I did not know it was lemon and happily bit into it. People who like lemon desserts will love this but not I. My favourite was the strawberry sponge cake with the flower chocolate on top, I could of eaten another piece of that. The heart-shaped macaron was raspberry flavour, my favourite but the yellow one was lemon. Lastly I thought the brown cake would be chocolate (the best for last) but how wrong was I, it was coffee-flavoured and quite bitter because it had dark chocolate as well. Our waitress was very attentive and came to check on us about 2-3 times. The restaurant itself is very modern and open with glass windows and walls which I liked. 

[Review] Etude House White Moistfull Cream

I bought this when I was in Korea, I needed a new night cream with moisturising benefits as the weather was getting colder and windier. Clinique's 'Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief' was just not cutting it. However I needed to find a cream that is not too heavy either as I have combination skin and making my skin too oily makes it break out. I have been using Etude House White Moistfull Cream for about 3 weeks now and have to say I love it. 

The product comes in a small pot with a spatula to scoop out the cream instead of using your hands (I don't bother). The lid also clicks in place to let you know you have closed the pot properly. 

There was quite a strong scent when I first opened the product which made me worry as my face is quite sensitive, however upon application you do not even notice it. The consistency of the cream is gel-like with tiny white balls which dissolve as you rub the cream into your skin. It is not sticky and takes only a few minutes to sink in (I also gently pat my face to aid the absorption of the cream). I find that it leaves my skin soft and supple the next day without irritation or break-outs. It is a whitening product but I can not tell whether it has whitened my skin or not since I am already quite pale, so really I should not be using whitening products but I find that they help fade acne scars and are generally more balanced for combination-type skin compared to other ranges i.e Moisturising ranges which can be too heavy, acne ranges can be too harsh and then normal/combination ranges are not moisturising enough!

I would repurchase the product again however this also depends through what channel and the price of it as Etude House products are not available in the UK.

[Update 25.05.17] I am so sad that they have now discontinued this product!

Rating out of 5:     

Afternoon Tea - Mad Hatter's At The Sanderson Hotel

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!