Me and my friend Amber have quite a soft spot for Afternoon Tea. Over the last few years we've been to a few different places and we always enjoy nattering the afternoon away. Brocket Hall has been on our radar for a while, it's very close to wear I live and it's always felt a little bit special to me.
Afternoon Tea at Brocket Hall consists of "traditional finger sandwiches, homemade scones with clotted cream and jam, with a selection of wonderful pastries all served in traditional butler fashion". We were looking for somewhere to visit last weekend and just by chance Brocket Hall happened to have a spare place! It's always a bit of a worry when you go to places like this, as you worry that they will live up to expectations. However, on this occasion, Brocket Hall did not let us down. In fact we both said it's one of the best, if not THE best, Afternoon Tea we've been to.
We sat in the Ballroom for tea, which is decorated with a gorgeous painted ceiling and other artwork. The details are beautiful; full length mirrors cover the walls and the windows are draped with beautiful fabrics. Out the windows there is a gorgeous view of the river and a LIVE Pianist plays whilst you eat. All the staff are friendly, we were greeted by several butlers who told us details about the house and the decorated room we sat in.
The food was good too! My main issue with Afternoon Tea is that often it can be a little too fancy. Brocket Hall sparked the perfect balance between fancy and not too over-the-top. The cakes were traditional and all tasty; we had Lemon Drizzle, pastry filled with cream and fresh fruit, choux pastry filled with cream and raspberries, a chocolate gâteaux and a pannacotta with coulis inside. The sandwiches were lovely too and didn't feature any weird surprises; egg, salmon, beef with onion marmalade and finally cucumber with cream cheese. Of course, being Afternoon Tea, we also had two scones each with jam and clotted cream!
All in all, Afternoon Tea at Brocket Hall was a really lovely experience - we will definitely go back!
