Afternoon Tea at the Windsor Arms Hotel

On a chilly February morning I found myself outside of the sort of grand, sort of nondescript doors of the Windsor Arms Hotel, excited to be seated for an afternoon tea specifically to celebrate my tea buddy's birthday. 

Once seated, we selected our teas, I went with Black and Blue which was a blend of blueberry and black tea. In my opinion, a perfect pairing of two tasty things.

Next, our three tier platter came out filled with fancy selections of savoury, sweet and scones. Unlike most afternoon teas I've been presented with, the Windsor Arms had the scones on the bottom tier (usually reserved for the savoury items and tea sandwiches). The waiter informed us that we were to eat from the bottom up, starting with the scones, moving to the savoury and finishing with the petit four.

If you know anything about afternoon teas, you know this is wrong. Flat out. Wrong. We disregarded the advice of the misinformed waiter and started on the second tier.

True to hoity-toity form, the savoury items were teeny tiny and overly fancy. Cheese and caramelized shallot quiche; prosciutto roll with fig, arugula and chevre; wild mushroom salad in vol-au-vent; egg salad roll; mini croissant with smoked salmon, cucumber and cream cheese; and pumpernickel bruschetta with mozzarella, basil, shallots and olive oil.

The scones are freshly made in house each day. We each had a plain one and a cranberry, lemon one. Both were tasty and I smothered them with cream and jam, as is customary (and in that order).

Lastly, we attacked the petit four, of which there were only four. This irks me. When I'm having tea for two, I like to try everything, so if there are four different items for two people to share, someone is going to miss out on something.

The petit four at the Windsor Arms do change, but on this morning we had a chocolate truffle, mango cake, red velvet cake, and pistachio cakes (the clear winner of these four).

The setting is certainly swanky and gives one a sense of posh-ness, but this wasn't my favourite afternoon tea. I would however, return for the tea room decor, a cream tea and that delicious Black and Blue tea.

Interested in more posts about afternoon teas, check out my Afternoon Tea page dedicated to the lovely, decadent and diverse afternoon teas I've had here and abroad.

Seriously though. Cream or jam first on your scone?

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