I've been spoiled, this was the 3rd #LDNBloggersTea organized by Selena of Oh, the places we will go! (others seen here and here) held at the Milestone Hotel in South Kensington. I had heard much about this hotel prior to my visit so I was definitely looking forward to our afternoon tea. I certainly enjoy an afternoon glass of champagne followed by delicious finger sandwiches (why do they taste so much better when cut this way?), perfect cream tea, and decadent desserts.
I'll never understand how hotel staff know who the bloggers are. We walk through the door, maybe looking a bit lost, a bit excited, maybe a bit shabby and out of place, camera poised in hand, searching. They approach and say, "This way madam."
There were a few newbies in attendance this time around (so great to meet new faces, such talented and interesting ladies) and I will always love the moment when the first food comes out and so do the cameras. We giggle together knowing we are in a group of kindred spirits and we wait to dig in only once the last photo is taken.
I've said before that usually the sandwiches are my favourite part of an afternoon tea (savoury over sweet) and these little guys were tasty. Nothing super fancy or special, just what you would expect; cucumber and cheese, salmon with cream cheese, ham and mustard, egg salad, chicken salad, but the bread was fresh and there was plenty of food!
I then moved on to the scones. Again, nothing too special here--unlike the amazing scones I've had before--but they were fresh and served with lovely clotted cream and jam.
By the time I got around to the dessert course I was stuffed and could only manage a small popcorn macaroon lollie. Watch out for the unpopped kernels though!
I had a lovely afternoon, but now for some of the bad stuff. It was a lovely afternoon and although I enjoyed the 'normal' food offered by the Milestone hotel, I know the specialty diets were a bit of a challenge. The gluten free option, although looked beautifully presented, was served on very hard bread and I noticed didn't get eaten for the most part. The scones I hear were good, but again not the best they'd ever had. The dairy free menu had some tasty looking desserts, however, that was all that was given to her; no scones, no sandwiches. Obviously this was just an oversight on the hotels part, but still put a slight damper on the afternoon.
Overall, it was a lovely afternoon with a bunch of great bloggers, but as afternoon teas go, it was just alright. It is what you expect from this experience, but didn't wow me in anyway. Like I said, I think I've been spoiled and now the standard has been set to high. There's no going back now.
This was not a sponsored post, I paid for my afternoon tea experience.
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