Afternoon Tea at The Shard
As I said in my previous post, I was a very lucky girl at Christmas (thank you friends and family). Aside from paper cutting stuff, my husband and I were given afternoon tea for two at The Shard - Aqua Shard to be precise (I think there are other restaurants there). At £45 per person, it was a very generous gift, so we decided to make the most of it and also booked to go to a show while we were in fancy London Town.
Our tea was booked for 5pm - possibly a bit late for a dull Saturday in January but having seen the London skyline during the day at the Sky Garden a few years ago (top recommendation for free things to do in London) I was quite keen to see the Skyline at night. It didn’t disappoint! The lights made London look magical and we had a great view having been sat by the window. The darkness inside the building meant that you could see out really well, although at times it was difficult to see what was on the table in front of you!
Now the lovely people that bought our tickets knew how disappointed I was with afternoon tea at Gilgamesh and wanted to make sure we had a good afternoon out. They needn’t have worried, the tea at Aqua Shard had plenty of ‘occasion’ and the atmosphere was exciting. On arrival we ordered two glasses of English Sparkling Wine to go with our tea (there was a choice of proper Champagne too) and we were offered a selection of teas. Not being an adventurous tea drinker, I went for a standard breakfast tea whilst Mr B went for a stronger brew - although I’m not sure we could really tell the difference.
The savouries were a great start to the delights on offer and my particular favourite was the sausage roll with black pudding and chutney. I must admit, I wasn't keen on the idea of black pudding but I think you have to try everything on the plate and I really loved it. The mini quiche was also delicious - maybe there is a pastry theme developing here?
As always, we left the scones until last, so the next 'course' was the lovely little desserts that this time were presented on a proper cake stand. It was difficult to choose a favourite here as all of them were delicious. I particularly liked the strawberry cheesecakey-mousse thing and the lemon meringue thing but I think what I loved most was the delicate presentation of all of them and the surprise upon tasting them.
The scones were perhaps the weakest part of the tea mainly because, for me, they were a bit mean with the cream! There was plenty of scone and the different toppings were delicious but who doesn't want their scone absolutely smothered in gooey, delicious cream? Perhaps that's just greedy though! The homemade raspberry jam was full of flavour and the toffee sauce was really different and something that I would have on scones again although that might prove too unorthodox for some!
The atmosphere and the attention to detail in the surroundings at Aqua Shard makes the afternoon tea seem really special. My Sister had told us about the view from the gent's toilets - although how she knew, I don't know. Apparently the urinals are placed next to the window, so you can see over London whilst having a wee. Unfortunately Mr B didn't try this out because when he went to the loo, there were so many men taking photos he didn't want to 'indecently photobomb' any images. I will admit that on my own trip to the loo, there were so many mirrors, I couldn't work out where the toilet actually was and had to loiter, waiting for someone else to come out so that I could get in!
Overall, our afternoon tea at The Shard was fabulous! I have read some mixed reviews about the staff and the food but our experience was fun. We were well looked after and I would definitely recommend it, if only for the view alone.
Our tea was booked for 5pm - possibly a bit late for a dull Saturday in January but having seen the London skyline during the day at the Sky Garden a few years ago (top recommendation for free things to do in London) I was quite keen to see the Skyline at night. It didn’t disappoint! The lights made London look magical and we had a great view having been sat by the window. The darkness inside the building meant that you could see out really well, although at times it was difficult to see what was on the table in front of you!
Now the lovely people that bought our tickets knew how disappointed I was with afternoon tea at Gilgamesh and wanted to make sure we had a good afternoon out. They needn’t have worried, the tea at Aqua Shard had plenty of ‘occasion’ and the atmosphere was exciting. On arrival we ordered two glasses of English Sparkling Wine to go with our tea (there was a choice of proper Champagne too) and we were offered a selection of teas. Not being an adventurous tea drinker, I went for a standard breakfast tea whilst Mr B went for a stronger brew - although I’m not sure we could really tell the difference.
The savouries were a great start to the delights on offer and my particular favourite was the sausage roll with black pudding and chutney. I must admit, I wasn't keen on the idea of black pudding but I think you have to try everything on the plate and I really loved it. The mini quiche was also delicious - maybe there is a pastry theme developing here?
As always, we left the scones until last, so the next 'course' was the lovely little desserts that this time were presented on a proper cake stand. It was difficult to choose a favourite here as all of them were delicious. I particularly liked the strawberry cheesecakey-mousse thing and the lemon meringue thing but I think what I loved most was the delicate presentation of all of them and the surprise upon tasting them.
The scones were perhaps the weakest part of the tea mainly because, for me, they were a bit mean with the cream! There was plenty of scone and the different toppings were delicious but who doesn't want their scone absolutely smothered in gooey, delicious cream? Perhaps that's just greedy though! The homemade raspberry jam was full of flavour and the toffee sauce was really different and something that I would have on scones again although that might prove too unorthodox for some!
The atmosphere and the attention to detail in the surroundings at Aqua Shard makes the afternoon tea seem really special. My Sister had told us about the view from the gent's toilets - although how she knew, I don't know. Apparently the urinals are placed next to the window, so you can see over London whilst having a wee. Unfortunately Mr B didn't try this out because when he went to the loo, there were so many men taking photos he didn't want to 'indecently photobomb' any images. I will admit that on my own trip to the loo, there were so many mirrors, I couldn't work out where the toilet actually was and had to loiter, waiting for someone else to come out so that I could get in!
Overall, our afternoon tea at The Shard was fabulous! I have read some mixed reviews about the staff and the food but our experience was fun. We were well looked after and I would definitely recommend it, if only for the view alone.
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