Firstly apologies for recent quietness - a job has been keeping me very busy and away from the blog for a couple of weeks. To make up for my lack of afternoon teas I decided to pop to the nearby Rex Whistler restaurant at Tate Britain today. I have written about the excellent afternoon tea there before but as things have undergone a few changes I thought I'd just mention it again.
If you're in London, I'm sure the latest craze for frozen yoghurt hasn't passed you by (and if you're in the States you're probably thinking "latest craze??"). I wasn't overly fussed about it having had a couple of fairly disappointing tubs but then I discovered that Frae offered a green tea flavour and I hot-footed (or hot-wheeled) it up to Islington to try some. My anticipation grew as I saw that one of the toppings on offer was mochi - the pounded rice sweets I had so enjoyed in Japan. I also added some mango and was ready to go. Well, it was another disappointment I'm afraid. Sure the mango was deliciously ripe, and the mochi were nice but where was the green tea in the frozen yoghurt? At first I thought I'd been served the wrong flavour but on comparison with Coffee Boy's I could taste that it was a bit different but I'd have been hard-pressed to tell you what the flavour I was eating was.
It always makes me happy when I read about a new independent cafe. With so many chains filling every high street in the UK it's good to know that smaller enterprises can make a go of it. One such place I was particularly pleased to hear about was Fleet River Bakery. For those of you that don't know the Fleet River is one of London's old rivers that is now subterranean. It starts in Hampstead and flows down to the River Thames just near Blackfriars. Apparently there are certain spots where you can hear the river flowing beneath your feet as part of London's labyrinthine sewer system.
I like to think I've got pretty good instincts. If I meet someone and don't warm to them I rarely find that we end up becoming good friends. Likewise, if I go into a shop, restaurant or cafe and get a bad vibe there's not much hope it's going to become a favourite. But sometimes first impressions can be misleading.
The other day I had agreed to meet the lovely Miss O for a little afternoon get-together. She was coming from Islington and I offered to find us a delightful spot to have afternoon tea in the area. I was determined to cycle as it had been so long since I'd strapped on my rather chic helmet (yes, that's right I said chic!) so I started to do some research. I had a vague memory of a cafe I'd heard about in Clerkenwell, incidentally my favourite bit of town and the area that contains my familial roots (perhaps the two things are connected..?), and after a little bit of research I found it and arranged to meet Miss O there.
I've realised I am becoming quite fussy when it comes to cupcakes. The more baking I do myself, the more I feel it's unacceptable for so-called bakeries to make a boring old vanilla cupcake, stick a few sweets on top and charge upwards of £1.75 for it. So what a delight to stumble upon Molly Bakes yesterday. I had a lunchtime bowling date for a friends birthday and on the way home decided to pop into UpMarket at the Truman Brewery to grab a bite to eat. One delicious Ethiopian injera wrap later it was time to head home. But just as I was thinking "hmmmnnn, what I really fancy is something sweet", the Molly Bakes stall appeared before me as if a vision. My growing scepticism about cupcakes may have encouraged me to walk on by were it not for the lavender cupcakes I spotted.
My quest to sample afternoon teas beyond zone 1 yesterday took me out to West Hampstead and back to the 1950s. I had arranged to meet up with Miss O and remembered hearing about a place not far from her called Bake-a-Boo. To make sure I wouldn't be disappointed after my journey up the Jubilee Line I phoned the day before to see if I could book a table. I was told I could but if I wanted the Afternoon Tea, I would have to book in advance and pay a deposit. I was somewhat taken aback but we were keen to skip lunch and make an afternoon of it so I went ahead, reserved and paid the 50% deposit.
Living in the centre of London, it sometimes feels like a little bit of an effort to travel anywhere for afternoon tea. There are so many nice cafes right on my doorstep, even heading out to zone 2 can seem unnecessary. But there are tea shops with quite a different feel when you move away from the hustle and bustle in the middle of town: less swish and corporate and more family-run in atmosphere, which means it's always worth seeking them out. This week I had the perfect excuse to make, admittedly only a small, journey to meet fellow blogger Caroline of Caroline, No. Once I discovered that she lived in north London I remembered a tea room I had heard about not far away and suggested we meet there to give it a go.
A couple of weekends ago, Coffee Boy and I decided to treat ourselves to a posh afternoon tea. The weather had just started to turn and we felt like dressing up and having a pleasant afternoon out - although in truth I don't really need any kind of excuse to go out for tea. It being a last minute decision we had no chance of getting into one of the usual suspects on the afternoon tea circuit, so we opted for the Covent Garden Hotel. Although we hadn't been there before we know a few of its sister hotels and really like their laid-back vibe. 
I don't know why it's taken so long for me to write this post. I have been visiting this shop for quite a while now but something has stopped me writing it about it. Perhaps in some deep part of my soul I wanted to keep it just for myself; or maybe I was wary of sounding a bit too fawning. Either way, it can't carry on. I cannot write a blog about tea and not talk about the wonderful Postcard Teas.
When I recently visited the Hidden Tea Room one of the great pleasures was talking with other guests about our favourite tea spots. The birthday girl who was one of our number recommended the London Review Cake Shop to me. She told me it was near to her work place and was one of her regular haunts. I mentioned it to my tea buddy Miss O and she confirmed that she had heard great things about their cakes so we decided to meet there and sample their wares for ourselves.
