Review: Covent Garden Hotel

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.

Review: London Review Cake Shop, Bloomsbury

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.

Review: Hidden Tea Room, EC1

Last weekend I got a chance to attend a secret tea event. When I read about the Hidden Tea Room in a magazine recently it sounded as if it was designed just for me. An underground tea party hosted by a afternoon tea enthusiast in their own home. I immediately tried to make a reservation only to discover that they were fully booked until December. But last week fortune smiled on me when the hostess Lady Gray emailed to offer me a place thanks to a last minute cancellation. So on Sunday afternoon Coffee Boy and I rocked up to a secret location in EC1 and after giving the password were escorted through labyrinthine halls to a flat high above the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

Rock Bun Recipe

Much as I love going out for tea there's plenty of pleasure to be had in creating a lovely afternoon tea at home. With that in mind I thought it was about time I let you in on one of my favourite recipes. As you're probably aware by now I am quite a scone fan, but I find they're hardly worth bothering with if you haven't got great jam and clotted cream to go with them. An easier option is the good old Rock Bun (no sniggering from our US readers) - or Rock Cake if you prefer. They are a bit similar to a scone in flavour but can be served just as they are. Better still they can be made with the kind of ingredients you might well already have in your kitchen.

Review: Le Chandelier, East Dulwich

One of the unexpected benefits of writing this blog has been the increasingly frequent requests from friends to join them for afternoon tea. Not wishing to be rude, I have felt obliged to accept. The most recent outing was to a place I'd never heard of in East Dulwich called Le Chandelier. As soon as I arrived I had a suspicion it was going to be my kind of place. The decor is what I suppose we generally refer to as shabby chic: lovely wooden floors; a mixture of tables and chairs; and, of course, lots of chandeliers. It was clearly a favourite spot for the local yummy mummies but thankfully they seemed to contain themselves and their offspring in the back room and my friend, who had already arrived, had grabbed us a table in the front.

China Tea from a Russian Shop in Paris

I was recently invited to dinner by a friend who is an amazing cook. Needless to say I was quick to accept the offer, not least because she is also a tea fan and I knew she'd have something interesting for me to try. Well, she didn't let me down. She had made the most amazing Asian food with dim sum, noodles, gyoza, pak choy, tofu and an absolutely delicious mango dessert. And the tea offering was pretty darn good too.