Scones, tea and AOL

Good morning AOL.com visitors - thank you for dropping by!

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I've been in London this weekend, visiting my sister for her birthday. She had a gift voucher for afternoon tea at the very posh Dorchester Hotel. Unlike the snotty lady at the table beside us, I did not sigh and say airily, "I really just don't get hungry in the afternoons" when presented with French pastries and fresh scones with jam and clotted cream.

Why spend £40 on AFTERNOON TEA if you don't like to bloody eat in the afternoon? Sure I should probably walk home to Scotland to burn off the calories but life is for living! Nothing wrong with a little of what you fancy. Mmmm, macaron.

Comments

[1 · Posted by Tamakikat · March 08, 2009 at 10:28 AM]

Mmm...a proper afternoon tea...Lucky you guys having a voucher as 40 pounds sounds pretty steep even for a special occasion or am I just cheap?

TK

[2 · Posted by Kek · March 08, 2009 at 11:17 AM]

Ooh, I love a posh arvo tea. They always serve up teeny-tiny little morsels, so even though you walk out totally stuffed, you can fool yourself that you're not eating much.

Or is that just me?

[3 · Posted by Ally Whitfield · March 08, 2009 at 11:45 AM]

Ooh was that meant to be MACARONI (were you on the sweet/savoury roll?) or MACAROON, scrumptious accompaniment to a cuppa? I occasionally use a lovely cake stand inherited from my mum to display a day's baking before consumption with friends. Rock buns are the biz!!

[4 · Posted by bushra · March 08, 2009 at 12:05 PM]

ally they may have been those there french macarons, of which i want a million :)

[5 · Posted by Tamakikat · March 08, 2009 at 12:21 PM]

I own it. I'm cheap. Our 5 star hotel here don't match up to the Dorchester with afternoon teas at half the price. The Dorchester must have something special going on. Can you tell us more about it?

Plebian from Down Under Living in Japan

TK

[6 · Posted by moonduster (Becky) · March 08, 2009 at 02:36 PM]

Yum!

[7 · Posted by Philippa · March 08, 2009 at 04:03 PM]

Oooo fancy!! We went to the similarly posh Lanesborough hotel for my mums birthday for afternoon tea - it was a hospital in the 60's and 70's which she used to work at so extra special! Why is it though that tiny amounts of something yummy suddenly makes it fancy and delicate and they can charge stupid amounts of money for it? Very odd...totally worth it though!! Hope you and Rhi had fun.

[8 · Posted by Elvira · March 08, 2009 at 08:33 PM]

lol
ur totally right!
xo

[9 · Posted by dietgirl · March 08, 2009 at 09:19 PM]

@Tamikikat - 40 quid is bloody pricey, especially when that's per person! Although that price included a very posh champagne. We had a gift voucher for a non-champers version :)

@Kek - I like that sort of logic!

@Ally - it's the French macaron that Bushra mentioned. Very tasty!

@Philippa - Hmmmm... I guess you're paying for the atmosphere and the dude playing the piano or the effort of cutting the crusts off the sandwiches... mwahhahahaha :)

[10 · Posted by kathryn · March 08, 2009 at 09:25 PM]

I don't get ppl like that woman - not hungry indeed!

[11 · Posted by Kathrin · March 08, 2009 at 09:35 PM]

Well you learn something new every day. I seriously had no idea that there was a difference between a macaron and a macaroon!

[12 · Posted by Rand(Om) Bites · March 08, 2009 at 11:46 PM]

I agree sista, enjoy it or go be a misery guts elsewhere. When you come to Sydney, you must go to the The Victoria Room in Darlinghurst, if you have time of course - http://www.thevictoriaroom.com/

[13 · Posted by Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach · March 09, 2009 at 09:27 AM]

Oh! I was brought over to London 10 years ago to speak at an Internet recruiting conference, and my hsuband and I tried Afternoon Tea as well. He was thrilled, I was, eh?

However, I adored the haggis for the morning - my first time experiencing that particular culinary treat.

[14 · Posted by Meg · March 09, 2009 at 01:37 PM]

Wow...I really think we need to reinstitute the tradition of afternoon tea over here in the states. It always seems like such a relaxing thing, having Tea Time!

[15 · Posted by Diana (Soap & Chocolate) · March 09, 2009 at 02:48 PM]

That woman is lying through her caps if she's trying to fool anyone into thinking scones are not the greatest human invention of life.

[16 · Posted by M. · March 09, 2009 at 03:13 PM]

So THAT'S what they're called! Macarons. Many thanks for the Wikipedia link. :) I made a chocolate variant filled with some kind of crazy amazing chocolate ganache once (from which I refrigerated the leftovers because I could not bear to throw them out and gradually ate it with a spoon for a week). I've never made them since because they require many steps and fiddling around with makeshift pastry bags and gloppiness.

And I will scarf them down with wild abandon.

(...Thinking about it now, I kind of wish I remembered where I found that recipe...)

[17 · Posted by Denise · March 09, 2009 at 10:30 PM]

Now I want a Devonshire cream tea...scone, lashes of clotted cream, top the thing with a scoop of strawberries, and wash it all down with strong tea.

[18 · Posted by Fiona · March 09, 2009 at 11:04 PM]

mmm I LOVE high tea, but yes, a run will be needed after!

[19 · Posted by Sweetie Pie · March 10, 2009 at 05:04 PM]

That sounds like so much fun. I was in Paris for a week in 2005 after spending a month in Madrid. I nibbled at Spain, but I devoured France. Ha!! I have such fond memories of French pastries!

Enjoying a fancy afternoon tea in London is on my "to do" list!

[20 · Posted by MizFit · March 10, 2009 at 06:20 PM]

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[21 · Posted by dietgirl · March 10, 2009 at 09:05 PM]

MizFit you're a legend :)

[22 · Posted by Miss Milo · March 11, 2009 at 09:57 AM]

Haha, too funny! Snooty people drive me nuts.

Now I feel like scones with jam and cream... mmm..... :)

xxxx

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