The Tale as Old as Time Afternoon Tea

Greetings Readers!

Welcome back to Fashioneyesta.

So for those of you who have been following me for a long time or know me pretty well you will know two things…possibly. The first is that I have a love for afternoon teas and make it my duty to try a new one every year. But, you will also know that the 28th of June marks my birthday. This year I advance another year into my 20s and at the ripe old age of 23 what do I decide to do for my birthday? Well on the Weekend I went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour and today I went for a Beauty and the Beast afternoon tea. Because clearly you can take the girl out of childhood, but you can’t take the childhood out of the girl. For another themed afternoon tea, read my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea review.

So as I said today I and my mother made a trip to the Kensington Town House Hotel in London to try the Tale as Old as Time afternoon tea.

This is an afternoon tea that has been inspired by the release of the new 2017 Disney adaption of the classic film and will run until November 2017. The afternoon tea takes a lot of its culinary and aesthetic cue from the song ‘Be Our Guest.’ The Tea is beautifully laid out in the sophisticated, yet cosy atmosphere of the hotels dining room with plush arm chairs, the glow of gas fires and the soft trill of music. During the afternoon tea you are also joined by a few familiar faces from the film including Mrs Pots, Cogsworth, Lumber and an adorable little chip mug which holds one of the delicious deserts.

Whilst the tea does retain a few traditional elements of other afternoon teas like the choice of teas and selection of finger sandwiches there are a lot of things that make this experience unique. For a start, you are given a trio of savoury pastries including a Cheese Soufflé, Beef Rago and a bite sized Venison Pie. I have to say my favourite was the Cheese Soufflé, the pastry was light and fluffy and also had a twist of Onion.

Then after the savoury selection, you are then brought 3 tiers of food. You of course have your finger sandwiches which have your traditional afternoon tea fillings like Egg and Mayonnaise, Cucumber and Cream Cheese and so on. These again had amazing flavours and textures, they were freshly made and tasted wonderful.

One thing I loved about this afternoon tea was that it diverted from the traditional scones and clotted cream route. Instead the tea featured fresh baguettes inspired by the film’s song ‘Belle’ where the baker brings out the baguettes to sell. To add to this there was also an option of Apricot Preserve and Chocolate Pot. I personally don’t favour Apricot, but the Chocolate Pot was indulgent rich dark chocolate spread. Which tasted incredible with the fresh baguettes.

Then for the sweet options, I was so impressed with the level of creativity that went into this part. In the adorable little Chip Mug which has a tag that says ‘Try the Grey Stuff’ a quote directly from the ‘Be Our Guest’ song. This said “grey stuff” happens to be a lightly whipped creme and underneath is a light and sweet White Chocolate mouse. There is also a Coconut and Chocolate Macaroon shaped to look like a Snowball from Belle and the Beast’s snowball fight in the film. A gold and vanilla jelly topped with whipped cream poured from the delightful Mrs Pot gives the sweet option something a little lighter. Then theres the incredibly rich and indulgent Chocolate Tart made with chocolate genache which has been fashioned to look like the face of Cogsworth.

Finally you are then given in a little bag, a marzipan cookie fashioned to look like Belle’s gold dress from the famous waltz scene finished with little red roses. Which I thought was a lovely touch.

By this time, after devouring all this incredible food me and my mother were well and truly stuffed. We practically had to roll ourselves out of the hotel and back into the cab to the station. My gosh what incredible food and such a variety on offer.

The hospitality was second to none at this hotel, the staff were extremely helpful and approachable. There are also options for Vegetarians and Vegans and a wide selection of teas on offer. The atmosphere was very laid back and relaxed, there was a mixture of diners in the space from friends for a girls day out to families bringing their children to enjoy the experience.

If I could sum up this experience in five words it would be unique, nostalgic, delicious, welcoming and creative. Its a unique dining experience and one that any Disney fans must visit before it finishes in November. Its also a great experience for families, perhaps if you are looking at taking your child to their first afternoon tea. It will be a memorable one, the setting is remarkable, with a lot of attention to detail, yet its a lovely relaxed vibe and the staff are wonderful.

All in all I really enjoyed my time here with my mum and felt just like Belle did when she is welcomed to the diner table by the Lumiere. It certainly was a great birthday treat (well pre-birthday as my actual birthday is tomorrow.)

If you want to find out more about the Tale as Old as Time afternoon tea click here.

Thank you so much for reading my blog today, have a great week and I’ll see you in my next one.

Fashioneyesta

xx