Okay, so it wasn’t a fine dining experience at The Ritz tearoom, but I enjoyed it. Dave had actually discovered the Orangery online and thought he’d treat me to an afternoon tea there at Kensington Palace on our recent trip to London, England. Who am I to argue?
After a disappointing tour of the interior of Kensington Palace, I was looking forward to sitting and enjoy some tea. It was sunny, but the wind was quite chilly, so a pot of tea would be a nice reward.
The Orangery is a lovely, long white room with two banquet rooms at either end. Tall windows allow rays of sunlight to waft through to the brilliant orange plants set at each table as a centerpiece
They add a real pop of color at each table in an otherwise colorless room. We arrived for the afternoon tea, which started at 3 p.m., around 3:15. We did have to wait about another 15 minutes before getting a table, but I didn’t really mind. They handed us menus to look at prior to being seated and that helped me decide which tea to have. Dave is not a tea drinker and didn’t seem anxious to start now, so he ordered coffee. I ordered the Pimm’s Afternoon Tea because it offered a few more items and a different selection of tea. I had no idea what a Pimms was and had to look it up later.
After another short wait, the tea was delivered in a simple solid white teapot along with cream and white and brown sugar. I don’t like anything in my tea, so I never used either of those. A creative strainer was included as well. I had never seen one like this and would like to find one of my own! It took me a second to realize how it worked, but it wasn’t rocket science. The sweet and savory treats brought on a 3-tiered tray stand included some lovely finger foods filled with sweat delights, as well as a large, fluffy, warm scone with clotted cream. And there were four different kinds of sandwiches including cucumber, ham and cheese and a salmon one. I split the sandwiches with Dave. I also enjoyed the Pimms!! Delicious.
The only thing that wasn’t so pleasant was the man sitting directly across from our table who didn’t realize his pants hang quite low as he was sitting at his table. Yes….Dave took a photo!!
I enjoyed the tea and would have loved to check out every tea room in London, but time and money did not allow it. Maybe next time.
Tea, Travel & Brain Aneurysm Awareness 