Showing posts with label tea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tea. Show all posts

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Oh my honey, honey! Manuka Kitchen : LOCAL LOVES

After spotting a little AAGill review Mumma Morrow and I decided to give Manuka Kitchen on the Fulham Road a try. Boy am I glad we did!

I've gone past it a million times and thought nothing of it. It's very low key and unassuming, nestling in amongst the tea shops and salons. But as mum was in town, and she'd read the amazing review, a visit was put in the diary. 



Breakfast is served from 10am and although we didn't book I'd recommend doing so - I think word is going to spread like wildfire. We sat at a sweet little table in the middle of the restaurant, surrounded by families, couples and groups of friends. The atmosphere is lovely.  We ordered tea and coffee and soaked in the morning sun that was streaming through the windows. 



 

Tummies grumbling with anticipation we ordered blueberry pancakes and French toast that was served with bacon, banana and spiced honey. Sipping our tea and chatting about my sister's recent engagement to her lovely boyfriend we were happy as two larry's as the chefs prepared the breakfast masterpieces that soon arrived at our table.


The French toast was divine - cooked to perfection and beautifully presented with a brûléed banana still in it's skin on the top. It was utterly dreamy and a lady on the neighbouring table promptly ordered some after spotting mine.





A five minute walk from Fulham Broadway tube this is a definite breakfast hot spot and I'm planning to go for dinner soon - has anyone been? Would love an order recommendation!

xXx

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Let them eat cake! W Hotel Afternoon Tea : LOCAL LOVES

Lovely Catriona went and got older at the weekend so to celebrate we went for Afternoon Tea at the rather swanky W Hotel in Central London. 

 

Afternoon Tea is definitely one of my favourite ways to while away an autumnal afternoon but at an average price of £25 it's sadly not something I can do every weekend! Also, I don't think the bikini bod would like it much either.

This was actually the second time I'd been to the W for Afternoon Tea - it's a good'un. They call it the W Rock Tea and everything is rock themed - the sandwiches, the cakes, the cake stand, the crockery - all of it. Here's the menu so you can see what I mean:
W Rock Tea
Dark side of the moon – (Pink Floyd, 1973)
Smoked salmon, cream cheese & dill
Cucumber & herbed butter
Ham & caramelised onion
Curried chicken 

Rule Britannia
Currant scone, clotted cream and jam
London’s burning – (The Clash, 1979)
Chocolate pudding, hazelnut crunch 
Sticky fingers – (Rolling Stones, 1971)
Vanilla meringue & attitude 
Sweet emotion – (Aerosmith, 1975)
Chocolate & passion fruit
Every rose has a thorn – (Poison, 1988)
Rose financier & rose petal jam
Purple haze – (Jimi Hendrix, 1967)
Victoria sponge, psychedelic marzipan
Cherry bomb – (The Runaways, 1976)
Chocolate, mascarpone & cherry

And here it is in all it's glory...yep, that's what I thought too - get in my belly!







The service at the W is fantastic and makes your party feel very special - our lovely waitress was very knowledgeable about everything on the menu and all the different teas on offer. Emily (the original mega babe) went for a pomegranate one which we all had a hearty slurp of.

Afternoon tea has become a real trend in London at the moment for celebrations - I've been for birthdays and engagement celebrations, and also been given an afternoon tea as a gift voucher (thank you Santa). It looks like a lot of food to eat in one sitting but in my experience it's not frowned upon to ask for a doggy bag so get those treats packed up and take them home!

So this very full Londoner would suggest...

- Go for a lovely afternoon tea. Other than the W Hotel here are I couple that I would recommend for really special occasions:
     - Harrods - £29 per person. A real classic. You are served from the finest antique silver tea pots - luxury!
     - Sanderson Hotel - £35 per person - Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea. Brilliant theme and a wacky setting.
     - The Landmark - £40 per person - this is where the England cricket team stay when they're in town ;)
     - The Corinthia - £42 per person. You'll have your tea sat under the light of a chandelier that cost £1m!
     - The Ritz - £45 per person. Seriously swanky.
     - The Savoy - £45 per person. I spotted Will Smith the last time I was there!
     - The Dorchester - a stonking £51 per person. Blimey.

- Find a nice offer. As you can see Afternoon Tea can get pretty expensive but there are ways to keep the cost down. The W Hotel are currently running a 20% off deal for WOW Card holders. For other offers this website is great for snooping them out. You can also search by location and this covers the whole of the Uk.

Enjoy! x