Falling down the rabbit hole - Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea at How Do You Do

After a glowing review from Katie about How Do You Do's Mad Hatters afternoon tea, I decided that I had to visit. Although it was all the way out in Whitley Bay, around an hour away from me, I thought it sounded too good to pass up on. I showed my partner in crime when it comes to afternoon tea, my mum, the menu and she was sold too. We are always on the lookout for new, exciting afternoon tea!

We arrived at the venue a little early for our booking, but towards the end of their afternoon tea service. There were many people quite the way through their cakey delights so we had an idea about what we were about to receive. When we were settled the waitress brought over a pot of tea, themed of course, which was spouting smoke. Very cool.

She then brought out the food and explained what everything was. We had ham and mustard sandwiches (the yellow ones), egg mayo and cheese & chutney (the green ones). These were nice but lacked a lot of filling. That was a bit disappointing but we carried on munching. With the sandwiches was a plain scone each with jam and cream which was nice and warm, a lovely colour and very tasty.

After these were wolfed down it was on to the tray of goodies. There was little 'drink me' cream soda bottles, marshmallows, macarons, mini doughnuts, meringues and Petri-dishes of jelly. They were all lovely, although the macaron was questionable, but after it all, we were still hungry which is not normal for an afternoon tea. Usually, we are full to the bring with sugar and carbs. We ordered another pot of tea (which they charged us for, blah, we need bottomless tea!) and sat for a while contemplating chips.

For £12.95 each, it was a reasonable afternoon tea but there were too many fiddly bits and not enough substance. I would have liked maybe another scone and some more sandwich filling to keep me happy!

Would this be something you'd like? Have you been?

Ladies Afternoon Tea at Crathorne Hall with Butterwick Hospice Care

Having afternoon tea is one of my favourite things to do. I love the savoury and the sweet all mixed into one tasty little sitting. Luckily for me, I was invited to a special ladies afternoon tea recently at Crathorne Hall, organised by Butterwick Hospice Care. I arrived at 1pm on a sunny Thursday in February with some work colleagues and we browsed the few stalls that were set up. There were people selling many different things including jewellery, cakes and little bits and bobs. A stall that caught my eye was the Gingerbread Mam, selling lots of ginger related products including ginger wine, ginger syrup, ginger parkin and of course gingerbread men! Later on, in the event we got to hear from Liz, the Gingerbread Mam, about her 'ginger' journey to where she is now! She has come so far attending lots of farmers markets across the North East and now she is even stocked in Fenwicks Newcastle and York. I've picked up a ginger syrup sponge which I had a little taste of at the event and it was yummy! I can't wait to have it with some ice cream. After we heard from Liz, Adam Prest, a local renowned florist, took the spotlight to do some live arranging and talk us through his career up to now. He has travelled all over the world working at prestigious weddings and events. His arrangements are so unique and different to the normal run of the mill as he uses only flowers that are in season and really pays attention to what his clients want and brings his own ideas to the table.

On to the main event, the afternoon tea! On a table of eight, we were served two-tiered stands with a selection of sandwiches and cakes. To accompany this they brought a slate tray full of normal and fruit scones as well as bowls of cream and jam! To my dismay, there were only three of everything on the stands so we didn't all get to have one of each.

I started with the sandwiches (as you do) having a cucumber one, ham and an egg. My favourite was the ham! It was so delicious and didn't have any horrible chewy bits in like some do. After I'd eaten my three sandwiches I really wanted more but alas we were all out. Next, it was on to the scones. I was pleased with my massive bowl of strawberry jam and lots of butter but a bit disappointed that the scones seemed to be a little over baked.

Last but not least it was on to the cakes. As we were all unsure of what each other wanted to take, and we were still craving more sandwiches (seriously I was on the verge of asking for more), not many of the cakes were eaten. I tried a chocolate tart which was very nice and then I had a bite of the pistachio cake which I didn't really think tasted very nutty but it was a lovely little cake. I didn't try the other items which were a berry Eton mess and victoria sponge cake but I'm sure they were lovely too as the other guests on our table seemed to polish these off! I had a lovely afternoon at Crathorne Hall and it raised money for a great cause. For £22 I think its great value and a great afternoon tea.

The Treebridge Hotel Afternoon Tea Review

For Mum's birthday, we decided to try another location on the Gazette's list of places to try in Teesside for afternoon tea. In January, we visited number two on their list - Starters in Middlesbrough - it was okay but we are still looking for something better.
From the list, we chose the Treebridge Hotel in Middlesbrough and got ourselves booked up on a Tuesday afternoon. As we went during the week it was extremely quiet and there was no one else around. It didn't take long for our stand of food to arrive, accompanied by special plain sandwiches for my sister, little jars of jam and copious amounts of tea.

The sandwiches available included prawn mayonnaise, egg and cress, ham and mustard and chicken with chive dressing and mixed leaves. I mostly just ate the egg sandwiches as I don't like prawns but I did try the ham and the chicken and they were good. 

Next, it was on to the scones. Now I am not by any stretch of the imagination an expert on scones but I found these to be very flat and crumbly like they had been handled too much. I ate my fruit one and it was nice but it broke apart very easily when I tried to cut it open. I didn't fancy the cheese so my sister ate that which she seemed to enjoy.  During our food, we were offered more tea which we accepted. It was all included which I was pleased about!

Finally, it was on to the cake. There seemed to be a good few choices on the top plate with various flavours. When we started to tuck in we were very underwhelmed. The cheesecake was not nice at all, I couldn't actually tell you what flavour it was, me and my sister both left this. Then it was on to the red velvet, I wasn't a fan, but then again I just don't understand red velvet cake anyway. I'm not really one for macaroons so this didn't excite me, then it was on to the chocolate monarch. This was tasty, not the best chocolate cake I've eaten but the best of a bad bunch and I ate it all.

This afternoon tea was £15.95 per person of which I had to pay £5 each as a deposit when booking. Although the Treebridge Hotel is a beautiful setting and the look of the afternoon tea was lovely, I was disappointed by the detail that had gone into it. The scones were flat and the cakes weren't the most appetising. I was however pleased by the offer of more tea. You always need more tea at an afternoon tea.

Even though I'm not keen on the afternoon tea here I can tell you they do fabulous food! I'd definitely recommend here for a nice steak or a Sunday lunch.

Festive Afternoon Tea at the Vermont Hotel

Earlier this month I attended a festive edition of the blogger cake club, kindly organised by Chloe. For the Christmas special she booked us in at The Vermont Hotel in Newcastle. This is a posh hotel hidden away in the centre of Newcastle. I can say this as I got lost trying to find it, it's hidden in plain sight. All I will say is look up and you'll see the sign, don't make the mistake I did and walk down to quayside and back. At least I worked off a bit of cake before I'd eaten it!

We'd all decided before we got there that we'd don our cheesy Christmas jumpers. As I'm known for gingerbread men, that's the jumper I had to go with! The seven of us, all in our festive best, were seated in the Redwood bar which was very cosy and elegant.

Soon after we sat down our food came and there seemed to be loads of it, they even gave us all a glass of mulled wine to accompany it. What was brilliant about this afternoon tea was that they brought us as much tea as we wanted! This is what us bloggers, and I'd have to say us British, love! There were plenty of yummy sandwiches including a festive brie, bacon and cranberry one. Everyone had two scones each and then a plate FULL of desserts. I didn't get the chance to try them all but the ones I had, which included a chocolate mousse and a chocolate truffle, were definitely satisfying.

During our afternoon tea, we exchanged Secret Santa presents. At first, it was very tense to see if the person I'd bought for, Shivani, liked her present then I was nervous to see if I would like mine! Everyone has that feeling, don't they? Just in case they don't like their gift. It's safe to say I LOVED my present from Kayleigh, she got it spot on with my gingerbread themed gifts. She gave me a knitted gingerbread man for the Christmas tree, a gingerbread bath bomb and a ginger-spiced candle! Perfect presents for the gingerbread obsessed. Just in case you are wondering, Shivani seemed to like her gift which was a mug shaped like a camera lense. She likes taking photos so I thought this was a quirky but relevant present. I also got her a chocolate S from Amsterdam.

Overall it was a brilliant afternoon with a superb afternoon tea which I'd recommend to anyone for £14.95 as it was great value for the amount you get. Although this was the festive afternoon tea in sure their normal one would be just as good! I can't wait to see what amazing places Chloe picks for next year's blogger cake club.