London Underground Afternoon Tea At The Park Lane Hotel
In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the world’s first underground train system, the Park Lane Hotel have created a very special London Underground Afternoon Tea. FashionBite made the journey to the beautiful Palm Court Lounge to try it out…
Following a rather brisk walk in the snow from Green Park station to the hotel, we were grateful to arrive at a table in the ornate Art Deco-inspired lounge. Once thawed, we happily accepted an offer of a Metropolitan 1863 cocktail, a potent blend of Beefeater 24 gin and blackcurrant tea. Named after the first tube journey ever on the Metropolitan line, the drink was cool, sharp and unmistakably British.
Next up was our choice of tea (we went with the old favourite English Breakfast to truly warm the cockles) and a selection of sandwiches and wraps. Here’s the full list:
- Egg, Crème Fraiche, Sun Blushed Tomato and Wild Watercress ‘London Bridge’ Roll
- ‘Royal Oak’-Smoked Salmon, Capers & Sour Cream bagel (Mind the Gap!)
- ‘District and Circle Line’ roulade with Coronation Chicken, Mayonnaise, Saffron Bread & Spinach
- Honey Roast Ham (for Paddington Bear!), Toasted Muffin, ‘Piccadilly’ Relish and Micro Cress
- Warm Leek and Asparagus Double ‘Gloucester Road’ tart with a Soft Poached Quails Egg
Though tasty, we were a little disappointed with the sandwiches’ link to the theme – a couple of toothpicks poked into the bread bearing Tube-related logos wasn’t quite the ticket. We had higher hopes for the scones and pastries, created especially for the hotel by award-winning chef Sarah Hartnett – we were served two scones each, (one plain, one fruit) with ‘Limehouse’ Curd, (delicious) ‘Victoria’ Plum Jam and clotted cream. Already feeling full, we weren’t sure we could eat much more… but then came the pastries, and it was all change for these passengers!
Hazelnut pound cake (Bank), orange Victoria sponge (Victoria), honey, lemon and pistachio cake (Circle and District Lines) and a white chocolate Oreo swiss roll (Swiss Cottage) didn’t take long to tempt us – aren’t they cute! Our favourite was the Bank pound cake – a light, moist treat adorned with a delicate pound coin carved out of chocolate and dusted with gold.
