Mad Hatters Tea Party

I love afternoon tea. Those tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off (cucumber, of course), the pretty cakes, the posh tea drunk out of proper teacups. Just the old fashioned englishness of it all, really.

So, off we pottered to the Sanderson Hotel the other weekend for afternoon tea with a slight twist. The Sanderson are currently running a mad hatters tea party, which was supposed to be just for March to tie in with Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland movie, but they’ve extended it now until May I think, as it’s been so popular.

The Sanderson looks fairly unassuming from the outside, but the huge bar inside and the covered courtyard garden where the afternoon tea is served are so very pretty, with lots of natural light and plants and even a fountain.

Whilst it was not as good as afternoon tea at the Ritz, it was half the price! Also, the little sandwiches all had brightly coloured bread – you don’t get that at the Ritz :)

Scones were just so-so, but the cakes were fab! Chocolate and raspberry cupcake had popping candy in it and the queen of hearts cake was a kind of strawberry mousse encased in a strawberry and white chocolate shell. Then, to finish, lollipops that turn from hot to cold.

I may have left on somewhat of a sugar high!

Next stop – Claridges...