Afternoon tea in London

[Pansypuss]

Anyone with lots of money to spare, here's an idea for you! Afternoon tea at the Ritz. My mother-in-law is celebrating her 70th birthday and fancied tea at the Ritz. I thought, oh well, I'll just go along and watch the rest tuck in and sip daintily (!) at a cup of tea. Then I thought I'd write to the Ritz and see what they said and got this reply:- brilliant!

'Thank you for contacting The Ritz.

I am pleased to advise we have afternoon tea vegan sandwiches and pastries available. Please kindly advise at the time of booking.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if I may be of any further assistance. We look forward to the opportunity of welcoming you to The Ritz.'

[twinkle]

That's fantastic! Thanks for letting us know. I actually seriously fancy that (although I wonder what the sandwich fillings are? I hope they don't think salmon is vegan).

[Marrers]

Are you going Pansypuss? When is it? We will need a review of course!

(I had tea at The Grand in Brighton as part of a literary thing and got cucumber and salad sandwiches. IIRC I don't think there was any cake for me though.)

[Troutina]

Oh my God that's amazing!!
My Spanish flatmate is obsessed by British tea parties and I really wanted to take her for a traditional tea but couldn't find anywhere vegan!
I'm super excited now!!

[Pansypuss]

Well, we can't get a booking for the time we need so are booked into the Dorchester. I'll send a similar message to ask them if they will cater for me. I'll let you know what they say.

[Agatha]

just a word of warnign about the ritz ... i took my mum there for her birthday two years ago and had the same response of 'yes we can accommodate you'. I said at the time of booking i was vegan. i phoned the day before just to confirm we hadn't fogotten and i was still vegan. and i made it known when we arrived. i was offered a cucumber sandwich (literally a slice of cucumber between two slices of white bread) and black tea. no pastries. the French waiter came to ask why i wasn't eating any of the cake. so i told him again i was vegan and wouldn't eat anything with egg or milk in. he just shurgged and walked off.

yup, i found that 'accommodating'.

[BlackCats]

just a word of warnign about the ritz i was offered a cucumber sandwich (literally a slice of cucumber between two slices of white bread) and black tea. no pastries. the French waiter came to ask why i wasn't eating any of the cake. so i told him again i was vegan and wouldn't eat anything with egg or milk in. he just shurgged and walked off.

Vegans can be so fussy, what's the matter with that, it sounds like enough food to me. That would have really annoyed me! I'm wondering how much money that cost you as well.

That is a shame as tea at the Ritz is something I would like to try for a special occasion.

[Agatha]

forty quid. each. the most expensive over-stewed cup of tea i have ever had!

if it wasn't a special occasion i would have made more of a fuss. but as was i just grinned and looked at the chandeliers.

[harpy]

Blimey! Thanks for the warning, Agatha. I would have been tempted to try and pocket the tea-pot for that price (just joking!). Hope your mum enjoyed the experience?

Will be interested to hear how Pansypuss gets on, not that I'm in the market for any £40 teas myself but you never know.

[Marrers]

Maybe we should all meet up for tea at The Ritz - with enough vegans coming in at once they would have to make us cakes and do some decent sandwiches. (We could call in and speak to someone in charge about exactly what they planned to offer.) I'd love to do tea at The Ritz too.

If they didn't cater for us suitably well we would just walk out without paying!

(Pansypuss I went to a big dinner at The Dorchester and they did me lovely food but I had to bring my own wine - it was a bit embarrassing arriving for a posh event clutching a bottle in a bag though, I felt like a wino.)

[BlackCats]

Maybe we should all meet up for tea at The Ritz - with enough vegans coming in at once they would have to make us cakes and do some decent sandwiches. (We could call in and speak to someone in charge about exactly what they planned to offer.) I'd love to do tea at The Ritz too. If they didn't cater for us suitably well we would just walk out without paying!

Yes I would like to do that. I think they would have to provide something decent if there were a few of us.

[Marrers]

So who is up for an expensive afternoon tea with BlackCats and I? (Go on harpy, you know you want to!)

[1gentlemaorispirit]

Maybe we should all meet up for tea at The Ritz - with enough vegans coming in at once they would have to make us cakes and do some decent sandwiches. (We could call in and speak to someone in charge about exactly what they planned to offer.) I'd love to do tea at The Ritz too.

If they didn't cater for us suitably well we would just walk out without paying!

(Pansypuss I went to a big dinner at The Dorchester and they did me lovely food but I had to bring my own wine - it was a bit embarrassing arriving for a posh event clutching a bottle in a bag though, I felt like a wino.)

I think it's a great idea! Why shouldn't we be pampered for an afternoon in style and comfort?! Ok, £40 is a bit pricey, but for a one off treat it would be worth it.

I confess to walking out without paying for my food once. I went on a date with a guy who was emotionally constipated, and talking about the anatomy of the prawns in his sandwiches, whilst seeing if he demostrate it to me. I told him how disgusting he was and left.

He sent me a text message asking if he had offended me? Well, duh!

[squigaletta]

I heard that the legal stance is if you are not happy with a meal you should pay for what you estimate the meal to have cost for the establishment to buy, and then you are 'legally covered' I don't know how true this is but I'm not sure I could have brought myself to pay £40!

[Marrers]

I think it's a great idea!

So are you up for joining us? (Not sure where you are based.)

I may pop into The Ritz and make enquiries and if it sounds like they can do us a decent spread I'll post about it in the meet ups section, see if anyone else is interested.

[1gentlemaorispirit]

So are you up for joining us? (Not sure where you are based.)

I may pop into The Ritz and make enquiries and if it sounds like they can do us a decent spread I'll post about it in the meet ups section, see if anyone else is interested.

Absolutely, I'm up for it!!! I'm in Basildon, Essex, and can get the train from here to Fenchurch street, no worries.

I know I can't make it until April as I've managed to get myself into various things in Feb and March.

I would be great to meet some or all of you!

[twinkle]

It depends when it is and how flush I'm feeling at the time, but I would potentially be interested

[Marrers]

Good news. I think it would be nice to do it in spring - we could walk it off in Green Park afterwards!

[1gentlemaorispirit]

Marrers, I was chatting to a colleague earlier and mentioned about a vegan afternoon tea at the Ritz, he advised me to go to The Dorchester as they routinely ask about dietry requirements. Whether they still do or not, I don't know.

He went last year with his wife and is allergic to eggs and tomatoes, and they made a selection sandwiches for him at no extra cost.

It may be worth checking out?! Either way I'm in! OH too if he's not working.

[Pansypuss]

I made a boo boo, it is Claridges we are going to, don't know where I got the Dorchester from. Wish it was the Dorchester though by the sound of it that would have been good. Anyone been to Claridges?

[Ruby Rose]

I went to a wedding at Claridges. I got a pepper stuffed with couscous *yawn* and fruit salad for dessert - no vegan petit fours, biscuits or cake. But maybe it's different if you're going there for tea rather than a big catered event.

[Agatha]

i would abslutely love to go back in a vegan posse and get some good cake! we need to book about three months in advance and we would need to pay in advance too.

i would also love to check out the dorchester and claridges so if somebody has betetr organisational skills than me count me in!

[satsuma]

I'd love to take part in this but would need notice so I could arrange somewhere to stay overnight in London

[Mr Flibble]

Anyone been to Claridges?

No - the restuarant is run by Gordon Ramsey.

[VeganMonkey]

I'd love to go to the Ritz/ Dorchester for afternoon tea if they promise us vegan cakes (it would be an interesting experiment in vegan power!) I did go to the Four Seasons for similar last year but my very thoughtful friend (!) didn't tell them I was vegan (and sprung the whole thing on me on the day so I couldn't call ahead). They did me cucumber sandwiches and avocado sandwiches but I'm not convinced the margarine was vegan (though they did seem to understand the concept). No cakes of course so just drank enough tea to burst! I agree with Mr Fibble - Claridges' associations with Gorndon 'kill it' Ramsey would stop me going there

[Stu]

I'm down wid dis shit.

[mariana]

That's awfully expensive, but I've never had a proper afternoon tea here, so I would come if I knew far enough in advance to save for it (or rather, just cut down on extraneous latte and mocha expenditures ).

[Pansypuss]

]This is what we got from Claridges - sounds hopeful at least. We're going on the 27th feb so will post what it is like after that weekend. I would love to join for the Ritz tea but too far to come just for tea
'I am delighted to confirm your Afternoon tea reservation for a table of eight guests on Friday 27th February 2009. The table is reserved in your name, at 3.30pm.
I have noted one guest is vegan, which is absolutely fine.
I very much hope that you and your guests will enjoy the experience.
I look forward to welcoming you and your guests to The Foyer and Reading Room'

[Agatha]

Thats a good response. Hope you have a nice time

[Marrers]

They don't indicate what they will be serving though! Cucumber sandwiches, black tea and no cake?! I now recall that I was given a fruit platter instead of cake at The Grand in Brighton. All very nicely done but . . . I wanted cake.

[Pansypuss]

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Vegan Afternoon Tea will of course be free of any animal derived gelatin and the sandwiches filling will be chosen by our chef on the day. We usually offer cucumber and rocket, organic tomato and gem lettuce with sundried tomato mayonnaise, hummus with wood roast pepper and coriander and the rest is chosen on the day as we use seasonal ingredients.

Doesn't mention cake though........

[Pansypuss]

What's all that c**p coming up about fonts????

[harpy]

hummus with wood roast pepper

OIC, they mean "...wood-roast pepper...". If it had been "...wood, roast pepper..." it might have been a bit crunchy.

Hope you enjoy it Pansypuss - please let us know.

[Enchantress]

Vegan Afternoon Tea will of course be free of any animal derived gelatin and the sandwiches filling will be chosen by our chef on the day. We usually offer cucumber and rocket, organic tomato and gem lettuce with sundried tomato mayonnaise, hummus with wood roast pepper and coriander and the rest is chosen on the day as we use seasonal ingredients.

Hmm, I wonder if that's vegan mayonnaise .

[Pansypuss]

Well it was a great tea at Claridges, the sandwiches were ace and as many as we wanted. Much better/fresher and tastier than the omnis. No cake though but the cakes the other got were very sickly and not too nice apparently so nothing much missed there. We got vegan scones though with fruit kebabs and raspberry puree to dip them in. They were wonderful. The cream that came with the scones was nasty though, it tasted like greasy marg. and the scones were much nicer with just the tasty jam we got as well. We had champagne and the selection of teas was fanastic. We were given the left over scones to take home and all got a dinky little tin of tea in a Claridges bag. I would recommend it for a spesial occasion.

[Troutina]

Ooh that sounds good!
Shame there were only scones as a cake of choice though.

[Marrers]

Sounds like they put a bit of effort in, making the scones but I'd be disappointed to have no cake. (Did you establish whether the mayo in the sandwiches was okay?)

[Pansypuss]

There wasn't any mayo in them after all.

[Marrers]

VeganMonkey found this and posted this in the London thread. Sounds good to me!

Not sure how old this information is but hoping it's still valid - vegan afternoon tea:
http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/index....=201&Itemid=16

Wow!!

I think we should go! (But maybe we can ask for a vegan high fat version!)

Flemings Mayfair London have introduced Gluten Free, Vegan and Low Fat Afternoon Tea menus to cater for special dietary requirements. The new menus feature all the usual Afternoon Tea favourites - sandwiches, scones and cakes and more...

Vegan & Low Fat Afternoon Tea
Cucumber, Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable and Sun dried Tomato & Pesto
Sandwiches served on White Bread
Warmed Vegan Scones and Jam Preserves
Dairy Free Chocolate Brownies
Strawberries dipped in Dark Chocolate
Dairy Free Cup Cakes
Fruit Jelly with Sorbet
All afternoon teas are served with a cafetière of fair-trade coffee or a pot of loose leaf JING tea

£16.50 per person

Vegan and gluten free iced birthday cakes in a range of flavours and with a choice of simple decorations can be arranged for an additional £45.00 with a choice of flavours.

At least 72 hours notice is required for these Afternoon Tea menus. Please specify requirements in the notes field on the booking form.

Oh definately the high fat version!
Have since found a recent (June 09) review on another forum which isn't encouraging:

Well, it was a bit pants tbh. We were booked in for tea in "the drawing room" at 2pm. We actually ended up packed into a corner of the fairly unattractive subterranean restaurant with the four or five other pairs who had also booked afternoon tea. At 2.45 we finally got pots of tea but still no food. I think we finally got the food at 3pm by which time we were just about chewing our arm off. We asked if the milk in the jug was soya milk - the waitress looked suprised and said that, no, it was normal milk. We asked for soya (we'd booked a vegan tea ffs) and that took about another ten minutes to arrive. The food, when it finally arrived, wasn't great. Actually the sandwiches were quite nice but there were nowhere near enough of them bearing in mind we were starving at this point. The stale scones came with foil-wrapped pats of butter and, next to us, vegans were being given cheesecake by hotel staff who didn't understand why that wasn't going to work. The cakes weren't that great either.

It's a shame because I really wanted it to be good

However, I still think if a few of us are game if might be worth a shot - I guess the more interest they get the more they'll learn and the more inclined they'll be to correct their mistakes... And around 17 pounds is actually comparatively cheap...

[Agatha]

yay that looks amazing! i *really* wanna go

[mariana]

As I wrote in the vegan London thread, that description doesn't sound too appealing but I'd still be up for it if you guys decide to go after I get back to London (also the price is not bad!)

[VeganMonkey]

Thanks for resurrecting this idea Marrers - I'm willing to give it a try...

[VeganMonkey]

Another suggestion which is likely to be preferable to the Flemings Mayfair hotel (although not central) is Bake-a-Boo (discovered by Troutina and reviewed by me in the Vegan London part 2 thread, page 6). It's a small place about a 10 minute walk from West Hampstead stations (tube and 2 main lines) with a private (curtained off) area at the back seating around 12 which would be really cute for a tea party. They don't normally do vegan afternoon tea (although they do dairy free) but I sampled a vegan cupcake which was very good when I was there and the owner has agreed to do a vegan tea if we can get a group of at least 10 together. Here's her provisional suggested menu:
Finger sandwiches – cucumer, hummas....
· 2 flavours of vegan cupcakes – chocolate/banana/coffee/raspberry
· Dark chocolate dipped strawberries
· Vegan biscuits
· Fresh fruit salad or kebabs?

She hasn't done a vegan afternoon tea before so she's keen for suggestions on what we'd like (particularly sandwich fillings). Also, she doesn't know how to make vegan scones so she suggested biscuits instead - are scones essential to anyone's enjoyment? (!)
The price will be roughly 15 pounds a head.
The room is booked in 2 hour slots: the slots still available for September are 19th (4 - 6pm) or 26th (1 - 3pm).
Anyone fancy it? (will need definate numbers before we can book).

[mariana]

Another suggestion which is likely to be preferable to the Flemings Mayfair hotel (although not central) is Bake-a-Boo (discovered by Troutina and reviewed by me in the Vegan London part 2 thread, page 6). It's a small place about a 10 minute walk from West Hampstead stations (tube and 2 main lines) with a private (curtained off) area at the back seating around 12 which would be really cute for a tea party. They don't normally do vegan afternoon tea (although they do dairy free) but I sampled a vegan cupcake which was very good when I was there and the owner has agreed to do a vegan tea if we can get a group of at least 10 together. Here's her provisional suggested menu:
Finger sandwiches – cucumer, hummas....
· 2 flavours of vegan cupcakes – chocolate/banana/coffee/raspberry
· Dark chocolate dipped strawberries
· Vegan biscuits
· Fresh fruit salad or kebabs?

She hasn't done a vegan afternoon tea before so she's keen for suggestions on what we'd like (particularly sandwich fillings). Also, she doesn't know how to make vegan scones so she suggested biscuits instead - are scones essential to anyone's enjoyment? (!)
The price will be roughly 15 pounds a head.
The room is booked in 2 hour slots: the slots still available for September are 19th (4 - 6pm) or 26th (1 - 3pm).
Anyone fancy it? (will need definate numbers before we can book).

Sounds good. I'd like to try it!

[bryzee86]

Another suggestion which is likely to be preferable to the Flemings Mayfair hotel (although not central) is Bake-a-Boo (discovered by Troutina and reviewed by me in the Vegan London part 2 thread, page 6). It's a small place about a 10 minute walk from West Hampstead stations (tube and 2 main lines) with a private (curtained off) area at the back seating around 12 which would be really cute for a tea party. They don't normally do vegan afternoon tea (although they do dairy free) but I sampled a vegan cupcake which was very good when I was there and the owner has agreed to do a vegan tea if we can get a group of at least 10 together. Here's her provisional suggested menu:
Finger sandwiches – cucumer, hummas....
· 2 flavours of vegan cupcakes – chocolate/banana/coffee/raspberry
· Dark chocolate dipped strawberries
· Vegan biscuits
· Fresh fruit salad or kebabs?

She hasn't done a vegan afternoon tea before so she's keen for suggestions on what we'd like (particularly sandwich fillings). Also, she doesn't know how to make vegan scones so she suggested biscuits instead - are scones essential to anyone's enjoyment? (!)
The price will be roughly 15 pounds a head.
The room is booked in 2 hour slots: the slots still available for September are 19th (4 - 6pm) or 26th (1 - 3pm).
Anyone fancy it? (will need definate numbers before we can book).

definitely! Me and joeybee will! How much per head?

[Mr Flibble]

We could potentially be interested in Bakeaboo - dependant on the date

Also, she doesn't know how to make vegan scones so she suggested biscuits instead - are scones essential to anyone's enjoyment? (!)

Cherry's scone recipe is very good and easy to make:

http://www.parsleysoup.co.uk/getreci...&recipe=scones

I would possibly go as far as saying that scones are essential. We've had them a couple of times recently.

[harpy]

Ah, missed this. Am interested but am not sure yet if I can do those dates. I'll let you know shortly if I may, VeganMonkey.

Bryzee, it's about £15 a head VeganMonkey said.

[bryzee86]

Ah, missed this. Am interested but am not sure yet if I can do those dates. I'll let you know shortly if I may, VeganMonkey.

Bryzee, it's about £15 a head VeganMonkey said.

whoops, missed that bit! ta.

[bryzee86]

i emailed bake-a-boo with the link to cherry's recipe. woo.

[Enchantress]

I'm interested in coming. I'd be coming Risker-less though.