Afternoon Tea At The St James Hotel, Nottingham
Published On Friday 20 Dec 2024 by Sticky Beak
See Recent Dining Out Reviews | See All Recent Reviews
Nothing feels better than a last-minute, cheeky annual leave day, and His Nibs was positively brimming with excitement at his ‘freedom’! So was I, I have to say; more so, because The Man had snagged a Groupon Deal for Afternoon Tea ( a ‘Sparkling’ one, no less) – I love a bargain as you all know and at a doubly-reduced price of £26.96 for the two of us, it was irresistible. To be fair, the original price of £45.90 per couple would’ve been ok, but seeing it on Groupon at £29.95 with an extra 10% sealed the deal.
St James Hotel is a stones’ throw from Nottingham Castle, and the venue itself is a lovely-looking building. I was instantly smitten by the striking lights in the reception area, which itself was looking snazzy in all its festive finery. A lovely chap behind the desk directed us up to No.6 Bar and Lounge, where the Afternoon Tea is served, and one of his colleagues took care of us from then.
We took a seat in a tucked away corner table that afforded us a view of the entire area; I love indulging in a spot of people-watching, and this was the prime place to do it from! Our server wasted no time in bringing out pots of tea and coffee for us and then scooted off to pour the bubbly. Chinking our glasses together, we sat back and awaited our treats.
A simple, triple-tiered stand was soon winging its way over to us, brimming with a wide selection of temptations. The widest, bottom tier housed the selection of sandwiches: squares of white and wholemeal bread filled with Ham, Egg Mayonnaise, Cheese and Pickle, and Tuna and Cucumber. Each filling was generous and bursting with taste, and I was a very happy lady because I got double Tuna and Cucumber: despite getting more adventurous, His Nibs still says that Tuna is a step too far! Fine by me. Personally, I loved the malty, nutty flavour of the wholemeal bread and all the bread was fresh – you can tell by the softness and springiness.
Next up were the assorted, homemade cakes and biscuits that had been carefully arranged on their middle tier home. We kicked off our sweet odyssey with individual Meringue nests filled with whipped Cream, fresh Blueberries and a sharp, zingy Berry Coulis; ooh, these were delicious – I am so happy that me and Meringue have rekindled our love for each other. The Man loves a Sticky Toffee Pudding, so he was in raptures when he took a bite of the Sticky Toffee sponge cake! I have to agree with him; it was very moreish, its gentle toffee depth beguiling the palate and we both loved the crunchy balls of Toffee that decorated the surface.
Chef had made super-cute, dinky rounds of Shortbread and sandwiched Cream and Strawberry Jam between two of them to create a visually pleasing morsel that melted beautifully in the mouths’ warmth. The final treat on this tier was what looked like a large Ferrero Rocher at first glance… and it sort of was, just not as overtly nutty. The chocolate shell was pierced to reveal a pale sponge which, when bitten into, made way for a centre of soft Chocolate Ganache – very tasty, let me tell you.
As is our custom [don’t ask me why, it’s something we’ve always just done] we had saved the fresh Scone until last, and the pair of them took pride of place on the uppermost tier of the stand, accompanied by individual jars of Strawberry Jam and a pot of Clotted Cream. Texturally, the scones were perfect, though I was a bit disappointed that they were plain rather than fruited. With no decorum at all, we slathered the jam and cream onto the cut halves and began to dig in. Along with a pot of tea, there isn’t much that a good scone can’t solve, is there?
Just like that, our Afternoon Tea adventure had reached its conclusion; but a jolly pleasant one it had been, and I would certainly come back for the Afternoon Tea at St James Hotel in Nottingham. Full price it might be a couple of quid over-the-odds (the sandwiches could’ve been a bit bigger and the Scone a fruit-pimped one), but if you see a Groupon deal it’s worth bagging yourself a voucher!
| Out For Breakfast At S42 Cafe In Tupton, Chesterfield Hot on the heels of its recent win in Derbyshire Timess - What's your favourite Cafe across Chesterfield and Derbyshires poll, S42 Cafe in Tupton invited The Man and I along to Read The Article | |
| Out For Dinner At The Boathouse In Farndon I'm not quite sure whether Kane Oliver is utterly bonkers yet, or whether he simply can't get enough of the hospitality business! The Man and I have already visited one of his venues, The Lion by Read The Article | |
| Out For Lunch In The Farmhouse Kitchen At Horsley Lodge Estate I'm not much of a cook at the best of times, to be honest; so, you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm not going to bust a gut trying to rustle something tasty up on a Bank Read The Article | |
| Out For Dinner At Anoki Indian Restaurant In Nottingham The Anoki team have been at it again; winning awards, that is! At the recent English Curry Awards, they scooped not one, but TWO wins: Best of Nottingham in the Read The Article | |
| Out For Dinner At The Machine Inn, Ashbourne If you're a foodie in the Shire, you'll have heard the name Danny Box; and if you haven't, where the heck you been?!! This very talented Chef has formerly been in kitchens at The Read The Article | |
| Out For Tapas At Venga In Portishead His Nibs and I were working together as part of his day job and, after a solid days graft, decided to head out into Portishead for a bite of dinner. As is usual for me, when the weathers warm, it messes with Read The Article | |
| Sunday Lunch At The Kedleston Country House, Quarndon One of the best bits about the blog, for me, is that over the years we've got to see some raw talent at its inception and one of these happens to be Mr Leo Hill. Back in the day Read The Article | |
| Breakfast At The Cool River Cafe In Matlock Bestie Bird and Ginger Ninja came to stay for the weekend with His Nibs and I whilst The Bolton Wanderer wandered further than Bolton to Florida to see his favourite band! Our best-laid plans were Read The Article | |
| A Visit To The Newly Opened Hickory's Smokehouse In Oadby, Leicester The Man and I's favourite Smokehouse, Hickory's, added another string to its bow (or another steer to its ranch, if you want a Southern States analogy!) Read The Article | |
| Out For Dinner At Anoki Indian Restaurant In Derby It's always nice to know that you've done something right, and The Man and I figured that this must be the case as we were invited to review Anoki in Derby after recently visiting its Burton Read The Article | |