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!
