Afternoon tea is a popular choice of many. Pastries, scones and finger sandwiches served with tea and coffee is the norm. Hotels continually try to outdo each other with variations on the theme; gentleman’s afternoon tea, peculiar afternoon tea, chocolate afternoon tea and art afternoon tea to name but a few. I’ve tried most and like them all. Continue reading
Back in October 2015 I had the pleasure of taking an overnight visit to Dunboyne Castle Hotel. They have a fantastic award-winning spa on site called Seoid Spa. Ready for some hard-core relaxing I did of course try out the facilities which includes a pool, sauna, steam room and outdoor hot tub. Continue reading
I’ve written before about a visit to The Westin for A Most Peculiar Afternoon Tea. This time however myself and Ruby decided to treat ourselves on a Friday afternoon to the option of takeaway afternoon tea. Priced at €19.95 each it comes in the branded three tier carry box you can see in the picture above. It needs to be ordered 24 hours in advance, especially if you want to avail of the gluten free option.
Three Tiers
I ordered the standard one and Ruby ordered the gluten free option. I have to say my finger sandwiches were fresh and tasty however hers were a little on the dry side. Apparently its quite common to get below par sandwiches when opting for a gluten free option. Despite that set back there was more than enough food to feed us. A mix of sandwiches, scones and an array of mini desserts.
While I wouldn’t be ordering it very often it is quite nice to do it as a special treat. The only draw back was that we had to carry our takeaway afternoon tea round the corner to a coffee shop to buy some tea to go with it. The Westin don’t provide any take out tea or napkins or even a disposable knife to prepare your scone. Not ideal if you were picking it up and planning to head straight to the park for a relaxing afternoon.
None the less we did enjoy it and there’s some pictures below to give you an idea of what its like.
Raspberry Jam
Clotted Cream
Finger Sandwiches
Finger Sandwiches
Salmon, Cream Cheese and Dill
Fresh Scones
Strawberries
Salted Caramel and Chocolate
Red Velvet Cupcake
Macaroons
Scones with Jam and Clotted Cream
Baked Tart
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Ruby Laine, one of the girls I work with was leaving us. She is a wonderfully vintage girl dropped into a modern world and loves anything with a touch of old style charm. She doesn’t like too much of a fuss so rather than the usual leaving drinks I organised an Afternoon Tea farewell for her.
The venue of choice was the Atrium Lounge in The Westin Hotel. They have two differant afternoon teas on offer. The first the standard afternoon tea that everyone knows and loves with pots of tea and fresh scones and mini cakes. Ruby went for that one. She is a coeliac and I’m delighted to say that they were happy to cater for her needs without compromising on taste. The second was entitled A Most Peculiar Afternoon Tea which I went for. A racy little number this one. (Laura from The Dublin Diary gave me that word)
A Most Peculiar Afternoon Tea
It was a Hendricks Gin infused twist on a classic Afternoon Tea and came complete with a tea pot full of Victorian Mojito.
Teapot of Victorian Mojito
Atrium Roof
I’ve never really had afternoon tea as such but always imagined you would be starving after it as everything is miniature. I was happy to be proved wrong however. Despite the size the three tiers of mini treats were suprisingly filling and it was a struggle to finish. A struggle yes, but I did finish and then started sampling some of Rubys too.
Feast your eyes on these!
Black olive, tomato tapenade and goats cheese dipper
Almond and redcurrant frangipane tart
Banana Bread
Spiced roast beef, spinach, red onion and horseradish involtine
Confit of pork cheek, stilton and honey aioli
Confit of pork cheek, stilton and honey aioli
Popcorn panna cotta, toffee popcorn crumble
Cream & Jam For Scones
Oak smoked Irish salmon, caviar, cream cheese blini
Naturally enough they also had an extensive range of teas and coffees available to suit all tastes. Ruby went for the Green Tea to accompany her coeliac friendly selection.
Green Tea
Some of the Coeliac Friendly treats
I of course was being all sorts of classy with my teapot full of booze!!
So Refined
All in all an enjoyable afternoon was had. Both versions of afternoon tea are available for €26 per person which I did find good value. It’s served Monday to Friday and Sunday from 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. and on Saturdays between 1.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m.
Link to the menu here