Dining experiences should be all about the slow. Whether it’s the bottomless lazy brunches, supper clubs serving more dishes than I have fingers, or tapas restaurants. Dining experiences for me are best when you can take the time to pore over your food and enjoy your company in a rightfully relaxed and enjoyable fashion. This, as an admittedly lazy slob, suits me just fine. So whether its brunch, tapas or afternoon tea, I always make the time to indulge. So…I was delighted to go down to the Royal Hotel in York to sample their afternoon tea for a lazy Saturday.
Although we in Yorkshire arguably have the finest tea in the land, I don’t really think we do afternoon tea so well (well, with the exception of Betty’s of course). Unlike London where pretty much every hotel worth its salt offers afternoon tea, we up here don’t really have the same opportunity to don our Sunday best and nibble on finger sandwiches. And perhaps too twe don’t have the same numbers of really great hotels, save for the smaller boutique ones dotted around. I mean Leeds doesn’t yet have a 5 star hotel to its name…no seriously. However the Royal York since its £20 million refurb is leading the way for the other hotels in Yorkshire. Quite simply the place is stunning. Plush yet comfortable décor has been carefully curated in this wonderful space. High ceilings and huge windows fill rooms with light. It is worth just popping in to steal a view of this place, if only to get some decorating inspiration for your house.
For afternoon tea you take a table in a wonderfully bright room overlooking the hotel gardens from which you can see the ancient city walls of the former capital of England. For a mere £20 a head you can enjoy an afternoon here or pay and extra £5 and sip on champagne whilst you do so (proper Moet too).
To start you are brought a trio of amuse bouches which is welcome as I rarely feel full after afternoon tea. We tried crab salad with avocado and bisque mousse, cheese and caramelised onion tart and a cream cheese and chive mouse with a biscuity type base. All were pleasant enough, yet I was unsure how they all married together as an offering.
Together with your choice of pretty much any tea you can think of comes a sweet three tiered tray of afternoon cakes, pastries and itty bitty sandwiches. Perfectly rectangular cucumber and salmon sandwiches were soft and gone in two bites. The cake selection was numerous and the scones perfect. Served with clotted cream and home-made jam, these simple little mounds of heaven were my highlight of the tea. The cakes are all fine, save for the macaroon and chocolate and orange elcair which are both outstanding. The volume of food here is on the overwhelming side, but if taken at a leisurely slow pace, you can stretch it out over hours. Considering the cost of a mere £25, you are seriously going to be hard pushed to find somewhere with the sense of occasion that this place has and leave with a fully rounded belly: this place gets a 10/10 for value. This venue and its tea will stick in my mind as a memory of one of the most wonderful afternoons I’ve had in a while.
Royal York Hotel
Station Rd,
York,
North Yorkshire
YO24 1AA
01904 653681
http://www.hotelroyalyork.co.uk/
Written by Erin Goodall, FoodGoblin Northern Correspondent
