INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL PARK LANE – THE CHRISTMAS UNWRAPPED AFTERNOON TEA

Words and photos by by Nicole Chui (Instagram: @nicolemmapearl) and myself.

Located on the ground floor of the Intercontinental Hotel Park Lane is the Wellington Lounge, a comfortable space which offers views of the street (minus the noise) and the edges of Hyde Park. The Wellington Lounge is a lovely spot and a great place for spending time on long chats while enjoying a lovely afternoon tea. Since the holidays are approaching, it was only natural for us to opt for their special “Christmas Unwrapped Afternoon Tea” menu (£42 including a champagne cocktail), and boy was that festive.

Intercontinental Hotel – Champagne cocktails

To start the course of Christmas Afternoon Tea, we were poured a generous amount of the champagne cocktail, champagne with a pear-infused cognac and a small dash of Glenmorangie whiskey. The cocktail was really fabulous, and the fruity addition was a wonderfully refreshing way to kick start the holiday spirit. Following that, the food slowly began to make its way towards our table. We started off with some warm savoury items inspired by Christmas dinner which included a stilton, chestnut and walnut vol-au-vent and a mini honey roast root vegetable pie completed with gravy served from an adorable mini gravy jug. Both of these were really delicious, particularly the pie with its excellent pastry, rustic, homely flavours and gorgeous gravy.

Intercontinental Hotel – Savoury selection

Next were some special open faced sandwiches including a sumptuous smoked salmon with crayfish, prawns and Marie Rose sauce on spinach bread, Christmas turkey with a heart-warming sage and onion stuffing, and pigs in blankets with cranberry sauce. The sandwiches were tasty, but our favourite was the pigs in blankets. The pork and herb sausage was delicious, and it went swimmingly with the smoked bacon and cranberry sauce.

Intercontinental Hotel – Christmas afternoon tea

After the sandwiches, we savoured the scones selection which included a classic and a Christmas spice and orange peel scone. With the classic scone, there was a scrumptious Devonshire clotted cream, and with the Christmas scone, there was an orange liquor curd. Both were offered with strawberry jam. The Christmas scone was tasty, but the flavor of the classic scone won out with its lightness and finesse. Ultimately, these scones were a perfect way to transition to the wonderful sweetness that was yet to come. What’s more each course came with a choice of different tea.

Intercontinental Hotel – Scones

Intercontinental Hotel – Tea

The highlight of the afternoon was the Christmas inspired desserts presented in a gift box. Most of the sweet treats were placed inside the transparent box wrapped with a festive burgundy ribbon. On top of the box were some Christmas-tree shaped plum pudding mousse, and inside the box there was a classic Christmas fruit cake, a chocolate and orange yule log and spiced apple pie, all of which were delicious. We were really full by this point, but the lovely staff kindly packed the remaining pieces for us to take home. We both thought the afternoon tea was excellent.

Intercontinental Hotel – Box of desserts

Intercontinental Hotel – Desserts unboxed

The Intercontinental Park Lane Hotel’s Christmas Unwrapped Afternoon Tea brought warmth to an otherwise cold and grey day in London. We enjoyed each of the elements in the afternoon tea, and the thoughtfulness behind how there was a different tea choice for each of the savoury and sweet selections. The service was fabulous and thoughtful, and we found the comfortable seating and relaxed energy of the Lounge to be ideal. The Christmas Unwrapped afternoon didn’t disappoint and we would highly recommend it to. This special menu is available only until 3rd January 2016, so go book your tables before you miss out.

Summary Information:

Likes:
1) Considered and thoughtful service
2) Lovely atmosphere
3) Great food all around. We particularly loved the pigs in blankets.
4) The champagne cocktail was fabulous
5) The playful aesthetics of how the afternoon tea was had been presented

Dislikes:
1) The food was a little slow to arrive.

Food rating: 4/5
Service rating: 3.5/5

Price: £42 per person

Website: http://wellington-lounge.co.uk/christmas-unwrapped-afternoon-tea/