Showing posts with label scones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scones. Show all posts
I know, I know it has been a while but I thought why not come back to blogging with an introduction to my new blog series, Afternoon Tea Tour! My friend and I have been wanting to try loads of afternoon tea delights lately and thought what better way than to blog about them as a tour....with tea and cake!
First up on the tour is Hart's Hotel, an independent hotel bordering the City Centre of Nottingham and The Park Estate. This hotel is still relatively new and was only built around 12-13 years ago which was years after the Hart's Restaurant opened in the old General Hospital on the same site. The restaurant is fine dining but Hart's host their afternoon tea in the Park Bar over in the hotel and it is served between 12pm and 6pm everyday. With the selection changing according to the seasons and Summer just around the corner we thought what better way to start our afternoon tea tour than with new Spring/Summer offerings.
Hart's serve their selection on a three tier stand, specifically designed for two people, that is full on each layer with delicious food. On the bottom layer we had two savoury Cheese and Spring Onion Scones, two Ham and Mustard Sandwhiches, two Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Sandwhiches and two Cucumber Sandwhiches, finger size of course.
I almost forgot to mention that Hart's have a sister bakery named Hambleton Bakery who supply them with fresh baked bread and delicious cakes everyday, the scones for the afternoon tea are baked fresh everyday and the tea has unlimited refills - everything really is fresh and delicious. On sunny days they also serve lunch and afternoon tea in their courtyard and it can be ordered with Prosecco or Champagne for those special occasions!
The second tier of the stand had two Lemon Tarts, two Chocolate Brownies, two Tea Cakes, two Macarons and two Mini-Eton Mess Desserts. The lemon tarts were just lemon enough, the chocolate brownies had a gorgeous coffee note and the Eton Mess desserts were just enough to not feel guilty about afterwards!
Oh wow, finally the third tier - each tier gets a little smaller which is perfect for a mid-afternoon treat too. The last tier had two more Macarons, two Sweet Scones and some fresh berries. On the table was Jam, Butter and Clotted Cream so we could be as decadent as we wanted to be and with a wide range of teas on offer we could easily have sat there until dinner time.
We really enjoyed our afternoon and can't wait to continue the tour! Thank you to all the staff at Hart's! Let me know if there is anywhere you suggest I visit on the Afternoon Tea Tour xx
Afternoon Tea is £21.95 per person however we were treated to 20% off.
If you haven't heard of Bill's, it is a chain of restaurants that originally started as a small grocery store in East Sussex. After a flood ruined the store Bill re-opened the shop and added a cafe. It was a huge success and the rest is history.
Bill's has recently opened a restaurant in Nottingham and I recently went with my boyfriend for lunch. The building that the restaurant is in used to be a bank but you would never know. From what I have seen the chain decorate all of their restaurants with a relaxed and quirky decor that shows off their own selection of purchasable goods such as aprons and kettles, but more of this later.
They are open from morning until late evening and pride themselves on serving food "Breakfast to Bedtime, and everything in between." Everything is on the menu from Pancakes with Syrup to Fish Finger Sandwiches and Scones to Steak. There is definitely something for everyone, no matter what time of day.
To start things off I ordered their Iced Coffee - not the best I've had and I suspect it had some kind of powder added, but it was drinkable so I was happy.
As we were there for lunch we didn't get any starters and went straight for the main. I had a Halloumi and Hummus 'burger' with Skinny Fries.
This was some good food right there. It has baby gem lettuce, roasted peppers, grilled halloumi, hummus, sweet chilli and yoghurt. Oh my gosh it was so tastey! It tasted so fresh and the halloumi was not rubbery at all, with a healthy portion of hummus on the bottom I was in heaven (I probably could have eaten two).
I saved myself from the second and headed for the dessert menu. It is a small menu however, they also have a selection of baked goods if you don't see anything you fancy. I ordered the Scones with Clotted Cream and Jam. These were some of the best scones I have eaten and were worth the wait the have them hot straight out of the oven. They were buttery and filling and I only ended up eating one, yes I ordered these just for me hehe! The boyfriend agreed though that they were good scones.
As I mentioned before they sell their own selection of goods in their restaurants to take home. On the tables with the cutlery and napkins you will find a brown paper bag with a small pencil in it. Open out this bag and you will find a checklist on the back - this is where you can tick what you want, using the small pencil, and have the waitress bring you your items. They sell anything to go from jams, chutneys and sweets to beer, aprons and truffles. We didn't order anything but I couldn't help to take a picture of some of their selection.
Overall, we very much enjoyed our first experience of Bill's and would be happy to return.
Let me know if you have ever been to Bill's and what you thought! xx
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