Afternoon Tea
Spring Royal Afternoon Tea by Emily Harris
Our head pastry chef Emily Harris, one of Heston Blumenthal's former pastry chefs at Dinner, is pleased to unveil our spring Royal Afternoon Tea. The spring selection will be available from the 1st February until the 31st May. Emily won an award for her afternoon tea whilst working at the Mandarin Oriental. This Mother's day why not give a voucher for afternoon tea? To purchase a voucher for afternoon tea, lunch or dinner please call 01983 852186
Everything Stops For Tea
Queen Victoria visited The Royal Hotel on a number of occasions and it was said to be one of her favourite tea spots on her trips to Steephill Castle. She not only enjoyed taking afternoon tea but also a stroll around the Royal's gardens.
Historically taking tea was made fashionable in the 1840's by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford. In Victorian England dinner was often not served until 8 o'clock in the evening and Anna is said to have complained of "having that sinking feeling" during the late afternoon. The resourceful Duchess hit upon the idea of having a pot a tea and a light snack during the afternoon. It wasn't long before all of fashionable society was sipping tea and nibbling sandwiches in the middle of the afternoon.
The Royal is a glorious location for the wonderful English tradition of afternoon tea. The building dates from 1832 when Ventnor became incredibly popular for its mild climate and fine sea air. In fact it was Queen Victoria's physician, Sir James Clarke, who wrote about the benefits of Ventnor's climate, claiming that it may cure chest complaints. Ventnor overnight became fashionable with a capital 'F' and a favourite haunt of the rich, elite and Crowned Heads of Europe.
The Royal Afternoon Tea features a dainty assortment of sandwiches with fillings such as cucumber, egg and cress and salmon. To follow, an exquisite selection of cakes, meringues and patisseries all prepared lovingly by our talented patisserie chef Emily Harris. And no afternoon tea would be complete without freshly baked scones, clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam. The tea menu features 6 refreshing JING teas.
Afternoon Tea is served between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock and requires advance booking -
call 01983 852 186.
We also serve a lovely cream tea which includes two delicious home-made scones, jam and cream and a slice of aromatic spiced fruit cake.
But for those of you just after a little afternoon pick-me-up, then cake o'clock is just for you. Choose either a slice of fruit cake, a toasted Belgian tea cake or lemon cake.
