Afternoon tea with Wedgewood

Perhaps the height of foodie decadence comes in the form of Sunday afternoon tea with Wedgwood at The Langham hotel. I'd heard so many rave reviews about this high tea and so booked our places well in advance. The hotel restaurant were happy to accommodate our group's various dietary requirements. We decided to be ladies and wear pretty dresses for the event. Palm Court is an elegant lobby lounge bar with high backed chairs placed underneath a huge chandelier. A harpist serenaded us as we arrived and all during afternoon tea.

The food was simply exquisite. There were no less than twenty (20!) items on the menu to be served in five courses along with two beverages each. There was an extensive tea menu, the usual coffees and juices, plus choices of white, milk or dark hot chocolate.

Afternoon tea menu

We were informed that food would be delayed so started with coffee. Three courses of food arrived on a tiered stand and two more were brought out as afternoon tea progressed.

Langham afternoon tea

We began with sandwiches in the middle tier of the stand. The test of afternoon tea is often the quality and freshness of the sandwiches, which should be made or cut at the last minute. These were beautifully soft and fresh. The goat cheese, watercress and pecan triangle sandwich was a highlight.

Sandwiches

The savouries on the bottom tier were a little bit different. I enjoyed the chilled cucumber soup with crab salad and the black garlic, lamb and cream cheese profiterole.

Savouries

After finishing the sandwich and savoury courses, a plate of plain and cherry scones were served with specialty jams and clotted cream. Finally, and with the clock ticking, it was time for the dessert tier.

Sweets

There were so many sweet items that we packed most of them into a takeaway box to eat later at our hotel. Delicate white chocolate macarons with raspberry filling, strawberry tartlet, pina colada verrine and a marshmallow pop cake dipped in dark chocolate and nuts were favourites for me. As we were leaving, we asked about the final three cake items on the menu and took home samples of dark chocolate torte, Battenberg cake and summer swiss roll.

At $64 for a weekend sitting, this a very expensive afternoon tea. It's pretty much a double high tea: double the food, double the drinks and double the price but in the same amount of time as a regular high tea. Having said that, there were so many food selections that we didn't need dinner afterwards and thankfully didn't have lunch either - plus there were plenty of leftovers to take home and enjoy for a midnight feast.