LAUNCHING ahead of the Platinum Jubilee this summer, Intercontinental Park Lane invites its guests to experience their offering of the special celebratory Afternoon Tea to commemorate the Queen’s 70 years of service.
The tea is held in the Wellington Lounge overlooking the Buckingham Palace Gardens, once the Queen’s home. Spacious room with floor to ceiling windows provides a delightful amount of sun during the warmer spring days giving the lounge a warm, golden glow, while the guests are able to indulge themselves in the quintessentially English experience filled with selection of finger sandwiches, warm scones and delicious range of cakes.
Afternoon Tea Selection
Me and my guest are being shown to our seat right next to the enormous window, truly perfect spot for a warm, spring afternoon. We are welcomed with the glass of Champagne; for those who want to avoid the extra bubbles there is also an offering of selection of cocktails and mocktails. These are promptly followed by pots of the recommended bright and delicate Darjeeling tea.
The tea is served in a form of a three-course meal, which allows us to enjoy our time and appreciate the interior of the hotel. The savoury part of the afternoon tea menu features Smoked rainbow trout pâté and Oscietra caviar on heirloom beetroot bread and royal salmon rillettes éclair – which quickly became my guest’s favourite.
The presentation is immaculate, colours are vibrant and addition of edible flowers give the plates that extra feeling of spring freshness; a refreshing change from the usual serving of the finger sandwiches.
Afternoon Tea Selection
The vegetarians are not forgotten about and are able to enjoy an equally exciting bespoke vegetarian menu with smoked abuergine pâté with balsamic pearls, roasted vegetable éclair with shaved British asparagus and citrus crème fraiche or a slow-roasted courgette, wild truffle, and mushroom chutney sandwich.
Afternoon Tea Selection
The savoury part is followed by a basket of scones, which are a pure delight for those with a sweet tooth. Baked in-house to be warm and perfectly soft, they are the highlight of the whole experience. Accompanied by the clotted cream and homemade lemon curd and strawberry conserve they are most definitely hard to resist.
Afternoon Tea Selection
The final jewel in the crown is the cake selection, with the Queen’s favourite Chocolate biscuit cake with Kentish strawberry, Organic lemon drizzle cake and my personal winner – Yorkshire rhubarb and custard tart. Each perfectly presented guarantee you have to try every single one to discover what lies underneath the most amazing decorations.
The Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea at the InterContinental Park Lane is most definitely one of the most beautifully curated experiences. With its amazing attention to detail and perfectly helpful service it is not a surprise that it has been recognized worldwide for its amazing standard.
A truly perfect idea for a warm afternoon, also available to enjoy al fresco on the Number One Park Lane Terrace.
by Olga Petrusewicz
The 2022 Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea is available from 10th March daily. Priced at £48 per person.
To book visit here.