2013-09-14 Friday after work drinks conversations

1. 

D: You will find that the longer you work here, the more you find that [company] is a lot better back then.. We used to have a yacht! A yacht that you can just reserve if it's not being used. 

2. 

M (to A): Do you know Doctor Who? This is not to imply that you are old or [ etc., etc. ], but because you have been around for such a long time, you would find that you don't care about anyone else, because you know they'll just leave. You have been 6 years? That's nothing. I have seen 6 years and 6 years come and go. Do you feel that way? 

A: Yes. None of you mean anything to me. [joking]

[...]

D (to me): You must have no idea what we're going on about.

Me: Yes... I have no idea. I mean I have heard of Doctor Who, but haven't seen it. 

D: You will learn more of the British culture the longer you stay here. 

Me: Yes, I'll start with football. 

Afternoon tea at the Conservatory @ Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel

Hosting guests from Vancouver, I was tasked with delivering a traditional afternoon tea experience with a relatively affordable price tag. After some cross examining, I ended up going with the afternoon tea at the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel. At £32.5/person (before service charge), it was still steep, but acceptable, so my friends gave me the green light to go ahead and make the reservation. 

On the day of, we walked through the dainty streets of Mayfair to reach the Chesterfield Hotel. The hotel actually looked better than the pictures suggests, and it is quite classy on the inside. 

Overall, the service was exceptional, the sandwiches were nice, but the rest were a bust. Although the refill option was a plus, the scones and clotted cream were so-so, and the dessert were nothing but sugary sweet. 

Afternoon tea at The Glade @ Sketch

Sketch had come up a few times when I was perusing Yelp for afternoon tea recommendations, but I never really considered trying it because of their price and modern gimmick-y setting. At £34/person, it's cheaper than Ritz and Claridge's, but it's not exactly spare change either, and I didn't think I could justify spending so much for afternoon tea in a place with zero historical significance. This, however, was not a concern of my mom, and we ended up trying Sketch while she was visiting.

We made a last minute reservation, and we ended up with the 1pm time slot in The Glade - a French fairy-tale forest setting with enchanting upholstery and odd laser lights and rotating mirrors. The furnishing of the room was gimmick-y as expected, and the realist in me struggled a little to stop myself from rolling my eyes at the decor. Yes, the toilets are egg-shaped space age cubicles; yes, there's a voice telling you how far you are from Peru while you are peeing; yes, the Glade room looks like a forest and the laser lights add a sense surreal Alice feel; and yes, there is a cosy velvet-clad bar underneath the toilet area... regardless, there is design for aesthetic purposes, and then there is gimmick for the sake of gimmick. 

Anyways...
After studying the menu, we got the full afternoon tea, which came with a pot of tea, 1 scone, 4 different sandwiches, and 2 layers of cakes and pastries. 

First off, the scone was ridiculously ginormous. It was also too crumbly, and I had to be extra delicate when spreading the clotted cream, which by the way, was not good at all. More butter than clotted cream, I couldn't taste the milky smoothness that I so love. The strong citrus fruit in the Sultan scone didn't help either.

The sandwiches were a lot more pleasing, and you could tell that they had put some thoughts into designing them. I especially liked the smoked salmon sandwich, which was made with flat bread, fresh dill and thin layers of cream cheese, topped with a few salmon roe. 

The cakes and pastries weren't bad either, none of them overly sweet. That being said, none of them stood out either. Well... except the pistachio macaron, which had such a strong burnt almond taste to it that I was instantly overwhelmed. I seriously had to wash the nausea down with cups after cups of tea. I admit I have a low tolerance for burnt almond/cherry, but still... it was totally uncalled for in a macaron.


Overall, I think I liked my experience, and I do think that Sketch provides a wonderful setting for a group of girlfriends to catch up and chat over cakes and pastries. I may very well visit Sketch again to experience the other rooms, but I still don't think the price matches what I receive.
It doesn't make much economical sense, but part of it is that Sketch is priced just right - their pricing is in the middle range between homey (£20) and extravagant (£40+), and attracts young professionals that are price conscious, but willing to spend money for an afternoon of indulgence.

I would definitely like to try more afternoon tea venues within the same price level for comparison.


site: http://sketch.uk.com

Afternoon tea at The Orangery, Kensington Palace

Being the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (aka Will & Kate), you would be surprised by how small and run down Kensington Palace actually looks. The Orangery, located in the annex of the palace, was a green house built back in 1705, and now open to the public for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. Although I have been to many more hotels with more grandeur decor, there is a simple regal aura to the setting of the Orangery. 

Underneath all the royal bone chinas, I suspect that it is a rather casually ran cafe that just happened to be in a palace, but I would say the price (£22.65) is decent for the location, and you should probably just leave it at that. 

The tea and scones were ok, but the cakes and sandwiches were average at best. 

If you are adamant on trying it for yourself, make sure you call and make a reservation. The line up can get quite long for drop-ins.  

site: http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/Foodanddrink/Orangery

Todays: 2013-05-17

Maybe it's because my mom is staying with me, and maybe it's because of the truckload of uncomfortable relationship questions that she'd asked me. Either way, I woke up this morning with a very odd dream involving B.