Cost – £14.95 (Dec 2015)
Background – We chose to visit this hotel as we wanted to break our journey on the way to Southampton. We also wanted to meet up with family and the location of the hotel was perfect. There were four of us enjoying this tea.
The hotel was based in a lovely old building in a village close to Bicester.
Contents – 9 finger sandwiches between two people (cheese and ham, tuna and egg mayonnaise). 1 fruit scone, a shared tiny pot of jam and a tiny pot of clotted cream. A small piece of tiramisu, a small piece of banana cake, another small piece of unidentifiable cake and three tiny chocolate éclairs, all to be shared between two people! Tea was made with teabags.
Comments – We were sat in the small restaurant area which was decorated with a large Christmas tree. We were the only people in the room. The table was laid with linen napkins folded to look like a rose bud.
We were first brought a white teapot and a small jug of milk.
This was followed by the Afternoon Tea arriving on a three tier, spindle type cake with round stainless steel plates.
The sandwiches were mixed with some on white bread and some on brown. They were fresh and tasty and generally well filled.
The scones were of medium size and were fresh and well cooked. There was far too little strawberry jam and clotted cream. However, we asked for and received an extra portion of clotted cream.
The cakes were all quite small and there was only one of most of the items to be shared between two. We felt there could have been more items for the price. I dislike the practise of supplying only one of each item between two people. However, the cakes were all reasonably fresh and moist. There was also a few berries arranged on the cake layer.
The tea was of a good strength. We were able to ask for and receive a refill.
Service was reasonably attentive without being intrusive and the waitress was helpful. It is just a pity that the cakes were not provided in twos and that there was not enough jam and cream.
| Sandwiches | 1.5 |
| Scone | 1.5 |
| Jam | 1.0 |
| Cream | 1.0 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.0 |
| Cake (quality) | 1.0 |
| Tea | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 1.5 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 1.0 |
| Total | 12.5 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 