Cost – £14.95 (Aug 2016)
Background – We visited Park Farm Hotel on a last minute booking when we sadly lost our little cat of 18 years. We didn’t want to stay at home feeling sad so we found Park Farm Hotel on the Secret Escapes site and booked a night.
The hotel is based around an old building but is mostly modern. The rooms are large and comfortable. There were several areas for eating and relaxing, one of which was the bar and lounge area where we were seated for our Afternoon Tea.
There was a large wedding do taking place whilst we were there which impacted slightly on service although they weren’t using the bar area.
Contents – 2 finger sandwiches each (Smoked salmon and cream cheese), 4 triangle sandwiches each (2 each of egg mayonnaise and cheese and pickle), 1 small sausage roll. A large fruit scone, butter, a mini Tiptree jar of strawberry jam and a small dish of clotted cream. Four small cakes between the two of us – a mini lemon tartlet, a finger of Opera cake, a fairy cake sized Bakewell and a square of chocolate cake. The tea was made with tea bags.
Comments – We were sat in the bar area of the hotel at a reserved table.
The tea arrived first in a large white china teapot.
The rest of the Afternoon Tea then arrived on a three-tier cake stand with round white plates.
We liked the way the sandwiches were presented. There was a mix of breads and of finger and triangle sandwiches. The fillings were generous and they picked two of my favourites in egg mayonnaise and cheese and pickle. It was nice to have the extra savoury in the small sausage roll.
The scone was fresh and of a good size. There was enough jam but barely enough cream.
Of the cakes, the Chocolate square was boring, the Bakewell was good, the Opera was lovely and the lemon tartlet was delicious. Unfortunately, they were all far too small to share (though we just about managed to cut them in half!)
The tea was of a good strength but we didn’t ask to have the pot refilled.
The service was reasonable though, again, it was quite difficult to find someone to pay. However, there was a large wedding do going on at the time and that may well have been the cause.
| Sandwiches | 2.0 |
| Scone | 1.5 |
| Jam | 1.5 |
| Cream | 1.0 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.0 |
| Cake (quality) | 1.5 |
| Tea | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 1.5 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 1.5 |
| Total | 14.5 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 