Cost – £18.00 (Dec 2017)
Background – We were going to see the Winter Lights at Anglesey Abbey and wanted to have an Afternoon Tea before heading out to see the lights. We decided Newmarket would be a good place to try and were very pleased to see on their website that Nancy’s Vintage Tea Room were offering a Christmas version of their Afternoon Tea. Perfect!
We had visited Nancy’s on several previous occasions and the review I wrote of there ‘normal’ Afternoon Tea can be found on this site. We knew their portions were a little small but decided that this would still be a good fit for what we were looking for.
This was to be our first festive Tea of the season.
Contents – One turkey and stuffing square sandwich, a small savoury pinwheel, a small smoked salmon blini, a quarter piece of a small butternut squash tart. Two medium scones (your choice from apple and cinnamon, fruit, plain or cheese. We all chose one apple and cinnamon and one fruit), a mini pot of strawberry jam and a small bowl of clotted cream. A piece of ginger cake, a mini chocolate topped caramel tart, a macaroon and a mini chocolate dessert in a shot glass, topped with a mini gingerbread star. The tea was made with loose tea.
Comments – There were four of us having the Christmas Afternoon Tea at Nancy’s. The Tea Room was nicely decorated with Christmas themed quilted wall hangings.
Our table was reserved for us at the back of the Tea Room and was laid ready with mixed vintage china, linen napkins and a tea strainer each.
Once we had all arrived, we were asked which scones we would like to choose. We all chose one apple and cinnamon plus one fruit scone each. We were also asked which tea we wanted. We chose the standard English Breakfast tea.
The tea arrived quickly in a vintage coffee pot, along with a pretty jug of milk. The rest of the Tea arrived soon after on individual three tier cake stands.
The savoury section was interesting but rather sparse. There was only one sandwich, which had been made to look like a present.
It was turkey and was delicious. The mini pinwheel was really lovely. I would have liked a few of these! I wasn’t too keen on the salmon blini as it had something on top which made it taste odd, however others liked it. Lastly, the tiny quarter piece of butternut squash tart was ridiculous and, in my opinion, horrible! It is rare that I can’t force something down but this was such an occasion. As a result, I was quite relieved there was only a quarter piece!
The scones were a reasonable size and were very tasty. There was almost enough jam for the two scones but we were given a small bowl of jam extra when we asked. There was just enough clotted cream. Butter was also provided on request for the member of our party who doesn’t eat cream.
All of the cakes were very fresh and tasty but, apart from the finger of ginger cake, they were all very small again. The ginger cake was good and moist and the mini tartlette and dessert were both good. I have to mention the macaroon, which I usually feel is a cop out as they are usually bought in. On this occasion the macaroon was fresh and slightly sticky. It was very good.
The tea was of a good strength for all of us and the pot was refilled when requested.
The service was reasonably attentive.
Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the venue, only of the food! I will try to rectify this at a later stage.
| Sandwiches | 1.0 |
| Scone | 2.0 |
| Jam | 1.5 |
| Cream | 1.5 |
| Cake (variety) | 1.0 |
| Cake (quality) | 1.5 |
| Tea | 1.5 |
| Presentation | 1.5 |
| Service | 1.5 |
| Value | 1.0 |
| Total | 14.0 |
Sarnies Scones and Cakes 