Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Afternoon Tea

Back in April my Mum and I enjoyed a lovely day out in London. I have to apologise for not writing about it sooner – life just keeps getting in the way, but I’m determined to be more organised with my blog and YouTube! Anyway, for my Mum’s birthday in February, I had told her I would treat her to afternoon tea somewhere in London. Originally I had chosen an Alice in Wonderland themed tea, but after looking at the menu, we decided we both preferred the look of something different – an afternoon tea inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at One Aldwych.

I booked a time around lunch-time, which kind of defeats the object of afternoon tea I guess, but whenever I have something like this mid-afternoon, I’m never sure how to eat for the rest of the day! So, we made our way up to London Waterloo and then got a black cab over the bridge to One Aldwych Hotel. We were greeted by a doorman, who helped us get my wheelchair out of the taxi before he even knew that we were coming to the hotel, which was lovely. As we were a bit early, we were shown to the bar in the lobby to wait until our time slot. There were beautiful flower arrangements everywhere and so much to look at. We were then shown upstairs in the most amazing purple lift I’ve ever seen!

The staff in the restaurant were incredibly welcoming and friendly as they took us to our table, and I really got the impression that they love working there. We were given our menus, which had beautiful illustrations from the stage show of some of the characters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I had The Gloop family and my Mum had Verruca Salt and her Dad. Our waiter went through the menu with us, explaining all the dishes and asking whether we had any dietary requirements. Our tea was served, and topped up throughout the meal – we even got to try more than one flavour, which was really lovely and not something I’ve been able to do during other afternoon teas.

The sandwiches and savouries were brought out first, and I can honestly say they tasted even better than they looked! Both my Mum and I had asked for an alternative to the Roast beef and grain mustard mayonnaise, so we were given some really tasty cucumber sandwiches – if they’re good enough for the Queen then I’m happy! Alongside them we had another sandwich with smoked salmon and herb crème fraiche, a deliciously light egg mayonnaise roll, a heritage tomato tart (which I didn’t think I’d like, but it was so good!) and a miniature leek and stilton quiche.

Then came the bit we were waiting for – the sweet things! As they carried a wooden holder towards us, groaning under the weight of colourful desserts, all my Mum and I could do was open and close our mouths – we were lost for words! It looked even better than I’d imagined, and I really felt like I was lost in a Roald Dahl book. Trying to decide what to try first was our biggest problem! There were beautifully fluffy warm scones served with berry jam, apple and meadowsweet compote and Devonshire clotted cream, so we decided to start with them. Also inside the basket with the scones were some Blueberry brioche and Cocoa bean financiers, but we decided to leave those for later.

Feeling rather full, we moved onto the sweets. There was a Golden chocolate egg filled with vanilla cheesecake and mango, which was extremely sweet but incredibly clever. In two glass bottles with pink and white straws was some chocolate caramel milk, just enough for a couple of sips, which was probably a good thing! Then came a miniature Eton Mess. I’m not normally a fan of Eton Mess, but this was so light and fruity, and I really did enjoy it. There was also a Lemon and raspberry cake pop, and the showstopper – homemade candy floss. We were asked to guess the flavour, and after much deliberation we were still no closer to working it out! Thankfully the waiter put us out of our misery and informed us it was in fact Rhubarb and Custard! They do change it from time to time, which I think is a really fun idea. We were offered seconds of everything, but this was more than enough for us to eat! Thankfully they kindly let us take home a doggy bag, as there was no way I was going to be able to manage all this in one day!

There was also the option to pay a little bit extra and have a Crafty Charlie cocktail. We decided not to go for it (although they did offer a mocktail version) but luckily I managed to get a photo of one, as they just looked awesome!

Overall, we had a brilliant experience at One Aldwych and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves afternoon tea. With full tummies, we then headed off to Covent Garden, which is just down the road, for a look round some of the shops.

Are you a fan of Afternoon Tea? Have you tried this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory one before, or can you recommend anywhere else to go?

Follow me on Bloglovin, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube