Student Bloggers

When I think of England, one of the first things that comes to mind is tea, more specifically, high tea in the afternoon. So of course, I had to go! After doing some research about different vegan tea options around town, I decided to go with Egerton House Hotel, mostly because it was the cheapest option at 40 pounds (not including the service charge). I’m not very picky when it comes to finger sandwiches and scones so the cheapest option was the one to go for. We booked our “vegan tea for two” online for a Friday at 12:30, which apparently is early for afternoon tea but we did have the place to ourselves which was nice. We were seated at a lovely table by a window with a gorgeous view of houses in which I will never be able to afford to live, situated just down the street from Harrods, where baby clothes are all Dolce and Gabbana and a cake is 70 pounds. Needless to say, we were in the upscale part of town.

Our server greeted us and talked us through the menu and tea options. I, not being very adventurous, went with a classic Indian black tea while my friend picked a blooming flower tea. We also decided to celebrate a successful first week at King’s College and ordered one of Egerton’s tea infused cocktails. At 16 pounds apiece, they were not cheap so we split one and I am very happy with that choice. Our earl gray tea/gin/rosebud drink was huge and quite strong. I’m not a huge rose flavor fan but this was light and the main taste was really nothing more than gin with hints of the tea.

When the tea arrived, mine was served in a beautiful silver pot while my friend’s was served in a clear teapot into which the server placed the dried flower. It was beautiful to watch the bud unfold and turn the water a light orange color. The tea was not too sweet and was a very pleasant flavor! I think next time I’ll be a little more adventurous with my tea choices and try one like that. However, I did take a step towards being a true Londoner by adding the soy milk to my tea and it was actually quite delicious. If you’ve never tried it I would definitely recommend giving it a go, but only with black teas.

By the time the food arrived, which was quite quickly, we were both famished and dug right into the finger sandwiches. There were a lovely array of different kinds of veggies and spreads on different breads. Each was amazing and plans are now in the works for a finger-sandwich-making-day. Working our way up to the next level of the beautiful tray we hit the scones. Boy oh boy do I love a good scone! They even had apricot (YUM) and strawberry jam as well as a sort of clotted cream of which I was quite a fan. The scones quickly disappeared and next we hit the dessert level of the tray. Unfortunately, by this time we were both getting full and had each had about three pots of tea so we only nibbled on the desserts and soaked in the sun by the window. The desserts were delightful but nothing I hadn’t had before. I’m sure I would have been more impressed if I wasn’t two scones, four finger sandwiches, and two pots of tea in at the time.

Overall, it was quite an incredible experience! It is a bit out of the price range of your average college student so I won’t be heading back anytime soon but I am glad to have had the opportunity to have high tea in London.

So, what’s next on the agenda you might ask? Well, there’s that thing called homework I must do, but keep your eyes peeled for a post about the Hackney Downs Vegan Market before I head off to Sweden on Thursday. I’m off to do some reading about photographing the Northern Lights. As always, read more and see more at www.voyagingherbivore.com Cheers!