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Afternoon Tea in London

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Afternoon tea is everywhere in London and it’s something I’ve dreamed about ever since we planned our trip.If you are an avid tea lover like me, you can also taste varieties of tea from Atlas Tea Club because they create an experience with each cup you sip. What could be more “London” than sitting in a warm dining room, drinking tea and eating scones, while the wind and rain pound against the building?

It is so common in London and we easily took part in the ritual two times during our weeklong stay.  However, I didn’t know anything about the history of afternoon tea until after we returned.  I found this site, which gives a brief history lesson:  In the nineteenth century, Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, started the tradition of afternoon tea as a late afternoon snack between breakfast and dinner.  She eventually started to invite friends to tea and the practice caught on among society.  Afternoon tea is generally served around 4pm and is not to be confused with “high tea” – this was traditionally served to the middle and lower classes and it consists of a heavier meal served later in the day (5 or 6pm) as a substitute for dinner.

Even without the above history lesson, we were able to enjoy our afternoon tea.  Our hotel was just down the street and across the way from The Ritz, but we opted for the cheaper and still opulent dining room of The Wolseley for tea-time experience.

I must apologize for the pictures – some are from my iPhone and the room was dimly lit, resulting in less-than-stellar pictures.  But I can assure you that the experience was first class, and I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting London.  It’s a great way to unwind and refuel after a long day of exploring.

We tried the champagne tea the first time around, which includes a glass of champagne (before the tea) and extra treats to eat with the tea.  In addition to the fruit scones, clotted cream, and strawberry jam, the champagne tea comes with an assortment of pastries and sandwiches.

The patries included a coffee eclair, cheesecake, chocolate cake, a lemon tart with burnt sugar on top, a pink & yellow checkered cake with fondant (or something like that) around the outside, and a pistachio and cherry “cookie sandwich” – it had pistachio cookies or pastries on the top or bottom and a cream or mousse in the middle.

The sandwiches came out crustless (just as I had imagined!), cut into dainty rectangles.  There were five sandwiches, each with two rectangles so we didn’t have to worry about sharing.  We had the following: smoked salmon, cucumber, celery & cream cheese, chicken & tarragon, and egg salad.  My favorites were the smoked salmon and the celery & cream cheese, but they were all delicious (we ate the sandwiches with our champagne while we waited for our pot of cream tea to come out).

We ordered the Wolseley Afternoon Blend, which I had with cream and sugar.  The homemade fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam were the perfect complement to the tea.  We opted for the cream tea on our second visit and we were rewarded with a total of 6 fruit scones.  I did not miss the pastries and sandwiches and left without feeling stuffed.

Unless you are looking for a substantial amount of food, I would recommend the cream tea.  Not only can you save money, but the scones are the star of the show and plenty of food for a snack to hold you over until dinner.  And you will get the same great service and sit in the same fancy dining room.

While I can’t comment on the hundreds of other tea places around town, I imagine that the experience is similar (though the prices can get much higher).  The prices at the Wolseley were £9.75 per person for the cream tea (tea and scones), £22.50 per person for the afternoon tea (which added the pastries and sandwiches), and £32.50 per person for the champagne tea (afternoon tea + champagne). It’s served from about 3:00pm to 6:00pm, depending on the day of the week, and reservations are accepted but not required.  We walked in both times – the first day we were seated right away, and the second we waited in the bar area for about 5-10 minutes.

I’m not sure how often those living in London can actually enjoy afternoon tea, but I highly recommend it as a tourist!  It was definitely a highlight of the trip and a way to take a breather from our busy day and be spoiled for an hour.

Orejas y Fútbol

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Evenings in Madrid enthralled us.  On the warm fall nights during our visit, we discovered swarms of energetic people, spirited music, and an electrifying atmosphere.  This jubilation   apexed around Plaza de Santa Ana, the heart of Madrid’s nightlife scene.  It was here that we began our culinary adventure through Madrid’s tapas offerings.

Our first tapas stop in Madrid was a planned one.  As we do in preparation for all our trips, we repeatedly watched relevant Rick Steves episodes prior to our departure.  A scene capturing Rick eating sautéed pig ears in his Madrid episode especially intrigued us.  Accordingly, we followed his lead and ordered a ración of oreja (ears) at the Orjea de Oro bar, along with two glasses of the Galician ribeiro wine (€1 each!), and an order of patatas bravas.  The taste of the ears was recognizable–not too different from bacon–but the texture was wild.  Just like one might expect, the dish was “cartilagy” and far from tender.  The pieces of ear served already cut-up, so luckily minimal chewing was required.  

Our oreja ración at Oreja de Oro

To our chagrin, instead of a colorful local, we found ourselves sitting next to a fellow Rick Steves aficionado.  He was similarly following Rick’s trail through Madrid’s tapas offerings, but could not muster the courage to order the orjeas.  He had no shame communicating with the English-speaking bartender in Spanish that was nothing short of abysmal.  Despite the lack of local flavor and toughness of the orejas, we do not our regret our experience.

Anxious to find an authentic local experience, we sought out a tapas bar playing that night’s Real Madrid fútbol match.  After surveying several options, we found a spot called La Venta de Farracas just a few blocks away with plenty of buzz and an open table.  We ordered traditional tapas, all of which we had sampled in other Spanish cities–croquettes, fried calamari, and more patatas bravas.  I ordered a couple of Spanish beers to accompany the food.  The food itself was decent, but the real highlight was the fútbol game.  All eyes were fixed on a large big screen television in the back of the establishment.  Unlike the modern American sports bar, with dozens of digitial high definition televisions, this spot had one television, with a noisy analog signal.  This did not distract the crowd, however. They chanted, cheered, and groaned just as they would at the stadium.   To their dismay, the game resulted in a loss for Real Madrid to underdog Sevilla.

That same night, we also visited a pintxos bar called Txakolina for  and and one additional Rick Steves recommendation in Casa Toni to completely satiate our appetite.  We ended the night with a strong sense of accomplishment at successfully completing a 4-stop tapas crawl.   

Discovering Pintxos

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Tapas, tapas, tapas. That’s what was on our minds as we landed in Barcelona and ventured out into our first night of food frenzy in Spain. And, our first taste of Spanish cuisine was several varieties of tapas, including some now-favorites patatas bravas and fried baby squid. However, as we wandered the streets of the gothic neighborhood after our first round of tapas, looking for something to keep the night going, we stumbled across a pintxos bar.

Pintxos (or pinchos) are more popular in the basque region of Spain, but are also served in northern Spain (we had them in both Barcelona and Madrid, but did not run into a pintxos bar in Sevilla nor Granada). They are a type of tapas, but have a slice of bread on the bottom, and a toothpick through the entire thing.  The picture to the right shows a pintxo with sausage and a pepper on top.  At the pintxos bar we frequented in Barcelona, we were given plates and then we were able to fill them up with whichever pintxos we wished to try. Ordering the drinks was through the “bartenders,” but all of the food was chosen by us, at our pace. It was similar to the sushi bars with the conveyer belt – take what you want, and pay at the end based on the number of plates. However, unlike at a sushi bar, the pintxos were paid for based on the number of toothpicks you had on your plate. Also, each pintxo was worth the same amount – a couple of euros a piece. Continue reading →

Missing the Food in Lisbon (Part II)

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In addition to the delicious food that we were planning to try in Lisbon, there were many other foods that we were given the opportunity to order and I’m so glad we did.  It’s fair to say that we did not have a bad or even average meal in Lisbon.  I would even venture to say that all of the meals were closer to excellent (especially all three of our dinners).  We tried to order appetizers, main dishes, and desserts as often as possible in order to take full advantage of of our meals in Lisbon.  So, it’s understandable that we have several great dishes to share!

Appetizers.

We shared two appetizers that I keep dreaming about – grilled sardines and fried green beans.  We ordered grilled sardines on our second night in Lisbon.  If it’s not obvious yet, we both love seafood.  We saw a grilled sardine dish as a special of the night, but since we had already decided on our entrées, we asked if it could be an appetizer instead (it came with sides as an entrée).  I’m so glad we ordered this – five whole sardines, complete with bones, tails, and heads!  The aroma of the freshly grilled sardines hit us right away, and we could not try them quickly enough.  The crispy, salty skin and the fresh fish inside was perfect – there was nothing to distract us from the wonderful taste of the sardines.  We ate as much of each sardine as we could, starting with the head and going down to the middle of the tail.  After finishing, Ryan wished he had ordered it as his entrée, and I don’t blame him!

We were torn on which appetizer to order on our last night in Lisbon (at the Fado restaurant), but our waiter recommended the fried green beans, so we went with that.  Although a little disappointed that a seafood appetizer was not recommended to us, our anticipation grew as the plate of green beans was placed in front of us.  They were still hot and crispy.  They were surprisingly light, and not oily or greasy like most fried foods.  The green beans themselves retained their flavor and were not dried out at all.  Another excellent choice.  We noticed that every single table also ordered the green beans, so they must be a house specialty (try them if you go to Guarda-Mor!).  I wish we would have ordered a second helping!

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Relaxing at Our Casual B&B Wine Bar in Montepulciano, Tuscany

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One of our favorite memories from our Greece/Italy Honeymoon in 2011 was the time we spent in the wine bar at Locanda San Francesco, our bed & breakfast in Montepulciano, Tuscany.  Check-in for the B&B was actually in the wine bar, and we were greeted with a complimentary drink and snack when we arrived.  The wine list at the bar features a selection of local wines, most notably the famous Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.  There is an option to enjoy a glass, a bottle, or even a tasting flight.  We loved the wine, but the ambiance is what is most memorable.  We not only returned for the experience the night of our arrival, but also each of the following four nights.

Wine bar at La Locanda in Montepulciano, Tuscany

The wine bar includes a small bar as well as several tables, armchairs, and coffee tables. We usually opted for the comfortable arm chairs.  The bar’s clientele included guests from the 4 rooms at the B&B, other tourists visiting Montepulciano, and several locals.  Small snacks, such as nuts and olives, were served with each drink order.  There was also a small food menu served during lunch and the evenings.  We actually opted for dinner at the Wine Bar one of the nights, and were very satisfied with the quality of food. Continue reading →