It has been a long time since I had my afternoon tea. I can't even remember when was the last time I had it. Could it be like 10 years ago? Well it doesn't matter because during my visit in Auckland, I had Afternoon Tea at The Langham hotel.
How do afternoon tea come about? It was found by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford in 1840. Back then, dinner was not being served until 8.30pm or 9.00pm in the evening and even later during summer. Hence, while waiting for dinner to be served, Duchess felt hungry and ordered small meal of breads, butters and pastries to be served at her boudoir secretly everyday. When her small meals habits were being discovered, it eventually became popular and widely known as afternoon tea.
Afternoon tea in The Langham are being served in The Winery from 12.00 noon until 4.30pm. The Winery are being decorated with huge chandelier, small round tables surrounded with couches and chairs with pillows and a bar counter at the side. The total decorations potray the English look of how an afternoon tea was served back then.
View of The Winery, The Langham, Auckland
The Langham served two types of afternoon tea which are:-
Signature Afternoon Tea - NZD30
Champagne Afternoon Tea - NZD56
As we entered The Winery, we stopped and waited to be seated since we made a reservation earlier. We were kept waiting for about 10 minutes before we were given a place. The reason why we were kept waited because there was someone else who jumped the queue and made the waiter or waitress served her first as they didn't realised that it was us who arrived first. Some points have been deducted from the service provided by them. However this hasn't spoilt our mood for the afternoon tea that we were looking forward to.
Signature Afternoon Tea Menu
When we were seated, menu was given to each of us with a brief explanation of their selections of afternoon tea. Then we were being served with a glass of iced water with a slice of lemon.
Tea served with pots and iced water with a slice of lemon
We chose to have the Signature Afternoon Tea because we had champagne already the night before. The Signature Afternoon Tea allows us to choose the types of tea and coffee that we prefer from their selections.
The Signature Afternoon Tea for 3 person were served in a three-tier platters of exquisitely prepared sandwiches, petit scones and delicacies. At the begining, they provided only a serving for two due to the limited space on the three-tier platters. Half way throughout our afternoon tea, another serving of each items were being replenished.
Served in three-tiered platter
We started out afternoon tea with the middle platter which served the freshly prepared sandwiches:-
Smoked salmon with lemon cream cheese
Cucumber with cream cheese
Grated hard boiled egg and watercress
Roasted beef with cream horseradish mayonnaise
Ham with English mustard butter
Pistachio macaroon with olive tapenade and capsicum
Middle platter servings
Then moved on to the lowest platter which served:-
Fresh home-made traditional and raisin scones served with cream and strawberry preserve
Chocolate lamingtons
Lowest platter servings
And to the top most platter which served the selections of cakes and pastries:-
Mini baked cheese cake
Mini fruit tarts
Creme brulee
Mini lemon meringue tart
Hazelnut Daquoise sponge cake
Toppest platter servings
When we were about to finish all the three platters, we were being surprised with another two servings which were:-
Cream cheese with caviar and chives in waffle
Chocolate mousse
Surprise servings
It took us around 2 hours plus to enjoy all the three platters food. Of all the delicacies served, I personally enjoyed the:-
Smoked salmon and lemon cream cheese sandwich
Pistachio macaroon with olive tapenade and capsicum
Freshly home made traditionaly and raisin scones served with cream and strawberry preserve
Mini fruit tarts
Mini lemon meringue tart
Hazelnut Daquoise sponge cake
I personally find all my favourite food above YUMMY!
It was a nice Afternoon Tea experienced at a 5-star hotel in Auckland. Should you happen to be in Auckland and wish to have an Afternoon Tea, do drop by The Langham and experience it yourself.
However, one word of advise for all the small eaters, do not have any breakfast or lunch before the afternoon tea else you won't be able to enjoy all the food served.
