FoodMayhem

We held Angie’s surprise birthday party at Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon where the focus seems to be atmosphere and service more than food. They took care to accommodate the surprise and gave us a seat for one friend who would not be eating since she was ill and served her tea without charging extra. Tea was always poured for you and the decor was pretty Victorian style rooms with fresh flowers and dim lighting. Yet, food was really mediocre at best in taste and presentation.

The first course was a simple salad of greens, cherry tomatoes, and a niblet of corn here and there. It was dressed in oil with a hint of vinegar. Maybe someone forgot to shake the jar? The next course was finger sandwiches. The curry chicken and goat cheese were on a multi-grain that was hard from being left out in open air too long. The cucumber sandwich had no flavor. I like the smoked salmon and the cranberry, smoked turkey, but they weren’t special. After serving you one of each sandwich, they come around a second time to ask if you want seconds of any. The next round is a plain scone and a cranberry raisin scone served with clotted cream and raspberry preserves. All of that course was mediocre and the two little scones look pretty sad on a big plate. For dessert, you get a choice between a chocolate mousse cake or a vanilla cake with pastry layers. Both of those were pretty good but the last course was also dessert, which seemed redundant. A plate a petits fours (that were old), cookies, and chocolate covered strawberries are placed on the table to share.

For a group our size (eight), we were given a choice of four teas to share. I don’t remember the names of the teas but we chose one black tea, one oolong, a Jasmine green tea, and something with lavender (that I didn’t try because I hate lavender). The teas were very good but I would’ve like the black tea to be served hotter. They were all served at or around the steeping temperature of green tea.

I had a lovely time and it’s a fun concept for girls but since I’m a foodie, I probably won’t go again. If I were them, I would ditch the salad course and last dessert plate and just work on improving the food for the three courses.