LUXURY AFTERNOON TEA at 300 Years Fortnum & Mason Luxury Department Store!

Good afternoon! Today we are going to experience a tea-related ritual introduced in Britain in the early 1840s, the afternoon tea. And I figured since we're in London, we might as well do it properly, which means an elaborate, luxurious experience at one of the most famous afternoon tea spots in London, the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, located at 300 years old upmarket department store While we are at it, a quick history to the afternoon tea. It was started by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford. She was feeling packaged between luncheon and dinner because back in the day, people only had 2 main meals a day, so she invited her friends over to have some tea and light refreshments. This practice was brought back to London when she returned to London, and it was picked up by the social upper class because it seems to be a fun thing to do, and it's been carried on to this day. So I guess we are breaking the bank to get a whiff of what upper class feels like. Alright, with all the necessary introductions out of the way, let us take a look at the setting. Really majestic and luxurious, it's got a really grand dining area. There are interesting chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, lights on the walls, pictures hanging on the walls, and actually I've got a really interesting seat. If I look right out, I can see a pretty nice view of the streets along with the buses and everything. So that is a big plus point. Setting of the table is simple, it's elegant, you've got a white tablecloth, some roses on your table, your sugar container, beautiful cups and sauces. Simple but elegant at the same time. And the service is really quick and attentive. A waiter came by and explained to us the type of teas that they recommend to us. You start with a pot of tea each. So we've made our choices, and ah, food is here. It's real quick. Okay guys, service is real quick, food is here. I will be very honest, I was expecting it to be a lot more spectacular considering we do break the bank for this. But let's let the food talk for themselves, hopefully it's really really good. And we've got the tea. I chose the Fort Mason which is an afternoon tea, a black tea. But apparently it's a ritual for you to start with either champagne or sparkling tea. So I decided to try what the sparkling tea is about. Over here we've got this bubbly drink. Let's give it a go. So it's a sparkling drink with I wouldn't say it tastes like tea, I think it tastes more like with a fruity note, maybe a very mild fruity note to it. It's interesting, refreshing. Tastes a little like shandy, if I may, a more refined version of shandy. Alright, let's try the tea. Because I'm not a tea person, so what I'm going to commentate on is going to be really simple. It's got a nice robust flavour, it's not overly astringent, in fact it's not astringent at all. It's a pretty good tea. Okay now let's move on to the afternoon tea stuff. But before that, because Fondant & Mason claims to have invented the scotch egg, so I actually got greedy and ordered a plate of scotch egg. I think we should start with the scotch egg first because it looks magnificent. This is the scotch egg and I love the way they did this because look at the yolks, they are very runny. The side is pretty crunchy as well. What you've got is basically a runny egg surrounded by minced sausage and then breaded and fried. And underneath I think there are some form of vegetables. So let's quickly start by cutting into this. My very most decadent scotch egg ever. Sausage is well marinated, you could taste, I would say mainly of rosemary. The egg is creamy, it's done just right. The crumbs are crunchy on the surface. It's a properly done scotch egg. Now I'm gonna have to move on to the afternoon tea segment because we literally only have 1 hour and 45 minutes to dine at the tea salon. So keep that in mind if you're here with your friends. Okay the way to start your afternoon tea is you gotta eat from the bottom tier upwards. So we've got finger sandwiches on the bottom, you've got scones in the middle and up top are the sweet stuff. The pastries, the cakes. Let's start with the sandwiches. They are really interesting because the first one I believe is called the Coronation Chicken which is chicken coated in curry. And this is created, if I'm not mistaken, by Le Cordon Bleu of London for the Coronation Luncheon of the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. So let's go. You can definitely taste the spices, the curry. The chicken is really tender. The bread, I think it's a form of wheat bread. It's soft. Some pickled onions too. Pretty nice. Next up, the Cotswold Lake Bar Egg Mayonnaise. Cotswold Lake Bar is a very specific type of chicken. Apparently a very prized chicken. Their eggs are sort of like blue in colour if I remember correctly. So let's try it out. It's an egg mayonnaise basically. To me it's a decent egg mayonnaise. You can taste the mayo, you can taste the egginess, you can taste the yolk. The flavour is creamy. But at this point, I was really expecting more because this is not exactly cheap. Let's move on to the next piece which I believe is a Southwark Ham with Mustard Sandwich. Salty ham. Very pronounced mustard heat. I think this is English mustard which is a mix of yellow and brown mustard seeds so it's more heaty in a way which is very nice. Apparently the ham is really really salty though. I was expecting it to carry a little bit of sweetness since it's Southwark Ham. Cucumber sandwich. Refreshing. I think the ongoing theme is you know definitely the ingredients are fresh and good. This is pretty good. Cleanses the palate quite a bit. Alright, this final piece. I'm not too sure. It could be a trout, could be a salmon sandwich. Some sour cream. Salty. Slight smokiness. I think it's a smoked trout. Really thin piece though. This one is good. A little bit of that fridginess but not that bad. Second tier. The scones. A quintessential part of afternoon tea. In fact, a pairing of tea with scones is called cream tea because it comes with this side of clotted cream and some jam. There are two types of scones. A fruit scone and a plain scone. We're gonna do the plain scone. I'm gonna hopefully teach you the right thing about how to eat a scone. First off, you break it open with just your hands and then you put on some of this beautiful clotted cream. By the way, clotted cream is basically heavy cream cooked under low heat for a long time to let the fat rise up and you separate out the liquid. That is clotted cream. So it's fatty and luxurious. Then after you brush your clotted cream on top, you put on a dollop of jam. In this case, I think Fortnum & Mason is very well known for their strawberry preserve. And then you eat it. Do not sandwich it. Just eat it by it's half and then eat the other half later on. What is this good scone? Strawberry preserve is really good. It's sweet but it's not overly sweet. Not overly acidic as well. And the scones bring that buttery-ness. That clotted cream is just there mainly for that smoothness. Those scones are dry. It gives you a little bit of moisture. Oh, it's a good scone. It's a good scone. I'll give it that for sure. Oh, I love this. This is good. This is worth breaking the bank. Alright, the scones are done and we're going to move up to our top tier which is the pastries and the cakes. But before that, I'm going to add on a little bit more of the tea to cleanse the palate. Strainer on. Tea in. Strainer off. And off we go. Tea is still warm. One point I got to mention though, despite paying a pretty huge price, they didn't change the teapots for us. I mean, it's still warm but it's not exactly hot anymore. I don't know if you need to request for them to be changed but as I understood correctly through online research, the really high-end places, they normally do it for you on a regular basis. That's how I understood it but correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, top part, we've got an assortment of different types of pastries. I don't quite remember what all of them are but let's start with the middle one. It's called the Ring of Life. It's basically coated with white chocolate on the outside and the middle I think is cherries. It's a pretty delicate piece. I'm going to try not to destroy too much of it. Oh, it's sweet. Not overly sweet. Chocolate flavour pulls through. It's a pretty decadent pastry. It's definitely interesting enough. There's a mousse within. Don't really taste cherries. Bottom is a nut-based biscuit with dark chocolate, I believe. It tastes almost like a Ferrero Rocher. In fact, the bottom is much better than the top. I mean, the top is not bad but the bottom is where it gets really interesting. Yep, decadent. Definitely decadent. Okay, next up, we've got the... I believe this is an apple mousse and it's sort of slid off a bit so I'm going to try and push it or it's going to be really good. Okay, let's hope we don't drop this apple thing. Oh, it does look pretty nice, like bouncy and nice. Look at this. Okay, let's try this out. Again, decadent. It's really good quality. You can taste the candied apples within. Soft but still a little bit of that texture. And the mousse, it smells of apple and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there's some cinnamon as well. This is actually good. It's sweet. A little bit of that tartness from the apple, the acidity from the apple. This is good. This is good. Next up, the éclair. It's sweet. I can't tell what flavour it is. It's mainly of sweetness. You can taste the fruit flavour. The fruit is soft, it's got a nice chew. So this is an éclair. Okay, again, I do not remember what this tart is. It smells sort of like a, I don't know, maybe a crème brûlée tart but let's go. It's like a custard tart. A little custard-y. The top has a little bit of bitterness. It doesn't really taste caramelly. The tart skin is really thin. I would have liked it to have a little bit more of that big fragrance though. It's decent. Okay, final thing on the top tier, a chocolate based dessert. I'm not quite sure what it is. Let's find out. It's got mousse. I think it's passion fruit with dark chocolate. Very decent. Pretty common pairing. Passion fruit has a nice acidity. It's tart enough, not too tart. Chocolate pulls it back pretty nicely. It's a pretty good dessert. So I'm going to finish off the rest of the stuff and apparently all the stuff that you have seen is refillable. It's basically unlimited aside from the scotch egg of course. There is an ala carte order. So yeah, it's great and you can change your tea anytime you like. You just have to tell them, right? So yeah, see you guys in a bit for pain time. So, probably amazing. I gotta say, first of all, really good quality fresh ingredients. You could definitely taste all the individual flavours in the sandwiches and then the scones when combined with clotted cream and strawberry preserve is good. It's pretty enjoyable. The pastries are done right with a decent flavour and balance. And I want to make a mention of the scotch egg as well. Even though it's an ala carte order, it is £18 for the scotch egg. Because they are the creator of this dish, I would say it's actually done really, really well. I've tried a couple of scotch eggs that are decent. This is definitely the best scotch egg so far. And the tea is good and you could select from quite a sizeable selection which you can change during your meal. There's also a pianist at the Steinway and Sons which means you get live music throughout your dining experience and I think that is great. And the food is refillable. It's also a plus point. Yeah, that's a huge plus point. That said, at £70 for the flavours that you are getting, I would say it feels quite steep. Mainly because all of the things are okay but they are not great. In fact, throughout the meal, I was struggling to find a food item that warrants a visit to this place. Ultimately, I think if you are here for the experience rather than just the food, then perhaps you could consider this place because it's got the full package experience. You've got a pretty elegant dining area, you've got live music, you've got good quality foods and you've got a good selection of good quality tea as well. But if you were to only look at the flavours like us, then it feels rather expensive. And ultimately, because we are a food channel and we rate everything just based on the food, I would have to say that F&B scores an OK on the Gourmet Plate which means it is a quality afternoon tea with a good selection of good quality teas right there. If you want to experience the full so-called luxurious experience, yes, you can definitely try them out. But if you are in it for just the food like us, this place feels very expensive. So there you have it, our experience at Fondant & Maison having afternoon tea because we do not have any experience having afternoon tea in London. So fellow Londoners, let us know if this is it. Like this is what you get for £70 per pax in other places as well. Let us know if it could be better or... this is it, right? Hope you have enjoyed this food vlog. I'm sorry if the vlog feels rushed or it doesn't feel as interesting as our previous vlogs because of certain restrictions in filming. But I hope we did our best. Hope you enjoyed this vlog. 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