Who doesn’t love a good excuse for cake?
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to the stunning Macdonald Burlington Hotel in Birmingham to try their afternoon tea menu. So, as it was close to Mother’s Day I decided to take my Mum and Sister (a mother to be eeek) out to celebrate with some shopping and cake.
I live around 30-45 minutes away from Birmingham on the train so we decided it would be much easier to get the train in, rather than try to find somewhere to park in central. Although, we did end up having to wait a while for our train as they were all delayed…
When we finally arrived in Birmingham, we were all surprised at how close the hotel was to the station. All you had to do was come out of the doors (by Premier Inn and McDonalds), turn left and then the entrance to the hotel was there. We actually said it would be perfect if had we wanted to take our Nan too, as she wouldn’t have to walk too far after we got off the train.
You could tell just by the entrance to the hotel how beautiful it was going to be inside and we were not disappointed. The décor was gorgeous and I fell in love with the windows that were on the way up to the hotel restaurant – it really gave the whole place a lot of character.
When we got to the restaurant they were definitely expecting us as they had set up three different tables for us to choose from – we went with the biggest table in the main restaurant rather than the bar. Mainly because it had the best lighting and would be better for taking photos, but also because we wanted there to be enough room for three of us.
To begin we were given a choice of tea (of course) and oh my gosh, there was so much to choose from. I wish I had looked at the flavours before picking my usual mint tea because the Elderflower one sounded so good. Not long after our three-tiered afternoon tea arrived.
The middle layer had lots of different sandwiches on including cucumber, egg mayonnaise, beef and horseradish, chicken teriyaki and salmon. I tried to have one of each (apart from the salmon as I don’t like fish) and honestly, I could not fault a single thing. They were all so full of flavour and did not last long at all.
It only seemed right to try the scones next and after a debate on what goes on first (the cream or the jam) we tucked in. They were so good I wish I had taken the leftovers with me for later. There were also strawberries to go with the scones but why would I have fruit when I can have cake, right?
The final later was the best – the cakes.
There was a mix of banoffee pie, cheesecake, chocolate cake, macarons and victoria sponge. At this point, I was pretty damn full, so I didn’t get a chance to try everything but I did give it a good go. The lemon cheesecake was my favourite, followed closely by the macrons. My Mum and Sister also said the banoffee pie was one of the best bits, but I didn’t get a chance to try that one.
Overall, my afternoon tea experience at the Macdonald Burlington Hotel was incredible. The service, the food and the venue were all amazing and I would definitely consider going back, especially when it is only £17.95 per person.
Where is your favourite place to have afternoon tea?
Kirsty Leanne
xoxo
