Last weekend I finally got around to using a voucher which I received
a few months ago for two people to attend Afternoon Tea at the top of
the Millbank Tower in the restaurant aptly called Altitude 360.
A
bit of history on this one. About 18 months ago I completed a Diploma
in Event Management and our group assignment was to put together a
presentation to present as if we were pitching to a company to win the
piece of business. As part of the assignment we all had to act like this
event was actually going to happen which included visiting venues, which is how
I found out about this restaurant. When our team went to view the space
it wasn't in action and not even the tables and chairs were out,
however we were blown away with the view as it literally gives you a 360
degree view from the 29th floor out over central London.
Ever
since seeing the view (I am obsessed with heights & lights) I have
always wanted to go back, however the prices were always out of my
reach. However the chance arose when good old Groupon offered up a 60%
off voucher (original value £87.50) and so Pete ever so kindly purchased
a voucher for us.
Firstly we were greeted and taken to our table and for a minute I thought since we had a voucher we would not be seated at a window, but instead we were taken to the far corner which had the best views in the restaurant, including Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, The London Eye right in front of us and then a view right up the Thames to the city and the Gherkin. It was a pretty spectacular view from the 29th floor.
At first glance the venue looks very minimalistic and clean with most of the decor in white and black bench seating around the edge. However on closer look it all looked a bit unfinished with white paint splatters on my seat and dirt marks down the side of the cabinet next to us which was holding a cracked vase.
Once seated we were were offered a selection of Twinnings teas and we both went with English Breakfast to start. I do like Twinnings tea's, but for the price you have to pay for Afternoon Tea I would expect loose leaf tea... maybe I'm a tea snob.
Our food was brought out not long after our tea's had arrived in once again another minimalistic (plain) cake stand, which for two people looked a little sparse. On the bottom we had a selection of sandwiches including, egg & mayo with lettuce, salmon & cream cheese, cheese & pickles, cucumber and ham & mustard.
In the middle we had scones!!! I was looking forward to these, except that when I opened one up it literally broke off and crumbled in my hand. To say the least... they were overcooked and dried out. Pete had his and thought it was okay, so let him have the raisin one and I moved to the top layer of sweets.
Firstly we were greeted and taken to our table and for a minute I thought since we had a voucher we would not be seated at a window, but instead we were taken to the far corner which had the best views in the restaurant, including Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, The London Eye right in front of us and then a view right up the Thames to the city and the Gherkin. It was a pretty spectacular view from the 29th floor.
At first glance the venue looks very minimalistic and clean with most of the decor in white and black bench seating around the edge. However on closer look it all looked a bit unfinished with white paint splatters on my seat and dirt marks down the side of the cabinet next to us which was holding a cracked vase.
Once seated we were were offered a selection of Twinnings teas and we both went with English Breakfast to start. I do like Twinnings tea's, but for the price you have to pay for Afternoon Tea I would expect loose leaf tea... maybe I'm a tea snob.
Our food was brought out not long after our tea's had arrived in once again another minimalistic (plain) cake stand, which for two people looked a little sparse. On the bottom we had a selection of sandwiches including, egg & mayo with lettuce, salmon & cream cheese, cheese & pickles, cucumber and ham & mustard.
In the middle we had scones!!! I was looking forward to these, except that when I opened one up it literally broke off and crumbled in my hand. To say the least... they were overcooked and dried out. Pete had his and thought it was okay, so let him have the raisin one and I moved to the top layer of sweets.
This layer I had mixed thoughts about, but overall it was quite nice. Once again with the minimalistic theme, but to me it was just a bit boring and nothing really excited my eyes. I started with the macaroons which I've never really been a lover of anyway. The raspberry was okay, but the coffee one was a bit of a weird flavour. The tart was nice and creamy and the mini meringue was lovely and crisp. I left the lemon cake for Pete as its one of his favourites and I got to eat the chocolate sponge which was light and fluffy.
All in all I would give them Afternoon Tea experience a 5 out of 10. If I had paid the full price of about £85 for two people I would have been very disappointed. There was an extra point in there purely because I like to be up very high... and this is a cheaper way of doing it than training to be a pilot, or so I found out the hard way.
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Happy Baking x
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