I should move to London. In the long run, it would be best if I moved to London. Madness you might think bare in mind I have a great job that I love in Bristol and have wonderful friends here and there is cider. Not the mass-market stuff but proper West Country cider, the type that will make you forget your own name and start fights.
So why should I move to London- well I have an awesome group of friends, who I go travelling with (who helped me eat my way around San Sebastian and other spots around the world) and generally have a fantastic time with? Seriously, we could be in a field in the middle of nowhere with nothing and still have a great time. Right, gush over. And it so happens all our birthdays are nicely spread out across the year and roughly once a month. Which entails I get to go and try the cool spots in the big smoke is where all of them live except me.
This weekend in the middle of moving flats (the reason for no new cooking posts just reviews), it was one of these great friends birthdays- Bernard – not her real name….don’t ask. Like the flouncy ladies that we are, we donned our finery and went for Not Afternoon Tea, Afternoon Tea at the Oxo Tower on the South Bank.
What is Not Afternoon Tea, Afternoon Tea, I hear you cry, well its fancy afternoon tea of delicious dessert plates and alcohol! There are four different theme plates to choose from all with complimentary cocktails. And what also compliments the desserts and the cocktails are the views, which are stunning! From the South Bank, you can see across the Thames to St. Paul’s, the Gherkin and the rest of London.
I went for the Light & Bubbly plate which included the following –
– Bella Pesca Cocktail – A deluxe Bellini: With a splash Southern Comfort and raspberries
– Yoghurt sorbet with black strawberry balsamic pearls – really fresh tasting sorbet, creamy texture which some yoghurt based desserts lack the body needed. The pearls had a lot of flavours but the texture of hard tapioca balls, not unpleasant but did add the difference to the smooth sorbet.
– Lemon Jazz – this little sponge had a little texture with zesty lemon and studded with tiny chocolate studs, not big enough to detract from the freshness of the sponge but compliments. Also was topped with lemon curd and white chocolate truffle. Yum.
– Passion fruit cloud cake – This was my favourite dessert on the plate, I adore passion fruit desserts. The exotic aroma, the sharp, tangy but sweet flavour and the seeds to add bite and texture. This is a passionfruit heavy sponge, moist but not overly sweet and topped an Italian meringue – like a little lemon meringue pie but hold the pastry. Divine
– Peach foam & Peach Schnapps pearls – As the name suggests, the peach foam is lighter than air – thin chocolate sponge on the base, the peach foam with a peach compote in the middle. Topped with peach pearls (which if you want to make your own at home check out my post here.)
For £22.50 each, it was well worth trying some different desserts and the presentation was top notch. I think I would go back to try their full lunchtime menu and have one of their puddings as we did then go on to somewhere else for dinner as needed something to go with the many bottles of prosecco. Highly recommended though and will be going back soon.
Below are the other dessert plates the other ladies picked.
Flower Power
Berrylicious
Address Book
The Oxo Tower
Barge House St, South Bank, London SE1 9PH
Tel: 020 7803 3888
Website: oxotowerrestaurant.com
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