palm court - balmoral hotel

absolutely amazing! the place is really well located and the space is just incredible - it seems you're in a dream. the ordered the afternoon team that is composed by a variety of sandwiches, small cakes and desserts. the tea is mandatory :) while paying, we were only charged by one! the staff was really incredible, really wanna come back on my next visit to edinburgh ;)

fabulous afternoon tea experience. lot's of choice of teas and champagne, and the treats just keep on coming! you are welcomed with an amuse bouche - today was mushroom with truffle creme fraiche. then onto the savouries. there were cucumber sandwiches, open salmon sandwich, egg and cress - and then the delicious coronation chicken tartlet...and a cheddar muffin with arran mustard. defo my fav. then onto the sweets, including two scones, chocolate tart and a banana muffin. just as young think you can have no more...the sweet trolley comes along, and how could you possibly say no to marshmallows and macarons?! a palate cleansing sorbet to finish and by then i an guarantee you can eat no more. great service, lovely surroundings - very glad to have finally gone for afty tea here!

the last instalment of my birthday celebrations! i've been wanting to go for afternoon tea for ageeeees! so i found the palm court at the balmoral hotel via zomato! booked a table for two easily and i even added the booking to my 'passport' on my phone! how handy!
great service welcomed in the waiter took our jackets. we were then advised about how afternoon tea works, we told the waitress about our dietary requirements and she didn't make a fuse! amazing! the savoury food was yummy! but my favourite@ of course was the cakes stand :) the warm scones were my top favourite. i got the 'famous edinburgh tea' and amber the traditional earl grey. at the end there was even a cart of small cakes! literally could not fit anything else into my tummy so we got it packed up in with cute wee treasure chest box.
average £25per person so wouldn't go regularly but for special occasions amber akhtar

wow! what an amazing first experience at afternoon tea! i've seen different places set ups of afternoon tea being in the hospitality industry but this was something else! from the amuse buche to the dessert trolley. went with sultana malik to celebrate her birthday and we both had the best time! from the food right to the decor! the service was great! to top it off there was a live musician which i loved! would definitely recommend and can't wait to go back! be sure to go with an empty stomach as its really filling!

on a weekend break to edinburgh we decided to take afternoon tea at palm court at the balmoral.  the balmoral is part of the rocco forte group which includes browns hotel in london so i knew they should be able to put on a good spread.

the balmoral is one of edinburghs top luxury hotels and you can see this as soon as you step inside as its super lush.

we started the afternoon tea with a pimms amuse bouche 

my gluten free sandwiches were open on white bread with a yummy selection of different fillings including egg, ham and mustard, salmon and cream cheese and cucumber. the verdict on the gluten free bread was that it was really tasty and i liked the non fussiness about the sammies. 

the normal sandwiches actually come with crisps which i found weird however we will go with it!

the gluten free scones at the balmoral weren't the best as they were undercooked however they apologised and offered a discount on the afternoon tea straight away.  i was offered some more gluten free scones but i declined as there were a lot of gluten free pastries screaming to be eaten.

the gluten free pastries at the balmoral exceeded my expectations and there was such a variety that i left with a huge pastry belly!

there was so much on offer including turkish delight, shortbread, rhubarb fool and peach melba to name just a few.  i had to leave with a dodgy bag that is how much was on offer!

we were offered a refill on the afternoon tea and the service was exceptional.  

apart from the gluten free scone glitch i would recommend booking this afternoon tea in edinburgh.  my partner really enjoyed his normal afternoon tea

x

for the past couple of years, the silver fox and i have scarpered at the mere thought of january, and have been hiding out on beaches instead of putting up with the idiosyncrasies and challanges that winter weather brings. due to crazy business at work, unfortunately it wasn't going to be possible to travel this year, so a very pale me instead busied myself with enjoying lots of birthday food dates. one of which was a rather spectacular weekend of five-star fun with my old school friend emily, who has at long last turned her back on london-town and re-joined us back in the 'burgh. she's brought with her, her husband, her gorgeous baby and a well-honed taste for the finer things ( prêt-à - portea for the 30th birthday and ladurée macarons for the baby shower, thank you very much) in this sweet life. she invited me 'to tea' at the balmoral as my birthday treat, and well, who was i to say no? pleased as punch, i arrived bang on time, and walked into one of the city's most iconic buildi