the drawing rooms - the ampersand hotel

i arrived a bit early to check out the hotel because i’ve heard it’s simply gorgeous. this was the room set up for our group. i bonded instantly with this stunning atmosphere. when our tea time began, the chatter and excitement in the room among the girls was another indicator the day would be fun. i made several new friends, including jamie from gunters abroad . she’s lived a lot of places! notice the camera there in the bottom right? we have the same one! so i was eager to receive some lessons from her during our tea. bloggers are cool like that. she and i definitely formed a compound bond! aside from being in the company of such talented bloggers, another catalyst to this greatafternoonwas starting with a glass of champagne. next, we ordered

for an experience that is truly out of this world - the scienceafternoontea at the ampersand hotel comes highly recommended!  smoking cake-stands are stacked with space-inspired goodies including planetary macaroons, chocolate dinosaurs, mango mousse volcanoes and a medley of scientific instruments.  savoury gougeres provide a refreshing alternative to the traditional staid sandwiches offered up at traditionalafternoonteas.  this is all washed down with the widest range of teas.

one thing i've surely embraced since moving to the uk isafternoontea and last week i was invited to try out this utterly english tradition at the drawing rooms. the drawing rooms is the tea room at the fairly recently opened ampersand hotel in the heart of kensington, and i couldn't think of a cheerier spot to indulge in tea, finger sandwiches and scones.

quite a small place, tastefully decorated with excellent service. went to haveafternoontea with a few friends for my birthday and it was all rather pleasant. the sandwiches and pastries themselves are good, the coffee is great. the scienceafternoontea is a treat with the liquid nitrogen - who doesn't love a bit of ln2?

it won't be the bestafternoontea you will experience, you can pay a bit extra and go to one of the fancier hotels for that sort of experience, but the drawing rooms does not disappoint. the service really helps to make it a special place.

i love a good saturday girl date; take a friend – emma, some culture andafternoontea and you are all prepared for a perfect day.   the v&a museum was our bit of culture and they currently have a new exhibition on about pearls (totally worth a visit to ohh and ahh over some pretty pearls) and we decided to head to the ampersand hotel for a yummyafternoontea.

service at the ampersand hotel is seriously relaxed, now this won't be to everyone's cup of tea (pardon the pun), but for me i personally found this refreshing. where you are quietly allowed to enjoy the wonderful food and the company of friends without being rushed.

once seated we opt for the classicafternoon(£39.50) served with a wonderful glass of champagne to start.

the ampersand caters for vegetarians and also has seasonal offerings forafternoontea: halloween and christmas.

first up was the tartines:
 gloucester old spot ham, gribiche sauce.  h.forman and son london smoked salmon (one of britain's oldest salmon curers), dill and cream cheese. 

to read more of the review check out my blog...

the drawing room offersafternoontea. the room itself is very attractive with pastel blue coloured walls. there are large teal, grey and printed chairs to sit on. 

it has a very open and calm atmosphere and there is a small selection of cakes to choose from at the top of the room. 

my friend and i ordered some tea and i decided to have the carrot cake. our waiter was very friendly and the service was good, however it was overpriced and there are lots of cafes across the street, which offer the same thing at a lower price.

had an amazing halloween-themedafternoontea at the drawing rooms!

they really go the extra mile at the drawing rooms, delivering something special for holidays and unique occasions. a few friends and i decided to try their halloween special, which came with free champagne if you booked online! what a fantastic experience. 

the desserts were all halloween-themed, with spooky eyeballs, bats, and pumpkins. the pumpkin cake was spectacular-- a piece of orange cake enrobed in icing fondant in the form of a jack-o-lantern. when they brought it out, it was billowing with an eerie smoke (dry ice from beneath the pumpkin!) it was spectacular-- a real treat for the eyes and tastebuds!

i opted for the vegetarian sandwiches, and they were divine, especially the cucumber, which came with a light and delicious cream cheese and loads of dill! the egg salad sandwich was wonderful, too. again, wonderfully creamy and packed with flavour. 

the atmosphere was playful and colourful, feminine and adventurous in style with mirrored tables, bright, jewel-coloured chairs, and quirky paintings featuring animals! 

i will definitely be returning with friends!

i went to the ampersand hotel forafternoontea after visiting the v&a hotel. the drawing room is beautiful, full of unusual trinkets, beautiful prints & bright colours. the ambience was lovely, so relaxed and not at all stuffy like you get at some hotels. the week we went was london cocktail week so we went for the london cocktail weekafternoontea. the food was delicious, the savoury gougeres were amazing, delicate and filled with beautiful fillings. the white chocolate scones were light & fluffy & the cakes were amazing. the flavours of the cakes were incredible they were so pretty & the wholeafternoontea was delivered to perfection. it is an expensiveafternoontea (£35 each) but it's unusual, it's modern, it was delicious & there was a lot of it!

when i was 5years old, like lots of others kids, i decided i would be a paleontologist. usually, kids give up this idea after six months and then want to be fireman, teacher, singer, ...

well, i wanted to be a paleontologist until i was 14/15years old. posters of diplodocus and triceratops cohabited with boys band pictures on my bedroom walls. (and now, who are considered the dinosaurs?! :p).

in my teenage years (yesterday) my teachers used to say if i wished i could be a scientist. i love to learn, i love to understand how things work, how things are built, i always add top grades in the sciences classes...

but i chose another other ways.

but in the end, cooking, and pâtisserie in particular, are really similar to chemistry. when i play in my kitchen, adding a bit of this, a bit of that, i am like a scientist in a lab, isn't it?

so when i was invited to try the scienceafternoontea at the ampersand hotel, well, of course i jumped in my white scientist blouse to experience it!

having been recently to sketch for my birthday, and been a tad disappointed by it, i wasn't really expecting much. if sketch didn't delivered any grandiose pâtisserie, who would?

well, the pastry chef at the ampersand surely does!

from the start, we were just mesmerised by the high details of the pastries in front of us : little chocolate dinosaurs (imagine how happy i was), volcano with mango lava, beaker with bright green potion, little cakey planet, meringue rocks, pistacchio macaron ready to be injected with cherry coulis ... and .... dry ice smoke!

spectacular!

and tasty!

and generous!

these are the details of the menu :

savoury gougeres :

glouster old spot ham, sauce gribiche;

cheese with fruit chutney;

h.forman & son london smoked salmon, dill and cream cheese;

coronation chicken

warm plain and white chocolate scones, served with devonshire clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve.

pastries :

hazelnut, walnut and chocolate cake with mango mousse volcano and chocolate dinosaurs,

pistachio macaron with cherry sauce pipette

raspberry cake planet

citrus cocktail.

for me, one of the bestafternoonteas i had in london these past years.

the korean pastry chef, ji sun shin (i promise, i didn't know she was korean before meeting her!) is really talented, creative and skilled. i love the little planet she made out of cake with white chocolate "saturn's rings" and the very elaborated choco dino with meringue rock, volcano, lava and geological strata.

the drawing rooms, where theafternoontea was served, are also beautifully decorated. it feels cosy and modern. and a bit extravagant with all the paintings of 'animals cocktails' !

thisafternoontea runs for a limited time but i am sure that whatever will come next will be as creative and delicious.

so if you're on the look out for a spectacularafternoontea, book now at the ampersand hotel. and after indulging yourself with yummy treats, visit the science museum which is just 3 min away walking distance.

many thanks to selena and the others girls present on the day for inviting me to join them. see you soon around more cakes and champagne! :)

the experience i had at the ampersand hotel science tea was absolutely explosive! it definitely proves the equation that 16 bloggers plus a themedafternoontea in kensington, equals a real treat.
i arrived a bit early to check out the hotel because i’ve heard it’s simply gorgeous. this was the room set up for our group.
i bonded instantly with this stunning atmosphere.
when our tea time began, the chatter and excitement in the room among the girls was another indicator the day would be fun. i made several new friends, including jamie from gunters abroad. she’s lived a lot of places! she and i definitely formed a compound bond!
aside from being in the company of such talented bloggers, another catalyst to this greatafternoonwas starting with a glass of champagne.
next, we ordered our individual teas. i chose peppermint, and it was a brew of sensory sensations. each sip had a tingly bit of minty taste, and i swear left a slight buttery feel on my lips. winner!

when they delivered our sandwiches and sweets, we ignited our cameras to capture the delight for you.
but, we all reached our blogger boiling points when they dropped this atom bomb on us. check that out, 
but, we all reached our blogger boiling points when they introduced their three tiered feast. sunny friends! whatever enzyme they used to create a billowing fog streaming from the top tier created an electric charge in us that had the room buzzing with ooohs and ahhhhs!
with our protons fully charged, we all started to enjoy the tasty selections.
the menu includes: savoury gougeres – glouster old spot ham, sauce gribiche; cheese with fruit chutney; h.forman & son london smoked salmon, dill and cream cheese; coronation chicken.
as well as a warm selection of plain and white chocolate scones, served with devonshire clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve.
and, let’s not forget that top layer which really galvanizes the ampersand hotel science tea:pastries – hazelnut, walnut and chocolate cake with mango mousse volcano and chocolate dinosaur, pistachio macaroon with cherry sauce pipette, raspberry cake planet and citrus cocktail.
we all left buzzing about our experience at the ampersand hotel science tea. so, i’ll say if you’re looking for a way to periodically boost yourself with liquid and inner sunshine, go to the ampersand hotel science tea.

what. a. delight. the hotel is only inches away from south ken station and teas are served in the drawing rooms. the rooms are a quirky wonder, prints of zoo animals peering out from cocktail glasses, mix of vintage and contemporary furniture, relaxed and funky, not an ounce of stuffiness in sight.

i think it may well be one of the coolest hotels i've ever seen! we plumped for both the standard & xmas teas - a festive twist on theafternoontea meant the usual tea included savoury gougeres, white choc scones & mince pies in the mix.

the gougeres and tartines were soft, melt-in-the-mouth taste explosions, the scones soft with lashings of jam & cream and the desserts, well the desserts were too many to get through!

for under £20 each and for the volume of food we had, this was a steal! my verdict: grab a friend, grab a lot of friends and check it out.

i was lucky enough to win a champagneafternoontea at the ampersand hotel, kensington in a competition i entered throughafternoontea online  who kindly organised our visit.  the hotel has offeredafternoontea since opening only last  august  and i invited my mother to join me for the experience. and what an experience it was!  the hotel receptionist pointed us in the right direction towards the drawing rooms where we were warmly welcomed. this room is lovely and light with ‘wacky’ bright paintings on the wall, large-print wallpaper, bird-patterned and stripy armchairs, comfy sofas and cushions. the room had a nice relaxed feel to it. we were shown to our seats, although if we wanted to sit somewhere else this wasn’t a problem as it wasn’t busy. we were lucky to be seated in front of the fire which was nice and cosy as there was still snow on the ground outside. once sat on the large sofa,  we were served with a glass of  moët  champagne before ordering afternoo