the drawing rooms - the ampersand hotel

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

i went to the ampersand hotel for afternoon tea 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 week afternoon tea. the food was delicious, the savoury gougeres were amazing, delicate and filled with beautiful fillings. the whitechocolatescones were light & fluffy & the cakes were amazing. the flavours of the cakes were incredible they were so pretty & the whole afternoon tea was delivered to perfection. it is an expensive afternoon tea (£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 science afternoon tea 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 : littlechocolatedinosaurs (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 whitechocolatescones, served with devonshire clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve.

pastries :

hazelnut, walnut andchocolatecake with mango mousse volcano andchocolatedinosaurs,

pistachio macaron with cherry sauce pipette

raspberry cake planet

citrus cocktail.

for me, one of the best afternoon teas 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 whitechocolate"saturn's rings" and the very elaborated choco dino with meringue rock, volcano, lava and geological strata.

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

this afternoon tea 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 spectacular afternoon tea, 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 themed afternoon tea 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 great afternoon was 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 whitechocolatescones, 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 andchocolatecake with mango mousse volcano andchocolatedinosaur, 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.