high tea at Brown's Hotel

The high tea consists of tea, obviously, which you choose from a long and ultimately silly list of teas - well, some people have a favorite, others are curious or adventurous... but the list is 3 pages long, plus a supplement. If you wish you may consult with one of the resident experts before making your choice. I might do that if the subject were a small glass of single malt, but I did have to suppress giggles at the thought of being directed toward the tea I needed by a tea master. It almost sounded like having one's horoscope cast. I pointed at the Darjeeling and moved on.


The food is the star. First, tea sandwiches, replenished at will.


From left, cucumber , tomato-chutney-cheddar, smoked salmon, egg, ham.





Next, scones, plain or currant, with luvvly clotted cream and house-made strawberry jam. These are not the mis-named enormous crumbly crunchy "scones" we see where I live. The texture and taste are more like those of an old-fashioned beaten biscuit, and they are served warm from the oven, and again "subject to replenishment." So we replenished.


Last, pastries. A rosewater éclair, a violet Madeleine, a carrot cake and a Pimm's Cup jelly (jello to us peasants). There were also large cakes being wheeled around, I grabbed some of the chocolate. I mean, a meal without chocolate two days in a row? C'mon.

An English family was enjoying tea behind us, nice mom and dad, sullen teenage daughter with eyeliner (Kate has a lot to answer for), older brother with shaved head, leather vest, middle daughter about 10 and not eating anything pink (wrong day for that) and keeping herself busy by poking and pinching youngest daughter. Then another couple arrived, adult friends of the parents. ALL FOUR KIDS JUMPED UP, STOOD UP STRAIGHT AND SHOOK HANDS.


There'll always be an England.