It may seem quite odd to hope for a St Valentine’s celebration during this pandemic. But actually those who like to organise something special at this time of year (hum, I do!) will quite fancy the idea I had to surprise not only my husband but my kids too (yeah, this REALLY is a special year!)!
I had long wanted to book an afternoon tea in London with my hubby, but several reasons always stood in the way and had me postponing this experience again and again…
But the pandemic taught us something (yes, a silver lining!): adaptation. So when I saw that the Sketch had designed a “Sketch at home” offer with deliverable afternoon teas, I jumped on the occasion!
Today, DOYOUSPEAKLONDON presents you the SKETCH concept of an afternoon tea from the comfort of your home!

The Sketch, London

I knew the Sketch from a birthday present a few friends made to us some years ago. One of the best memories I have in London, which I described here. I had no doubt this new offer would be as outstanding as my previous experience and was eager to try their afternoon tea menu.

There are 5 afternoon tea options to choose from, fitting all kinds of allergies: Original, Vegetarian, Vegan, Pescatarian and Gluten-Free. I opted for two menus of the original version, but chose different jams to try them all.
I had made the order online a few days before and had well received a lovely message confirming the date and timing of the delivery. At this point I was very excited to see my family’s faces on the next Sunday! I had only ask for everyone to be “ready and dressed up for a special occasion at home at 12”. Despite the fact we were staying at home, it felt somehow kind of magical…

Afternoon tea at home!

When the stylish (and SO distinctive) grey and pink parcel arrived (perfectly on time, thank you), we were all ready to venture our hands inside and discover all its treasures.

While I was undoing the pink ribbon, the kids could not stay in place. Having to photograph the parcel and the bits inside was the perfect excuse to prolong the pleasure of the opening…
We first discovered the small bags, filled with teas and complimentary hand sanitisers, then opened a lovely letter containing the menu with all details of names and ingredients of the included dishes.
Everything was delicately packaged and even if I had made the order and knew what would be served, I was completely amazed by all the beautiful attentions behind these pink boxes and bags.

Outstanding savoury delicacies

We started opening our “pink sketch jewellery cases” with obvious excitement and were first thrilled by the colourful assortment of dishes!

After arranging all these treats on the table beautifully decorated for the occasion, we could finally start our promising tasting.
We began with the traditional sandwiches. Although the choice of ingredients was not particularly original, we enjoyed every bite, especially appreciating the freshness and flavoursome taste of each sandwich.

The Coronation Chicken was the one with the most pronounced taste, which actually was a great surprise.

The AMAZING savoury dishes were undoubtedly the Truffle bun, with its soft texture and the perfectly flavoured cream in the middle, as well as the Egg Gougere, which reminded me of forgotten flavours…

Exquisite desserts

The other highlight of this special Afternoon Tea was the platter of desserts, featuring two categories of cakes: first the traditional ones, like Victoria Sponge, Strawberry Cheesecake, Scones, which everyone agreed were all succulent. 

Then, we discovered the original desserts…the one I preferred!

First, a SUCCULENT Cherry Choux Pastry: my favorite dessert! It had a slightly tart flavour of raspberry/Amarena cherries in the middle…amazing!

Then, a Chocolate and Coffee tart, incredibly delicious with a subtle combination of coffee and chocolate so that the first does not dominate the whole tart. Simply divine (my second favourite dessert!).

There was also interesting Lemon Marshmallows.
I am not particularly keen on Marshmallows, which I usually find excessively sweet and devoid of any flavour, but this one had a very soft texture melting in the mouth and above all a dominant flavour of lemon!

A five star Sunday if you ask me: the entire (extended) lunch was a whole lot of fun, laughs and surprises, and perfectly met the expected high level of pleasure.

Above all, it was a qualitative family time making us forget about this inevitable dull routine and reminding us the joy we had to discover new places in London and beyond. From the comfort of our home, we had the feeling to be somewhere else! And even the little fussy eaters could find something they enjoyed 🙂

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and found inspiration here. If you are planning to treat yourself to this amazing Sketch Afternoon Tea soon, please share your experience and opinion on DOYOUSPEAKLONDON’s blog!

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To go further:
Sketch London website

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