Afternoon Tea Review: Hilton, Cardiff

 

 

 

Over the summer my friend Adie and myself treated ourselves to afternoon tea at the Hilton.  It was part of a Groupon deal and so included use of the spa facilities too for £29 for two people.  We had a lovely swim to work up an appetite.

 

Sandwiches: 3.5/5

These were rather nice, particularly the salmon ones because they had prawns in too!  Would have liked a bit more selection, and the bread could have been better.  The sandwiches looked quite beige and bland on the cakestand, and tasted far superior to their looks!

 

Cake: 1/5

What a disappointment.  A fairy cake that was misshapen, pretty tasteless and looked as though it had been decorated by a five year old.  There were some welshcakes too, nice touch for the capital of Wales, but I'm afraid that doesn't outweigh the other cake so the score's still 1 out of 5.

 

Service: 5/5

Impeccable.  Charming Maitre D, attentive waitress, and when a *hair* was discovered on our cakestand (I wish I was joking, it's such a cliche!) they couldn't apologise enough and swiftly replaced the entire tea selection.

Ambience: 3/5

The glass-fronted restaurant on the ground floor is rather nice, and you can people watch.  It's still a modern hotel chain at the end of the day, so nothing particularly special.

 

Crockery; 3/5

Yes, I am rating the crockery!  It wasn't vintage - just your normal run-of-the-mill white china that can be found in most hotel chains.

 

Tea & Prosecco: 4/5

A good selection of tea, with a bit of a ritual created around choosing it by the Twinings selection box of jars that you are welcome to open and sniff.  There are also little egg-timers to tell you when your tea is brewed, depending on whether it's black, white or green tea.  It's still Twinings though, rather than some local tea company, so I am knocking off a point for that.  The prosecco went down in one.

 

Overall: 3/5

I would have been sorely disappointed if I had paid full price, but I have a feeling that the afternoon tea was 'adjusted' slightly for the Groupon offer and that a different selection of items would have been available for customers paying the full price.  I really can't complain that I got a swim, a glass of bubbly, a pot of tea and some sandwiches for £15.  I don't think I would go again though - there are lots of other choices in South Wales with superior cake and crockery.