AFTERNOON TEA AT VILLA ROSA KEMPINSKI

OshiniTEA is back! Ok, how lame was that? Let’s just pretend that never happened. Thanks. What did happen, however, was the first Afternoon Tea session of 20 eighTEAn. Why can’t I stop? Send help hahahah. It’s been a while since my last sesh and I wasn’t sure where to sample next. But when I saw that the K Lounge at Villa Rosa Kempinski had recently revived and revamped their offering, I had to start there. And I’m glad I did. There’s just something about that place . . .

As I’d called ahead, I arrived to find my reserved table waiting for me at the patio . . . I love that side of the lounge. It’s so pretty, peaceful and private. Not too much background noise in the form of chatter or music gets there, just the soothing sounds of the fountains and birds in the back lawn area. Fresh air, plush low lounge chairs made of leisurely sipping on tea and catching up with a friend, book or your thoughts. Whenever I’m there, time escapes me. In keeping with the zen I felt I opted to have the loose leaf green tea with my meal.

I kind of lost it when I saw all the golden utensils and cutlery. From the kettle to the tiny teaspoon – golden! Glistening, glimmering, gaudy golden! I was fine giving bone china the day off. All I could hear in my mind was *I’m so faaaaaanceeey, you already knoooowww!” Yes, I have a thing for gold. It was different and it was impressive. But I guess different and unique and extra AF is their style because the food came in drawers! Not a cake stand, not a cake tray, no. A chest of drawers! With an extra drawer for the scones. How novel and quirky is that? It was a beautiful dark chest fitted with 3 layers of drawers with each one housing a different rank of treats: tarts, sandwiches and cakes. The cherry on top was not so much cherry but a glass top where another pretty presentation of cake and panna cotta in glass were arranged. For some reason, this reminded me of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast but then again, the Afternoon Tea themed after that was different. Check it out here on Binny’s Kitchen, another Afternoon Tea lover.

I started with the scones of course but the first one was too hard to break apart and ended up being burned in the middle while the clotted cream was straight outta the fridge so it was hardened as well. But my gracious hostess, Grace (it’s all in the name), quickly changed that entire drawer for me. So that was not a biggie. I like that their scones were smaller than the norm which made it easier and less daunting to get through. Plus the warmth of the scones countered the cold clotted cream so that wasn’t a disaster either at the end of the day. But for the first time, I preferred the sweet treats to the sandwiches. While the salmon sandwich was ahhhhmazing, the cured beef, egg and cucumber ones were just ok. Nothing striking. I could have done with salmon all the way. And I really could have done without the caviar on the egg one. I hate caviar.

By the time I got to dessert I was stuffed! So I just had the vanilla panna cotta with the raspberry compote and I was done! Death by drawers hahah. It really was a lot and filling. Although, full disclosure, I did manage to squeeze in one strawberry macaron from the counter 🙂 I spent the sunset hour on those lovely Grecian benches sipping tea and just relaxing.

It was a lovely time. Quite different and yet so right in it’s extraness. They have Afternoon Tea daily from 3 pm to about 6 pm and it costs KShs. 2,500 ( USD 25) or KShs. 5,000 (USD 50) for 2 or more people. It is on the higher side of the scale compared to Hemingways and The Lord Erroll but the portions are great. The service was warm and wonderful and the  ambiance was settling. I loved it. Do give it a try. You can watch my experience on my YouTube channel as below. Have a great week!

 

xo