This year for my Birthday I decided that instead of spending £50+ going out with the girls on a night out that the jaigerbombs would make sure I didn't remember I would do something a little more civilized, we would go to The Angel Hotel in Abergavenny for High Tea. The Angel Hotel is quite well renowned for their afternoon tea, having won the Tea Guild's Top National Award in 2011 I had very high expectations.
The booking process was simple, I filled in the online contact form and received an email reply pretty much straight away. I called to confirm things and pay my 50% deposit and received the confirmation by post within a couple of days.
The fact that we were a larger group meant that we had to book into a private room, this cost just £2 each extra and really made the day even more special. We were placed in the sitting room as the usual private rooms were fully booked (typical me, leaving things until the last minute). The sitting room was lovely, we walked in to comfy sofas and chairs, a log fire and a beautifully set up table. I was very impressed with the length of time they booked the room out for us, I can't remember exactly how long but I think it was three hours. Even when this time was up they didn't put any pressure on us to leave.
The staff were very helpful and attentive, they took drink orders as soon as each person arrived and even made suggestions to save money such as buying bottles of wine instead of a glass each.
We did worry when they started bringing the food in, we didn't think they would be able to fit it all onto the table but they managed and it was an amazing spread.
Each stand is shared between two people. There were two of every sandwich and every pastry but annoyingly only one of every cake. We wanted to try them all so all opted for cutting each cake in half to share with our partner. On top of what you see in the above photo we had an individual trifle each and warm scones with cream and jam. They waited for us to finish this before bringing the scones in so that we could enjoy them warm.
I opted for the whole rosebud tea which was absolutely delicious. I loved that it came in a clear pot as it looked so pretty, though some of my friends did say this put them off as they didn't like to see all of the 'twigs'. I liked that my pot had an inbuilt strainer, it made it a lot easier than faffing around with a tea strainer, though it did take me using a strainer and it being empty to realise there was one in the pot.
We had a fantastic day, even those who thought my choice of Birthday celebrations quite odd and a real sign that I'm getting old ended up absolutely loving it. The pastries and cakes tasted just like little bites of heaven, I'm drooling just thinking about them. I highly recommend a visit if you're in the area.
