Top 5 Gentleman's Afternoon Teas for Father's Day

Afternoon Tea isn’t just a ladies game you know! Just in time for Father’s Day the pies, mini fish and chips and whiskey selections have been creeping in to take the place of macaroons and mini pastries on the classic Afternoon Tea menu to give you the perfect excuse to treat your dad … and yourself! Here’s our pick of 5 of the best we've spotted so far... 

108 Brasserie - London

108 Brasserie

This Men’s Afternoon Tea is a little bit posh. Here you’ll find no finger sandwiches in sight but rather a grilled rib eye steak sandwich and free range pork & black truffle sausage rolls. Wash it all down with a pint of Guinness or authentic Irish whiskey for £28/£35 pp.

DoubleTree by Hilton – Manchester

We had the pleasure of visiting this rooftop afternoon tea hotspot last year in their exclusive skylounge (review here). Now this Afternoon Tea in the city has been given a manly makeover to include mini burgers, fish and chips and a pint of Manchester Bitter. Price pp. is £21/24 and booking is required. 

Park Plaza, Cardiff

Dainty but macho nonetheless, this offering is filled with meaty bites including a Brecon Venison burger and Welsh sirloin steak with caramelised onions and garlic mushroom on toasted ciabatta. Be sure to leave some room for the Rum Baba filled with Chantilly cream and raspberries. All this for £19.50pp.

The V&A Hotel – Manchester

Scones with a twist are on the menu at this Manchester retreat with cream cheese and red pepper relish relegating the classic the jam and cream. Top it off with a good old Manchester Tart for a sweet finish for just £16.95 pp. Check out our review from when we visited last year. 

The Milestone, London

We’re huge fans of the old world glamour and delectable Afternoon Tea menus at one of our favourite London tea parlours and have had the pleasure of indulging in both its traditional and Gentleman’s tea options (See our review). Treat dad to a savoury medley including chicken lollipop skewer and toad in the hole and to finish a trio of heady whiskeys. Prices start at £36.50 pp.

Are you treating your dad to tea this Father’s Day? Tweet us @TeacupReview!

Charlotte in the City: The Montcalm at The Brewery London City

Sometimes cute cakes and petite pastries just don't quite reach the spot when you're looking for something to really hit the hunger. Hey, we said 'sometimes', okay? Lately, we have succumbed to the call of stodgy pork pies and savoury scones that feature in the increasingly fashionable, Gentleman's Afternoon Tea. Our London lady, Charlotte Vowden, also decided to ditch the daintiness and opted for a Gent's Afternoon Tea at The Montcalm at The Brewery. Here's how she got on ... 

Gents Afternoon Tea

I recently took tea with a handsome gentleman more used to heavy-handed behaviour in the boxing ring than handling finger sandwiches. Although a willing taste tester when I bake something sweet, he doesn’t enjoy being as sugared-up as I, and so I sought out an afternoon tea, man style.

The menu criteria included a healthy load of carbs, plenty of saturated fat and an emphasis on savoury. It was the combination of sandwiches, Welsh Rarebit and buttered toast slathered with Patum Peperium Relish on the Gentleman’s Afternoon Tea menu at The Brewery London City that won me over. 

Expecting chunks of bread bubbling with cheese too hot to eat straight away, I was disappointed to find the Welsh Rarebit thinly-sliced and cautiously topped with cheese rather than the greasy indulgence anticipated. My guest though, is a little more forgiving and deemed it delicious. 

On the same tier of the stand the buttered toast and pot of Patum Peperium Relish sat. This was a first-time taste for me and I applied an over-generous coating. The anchovy paste’s fishy, salty and spicy taste hit me all at once and made my cheeks flush rose red. 

Swapping sweet for savoury.

The sandwiches were a third filling with two thirds bread and included smoked salmon and beef, marvellous. Hidden between the top and bottom tiers were scones. Feather-light, crumbly and dusted with icing sugar, my fellow high tea taker and I concluded them a knockout. 

Our experience took a blow when it came to the service. The parlour was busy, a good sign, as afternoon turned into evening and the staff were friendly, but as the gent put it, things felt a little lacklustre. Our tea pots arrived ten minutes before the edibles and despite proclamations on its website that you could begin with a glass of champagne and extend the proceedings with a tumbler of whiskey, we were offered neither and left parched in search of a pub. 

Afernoon Tea at The Montcalm at The Brewery London City is £25pp. For more information, visit their website themontcalmlondoncity.co.uk. 

Charlotte Vowden is a travel & lifestyle journalist who is as happy in the mountains as she is sipping champagne and indulging on cake. Writing for The Sunday Times and other national publications keeps her busy but she’s always looking for her next adventure or afternoon tea destination.

Twitter: @charlottevowden

Hello, Welcome to The Afternoon Tea Club!

Hello,

We're Laura and Caroline - two students from Manchester... Nice to meet you!

Welcome to our brand new blog The Afternoon Tea Club

'Wow, that sounds interesting, what is it?'

In its essence, The Afternoon Tea Club, primarily functions as an excuse to eat cake... Yes we won't deny it - we love cake - but really, who doesn't? We also like tea, coffee, milkshakes and hot chocolate, as well as sitting in cute places and having a natter!

* (Of course, this isn't all we like doing - we wouldn't want you thinking that all we do is eat cake - (it is, but we don't want you thinking that!) We also enjoy to write. (Evidence of which can be found here and here))

So one day we thought why not combine the two?

We did our sums... Cake+Writing= ?

and then it hit us... 'lets have a teashop review blog, where we go to tea shops and review them!'

So yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you The Afternoon Tea Club, tea shop review blog extraordinaire....

Follow us each week on our teashop travels, to find out which we think are 'Cupcake Heaven' and which just make us say 'Oh Crumbs!'

We look forward to seeing you here again soon!

theafternoonteaclub@hotmail.co.uk

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