Birthday Tea

My birthday was two Saturdays ago.  Both of my sisters, their mens, and my adorable niece were planning on being in Boston, so I decided to make it a family affair and hopped on the train to take a quick weekend trip to visit them.  When GK got wind of this, she suggested that we celebrate my birthday in true English style, by having Afternoon Tea at the Reserve in the Langham Hotel.  I thought that this was a fabulous idea, and so we made our way through the rainy streets of Boston and arrived at the hotel.  The interior of the Reserve was a marked contrast to the dreary day outside:  bright, soothing, and a little bit glittery.


We were seated in a cozy couch and chair in the middle of the lounge and presented with the tea selection.

We made our choices and while we waited for the tea, the bubbles arrived.

The Reserve has two options for tea:  the Tiffin and the Reserve.  The Reserve has a bit more variety as far as treats go, and it also includes a glass of bubbly.  Thinking that birthdays always call for bubbles, we went for the Reserve.

Now, if the tea had been brought out before the Champagne, there might have been some chance of us acting like civilized ladies.  But since it wasn't, this chance went out the window and the giggles and usual misbehaving that occurs when GK and I get together commenced.

When the tea did arrive though, we did our best to lock it up, at least for a few minutes.

GK went for the classic Earl Grey, and I chose the Palm Court rose tea blend, which was a delightful pink color. (A fact that delighted me even more as I had more and more Champagne).  It seemed to be the perfect birthday tea.

Soon, our first food course appeared.  A giant grilled shrimp with a Marie Rose sauce.

This was  a bright and fresh start to the meal, and as soon as our plates were cleared away, the tea sandwiches arrived.  These proved to be a scrumptious mix of American and European flavors.

Roast beef and Gourney cheese on brioche.

A Swiss cheese and grape quiche tartlet.  The perfect mix of tangy and sweet,

 Maine lobster salad roll profiterole.

 Turkey and herb mayonnaise on orange ginger cranberry bread.

All of these were delicious, but just as we started to gush about them, the scones made their appearance! And I don't know about you, but I am always distracted by warm scones.

And these weren't just any scones.  They were dark chocolate and orange scones.

We fanned ourselves and smothered them with very unladylike amounts of clotted cream and jam, and lemon curd.

After taking our time over the scones, we were ready to move on to dessert.  (No, scones do not count.  They are their own course.  And food group.  Thank you for asking.)  But before we started in on the sweets, we decided that we need to mix it up with the bubbly, so we both ordered the Pink Lady, a cocktail with Rose Champagne, Peach Schnapps, and Grenadine. 

Now that we had our pink bubbles, we could focus on dessert.

From the top:  citrus and ricotta crullers, pistachio and cinnamon baklava, valhrona chocolate decadence cakes, and toasted coconut truffles.  I love mini-desserts.  You can try a bit of everything without feeling any guilt.

The winners here were the chocolate cake and the coconut truffle, which is really saying something since I'm not usually a coconut fan. 

At this point, GK and I were stuffed and a little buzzed, but we lingered over our tea, wanting to make the afternoon last as long as possible.  It was a truly lovely way to spend a birthday.  But it would also be a nice way to just celebrate a regular afternoon.  If you'd like to go, make a reservation here, and have some bubbles for me! 

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