When the tweet went out asking for bloggers to review an afternoon tea experience from Buy A Gift if seemed rude to turn it down. Christine, Ryan & I went to the beautiful Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire.

What a beautiful setting, it’s got a very long driveway down to the main hotel & conference centre. There is a country park which on a drier day would have been really nice to walk round, sadly it was a little damp & drizzly at times.

After quite a few oh’s & ah’s we went through what seemed a fairly simple door to be faced with the most wonderful interior, very decadent & it screamed grandeur, the receptionist was very friendly & pointed us in the right direction for the garden conservatory where afternoon tea is served, she also gave us the code for car park without me even having to ask her (there are 2 car parks & if your going to the hotel use the one closest to the hotel & get a code for your exit & you wont have to pay).

The conservatory was quite busy when we arrived & we were greeted by a very pleasant lady who showed us to our table, we handed over the voucher & she then showed us the menu we were being given. We had the choice of coffee or a large selection of different teas, I chose coffee & Christine had the English Breakfast Tea. We then waited for our goodies to arrive, Ryan decided he needed to pop to the loo which Christine said was really nice with hand lotions etc in there.

Our cake stand arrived with this selection of cakes & sandwiches on

Cheese, pickle & pepper chutney on white, Smoked Salmon with cream cheese & chive on wholemeal & ham, tomato & mustard on granary. 2 of each.

2 chocolate ganache covered strawberries & 2 biscuit horns filled with a strawberry yoghurt mousse.

scones with jam & clotted cream, millionaires shortcake & mini fruit tarts. 2 of each.

Although we did swap the sandwiches round between ourselves we did enjoy them. Then came the cakes, the scones were lovely & warm & tasted so fresh & totally yummy, although we did get covered in crumbs, but that was the only complaint which is a great complaint as it’s actually a compliment to the chef who made them. The chocolate strawberries didn’t disappoint either, the millionaires shortcake was the best I’ve tasted in a long time.  It was a lovely selection of sandwiches & cakes & they made a great afternoon tea experience even better. All washed down by a really tasty coffee served in it’s own silver pot (I had nearly 3 cups & there was still more in the pot).

Ryan was so good & behaved so well the whole time we were there it’s just a shame the weather wasn’t nicer so we could have had a walk round the grounds & he could’ve had a good run about.

I would certainly recommend afternoon tea at Coombe Abbey & my dad is going to buy a Tea for Two voucher from Buy a Gift for my uncles birthday ( I hope he doesn’t read this before or it wont be a surprise!). It’s actually on offer for £25 for 2 instead of £30 so it’s an ideal time to buy it.

On the Buy a Gift web site you will find afternoon teas in different areas of the country, they even have afternoon tea at Harrods no less,  that’s not all they do, fancy a spin in a sports car? A helicopter ride? A hot air balloon ride? Or a nice pampering day? There are so many to choose from. They make a lovely gift if your stuck for something different to buy as a gift for friends or family (yes men it’s really easy to by for the misses & she’ll be really happy with the choice of experiences she can choose from).

Photo credit “Buy a Gift”