I don't know exactly when or even why the craze started but afternoon tea exploded all over the country last year and has continued to be very popular. I am one of those that fell for the craze of afternoon tea, I still love it now and I cant see me unliking it. I mean what is there not to like, you get to eat lots of little bits of tatsy food and enjoy lots of little desserts.

The afternoon tea im going to show is from the Comfy duck (The Oaklands Hall Hotel, Laceby, Lincolnshire) Dont get too attched to their amazing afternoon tea though as the Comfy duck is the only place in my local area that actaully change their afternoon tea seasonally. The one im going to show you is their summer afternoon tea, it's theemed around the sea side and uses locally sourced produce.

Once your seated your given an option on which afternoon tea you would like, the tradional, vegetarian or gluten free afternoon tea. We chose the traditional, we have no allergies or dietry needs. When you have decided they will bring you a complimentary glass of fizz over to start with. This was prosecco with elderflower, very classy way to start your afternoon tea.

The afternoon tea is brought out in two sections, the first is the savoury part and the second is obviously the desserts.
Here's whats on the savoury part:
Summer vegetable broth with a potato dumpling
Chicken, asparagus and leek Quiche
Miniature fish and chips
Lincolnshire sausage hot dog

I don't like dumplings usually but Oh my! This was one tasty dumpling, it's not your usual dumpling. The broth was really tasty, it had little chunks of vegetables which made it more substantial as i thought it was just going to be a very watery soup. I really liked the presentation of the the broth in the espresso cup too.

The quiche has a really thin layer of pastry, which i loved as I'm not a massive pastry fan. There was plenty of chicken in the the quiche and again it was very tasty.

Wow the miniture fish and chips, probably my favourote out of all the savoury dishes. It's served in a clam shell with a little bit of newspaper. The chips are proper homemade ones and the fish is an award winning Grimsby haddock. This is served with a little pot of tartar sauce. After tasting this on the afternoon tea, i would definitely go back to have the full sized fish and chips.

The last part of the savoury dishes is the lincolnshire sausage. It's served in a brioche bun with crispy onions on top. It also comes with a small pot of ketchup and mustard. The sausage was very tasty, I loved the crispiness of the onions. I really enjoyed this, it came a close second to the fish and chips.

Now onto the desserts:
Miniature strawberry milkshake
Champagne, rosewater and raspberry jelly
Cream and fudge doughnut
Cheesecake
Seaside truffles
All served with a pot of tea

The strawberry milkshake tasted like it had been made with real strawberries. I think this was Paul's favourite as he absolutely loves anything strawberry. It was presented really well in a mini milk bottle.

Next thing I tried was the champagne jelly , You could really taste the champagne. It had bubblegum candy floss on top which was super delish. Inside the jelly there was also a raspberry and a blueberry. Me and Paul aren't usually fans of jelly, but this was more sophisticated than your usual jelly. My only criticism for this jelly was that you were given a tea spoon to eat it with. That was fine for the top half of the shot glass but you couldnt get the spoon down to the bottom half. I found myself using the handle of my teaspoon to try and scrape the jelly out. Yes it was that tasty i wanted to get every bit out of that shot glass! The jelly may have been sophisticated but i definitely didn't look it when i was trying to get it out.

Doughnuts are not something i like either, but i'm so glad i tried this as it was more of cake than a doughnut. It tastes like toffee and it had a creamy fudge filling topped with popcorn. The crunchiness of the popcorn went really well with the soft cake of the doughnut.

Inside this mini cornet is a chocolate cheesecake filling, the cornet acts as the base of the cheesecake. On top of this is a mini bit of fruity flavoured rock. My favourite thing about this dessert is the little thermometer looking thing sticking out the top. Inside is a raspberry sauce, which you squeeze out to put on top of your cheesecake.

The last dessert is some little chocolate truffles which are inside a little pink and white paper bag. There shaped like shells and are a really creamy chocolate truffle.

Out of all the afternoon teas ive had in our local area this one is my favourite. It's so inventive and you can tell there has been a lot of thought gone into every aspect of this. Even the dessert stand has had so much thought put into it with it being designed after a carousel.

If you live in the area or are passing by, make sure you visit the comfy duck for an afternoon tea. Its only £14.95 per person, if you have the VIP card (costs £5) you get lots of different offers every month and there is always some sort of offer on their afternoon tea.

Whats the best afternoon tea you've had ?

ReRe