One thing I was really looking forward to doing in England was having afternoon tea. Japan, being the food-obsessed culture that it is, promotes the teatime culture of England quite heavily - my Japanese guidebook had a special section devoted to it, and in April a travel magazine made the subject its cover story. As all these resources helpfully explained, while tea means tea, "cream tea" means tea with scones, while "afternoon tea" means tea with scones, sandwiches, and pastries. While that amount of food seemed a bit excessive for a between-meals snack, and the price was somewhat excessive as well, I decided I could do it at least once, especially if it took the place of lunch or dinner. Visions of three-tiered cake stands dancing in my head, I led the way to the Selfridges department store's Hix Restaurant on our first full day in London, determined to find a real, elegant afternoon tea.
The cake stand was just as I'd pictured: pastries on top, mini-scones in the middle, dainty sandwiches at the bottom, tea with milk and sugar alongside, and of course, lashings of clotted cream and strawberry jam (don't you love the word "lashings"?). The sandwiches were delicious: an extraordinarily creamy egg salad that must have been at least 70% yolks in a soft brioche bun with sharp sprouts sprinkled on top; a thick slice of smoked salmon with butter on brown crustless rectangles of bread; the classic cucumber and cream cheese. The scones were also delicious, two each raisin and plain, served warm. The pastries, though, were the most memorable thing: the eclairs contained a vanilla cream that really popped with fresh vanilla-bean flavor, and the same cream was inside the meringues topped with passionfruit. The French macaron, an unidentifiable berry flavor, was bigger than the macarons found in Tokyo and quite tasty, despite its scary color.
Even the tea itself was delicious. There was a menu describing each type of leaf in connoisseur's language, and we finally settled on one pot of "richly complex" Lost Malawi and a Darjeeling boasting "rich floral aromas" and "soft green notes of wet earth." They were both quite flavorful, and quite different from the standard English breakfast or Earl Grey. I really liked the silver strainers: they're hinged so that they hook over the side of the cup while you pour the tea, but the seive tips to hang over the base once you stand it on the table, preventing drips. All in all, it was an afternoon tea that lived up to all my expectations, leaving me entirely satisfied.
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