31/12/16

Grosvenor Street, Edinburgh

It’s New Year’s Eve, and it’s grey and drizzly here in Edinburgh, so we decide to take our guests to the Hilton to sample their afternoon tea. It seems a civilised way to spend our time, talking and eating being two of our favourite pastimes.

There’s a range of sandwiches (smoked salmon, cheese and chutney, and a rather decent egg mayonnaise), and a selection cakes, of which the lemon drizzle and the carrot are definitely the best. There are scones too (fruit scones, which necessitate two of our party picking out sultanas with a grim determination), and these are warm and fresh and really very good. We polish it all off with ease, and wash it down with coffee and tea. The service is friendly and attentive, and we all enjoy ourselves.

So yeah, it’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with any of it, but it’s slightly disappointing anyway. Maybe it’s the fact that we’re sitting in what feels a bit like a corridor, and there’s barely anyone around. Maybe it’s the huge thick Costa mugs, and the full sized cutlery. It just doesn’t feel very luxurious; it lacks the refinement I expect from an afternoon tea. A decent nosh, then, just not much of a treat.

3.1 stars

Susan Singfield