WinterWonders: Tart off !

[Apologies for the over exposure for these photos. I'm still working out my new cammie]

High tea at The Berkley London. Ahem, yes they have a good theme going with the whole Fashion in Season menu which they charge at 41 pounds per head BUT aesthetics and taste do need to go hand in hand together. THEY DO!

This would be my second visit to The Berkley hotel and I guess I can strongly confirm it is my last time too. I brought my best friend here with another friend for they both wanted high tea but mainly because they had also seen the photos from my previous visit. The cakes are 'fashion inspired' which are explained on a glass little block. So a Christian Louboutin shoe would be made out of a chocolate biscuit with icing on top¬silver glitter and red paste for the reknown sole. A Hermes bag would be represented by a little icing miniature version. Got the drift yeah>?

Anyhow, for the 41 pounds, you would get a tray of savoury sandwiches which are not up to Tesco's standards, an array of sweets and small appetizers and a pot of tea. There are tasty bites within the lot but overall, the taste is appalling for what you have to pay. The design of the cakes are also not fantastic for what people can do today with modern day technology and plain skill. The China is authentic Paul Smith however the fact that most of the plates and handles of the cups have been used over and over, the gold has worn off and I believe its acceptable to say that its unreasonable to serve such ware at a 5 star hotel. Service is also another thing which needs to be brought to attention. During my first visit, we were served by a troupe of French men who were very prompt and proper. Very satisfying. Service will always be remembered and is a HUGE contributor for ratings. However, this time round, we were served by a troupe of women and they gave attitude which was completely unacceptable. When a customer asks politely for you to take a photo, you try your best to take the best photo possible (even if you have no photo skill what so ever, you can point and shoot without unfocusing the camera aka hold your breath). The lady did not look like she wanted to help us take a photo and she handed me back the camera proudly saying 'will do this *walk away' and I am left with a photo where one person in the group is completely distorted. I understood high end places like to explain things on their menu properly and fine, we'll listen intently with some regard to being interested however, the lady who was serving us clearly had a strong accent and 99% of the time we did not understand a thing . I understand it is hard to change an accent to suit another language and no I am not asking her to switch but when we asked her to repeat what she said, she refused to. And no I am not being racist but even if you have a strong accent, you should not abuse it to your advantage. We understood her English but when we asked for something, she would pretend to not hear us and just ignore us when she clearly and obviously did hear us. Asking for the bill was the easiest thing to do. Sigh.