So we decided to visit for afternoon tea as its was my wifes Birthday and we love a experience and this has become a tradition we look forwards to annually
We walked in Ockenden manor a was meet by a pleasant receptionist who guided us to the gentleman who sat us down in the library set for afternoon tea
The library was wooden clad floor to ceiling it was painfully silent, dark, dreary the books on the shelf hadn't been dusted since the day they had been put their I think!
We where sat by a window that looked great until you sat down then you feel like your a rabbit peering out of its burrow, due to the heigth of the window sill and the huge dusty copper closhes sat their, I could see the sky and a roof top but nothing else! Lucky their was a rainbow to brighten things up a little
The staff where pleasant however I got the distinct feeling that this service was jammed into the middle of lunch/dinner and not a dedicated afternoon tea service.
initially it started well with tea box brought to the table however once the service was placed and tea brought as far a service was concerned job done
The tea food was uninspiring ,poorly executed' with dense heavy tray baked cakes cut inaccurately into squares and rectangles (wonky at best)
The cake seemed to need the vast vat of tea served, to just about get you through the clag.
No delicately garnish items
Not macaroon in site!
to be honest I've had much better from local farmers markets than what we where served cake wise.
The sandwiches where on bread which seemed to be shop brought own brand white and brown sliced (co-op/aldi standard) with very dull fillings that where made either in the morning or night before as wet and some what soggy
I have already given this far more attention than the chef who made them so I'll move on from this now!
The scone's where tasty but not well risen,
With only enough clotted cream and jam for one serving but there was no one to ask for extra so x2 scones went un eaten.
We waited nearly 30 mins yet no one entered the room for payment
So we followed suit and upped and left the was a chap hovering by the door to catch you on the way out rather like that of a garden centre café
Who charge us for the afternoon tea added service charge to the bill without asking.
So you couldn't really without feeling embarrassed say no
Unfortunately we left feeling like we had wasted our money on a under inspiring poorly excuted afternoon tea
It was not terrible but was a poor experience compared to others we have enjoyed the area