This review is a bit different from the others because:

1. We had the tea at home, not in the shop
2. It was for Mother’s Day!

My mum has been wanting to try The Marmalade Pantry for a while, so when we realised their limited edition Floral Bliss and Scents afternoon tea was available for delivery, we decided to get it delivered! By the way, The Marmalade Pantry fulfils the order themselves, so you will not have live tracking when the food is being delivered. It did come within the one-hour timeslot we chose, so at least when the food will come is fairly predictable.

The afternoon tea comes in a rather unassuming-looking box which also has a set of instructions on how to set it up so you can arrange the food in a more visually appealing manner. But you know me, I have TONS of vintage teacups and some serving plates so I brought out the two-tier cake stand and put everything on there. It was a bit crowded but everything fit!

The food in the afternoon tea set was:

Savoury

• Seared Scallop with Osmanthus on Focaccia
• Mint Feta Cream and Pumpkin Tart
• Paprika Chicken with Ginger Flower Jam on Rice Cracker
• Chicken Cranberry Sandwich
• Truffle Egg Mayo Sandwich

Sweet

• Lemon Macaron
• Petite Earl Grey Cupcake
• Lemongrass Jelly
• Coconut Chiboust
• Plain & Raise Buttermilk Scones (clotted cream, home-made Berry Jam and home-made Ginger Yuzu Marmalade)

The afternoon tea also comes with two floral teas from Gryphon. One tea contains green tea (it’s GABA green tea, if that helps) and the other is a caffeine-free tisane. I thought the green tea with rose and lemonbalm tasted mostly like a rose tea. Likewise, the caffeine-free ‘aromatherapy in a cup’ tasted like a rosebud tea more than anything; I didn’t really get the lemon verbana or the mulberry.

In general, we enjoyed the food here! I did think both the sandwiches tasted like truffle sandwiches and I wonder if it’s because the smell of the truffle/truffle oil was so strong it spread to the other sandwich? None of the other savouries or sweets had this problem, so it’s also possible I ended up eating both truffle sandwiches by mistake! I also really liked the chicken on rice cracker – though cold, the chicken was juicy and the crispy rice cracker provided a good contrast.

For the savouries, the earl grey cupcake had a nice lemon frosting that I enjoyed, and the lemongrass jelly was light and refreshing. We weren’t very impressed with the scones, but it could be that we just aren’t used to the buttermilk taste! The berry jam was very good, though, and it went well with the clotted cream.

This was definitely a fun experience (for us and our mum)! Eating at home provides a more relaxed environment, so while it isn’t as special as having the food served at the store, it was a good opportunity for us to sit back and enjoy afternoon tea in our comfiest clothes!