Afternoon Tea - The Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant
Well this Gossip Girl has been looking forward to it for ages; Afternoon Tea at The Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant. Who wouldn't want to experience the elegance of the iconic brand of the White Star Line, who transformed Atlantic travel, once headquartered at 30 James Street, now the home of Liverpool's modern day equivalant, Signature Living and its Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant. There's no doubt that the building which the Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant calls home is impressive, the facade, entrance and sheer scale of its Victorian splendour captivates you and takes you back to the time when taking Afternoon Tea was part of the daily ritual for middle and upper classes. Now making a well earned reassurgance, Afternoon Tea is something to be enjoyed by all. What makes Afternoon Tea so special? The key ingredients to a successful delivery are: Quality, service and surroundings; get one of those wrong and the perception augmented in a person's mind will leave them feeling let down; after all we all want a slice of Downton.
Service
On arrival we were immediately with courtesy, acknowledged, welcomed and escorted into the dining area, and transferred swiftly to our table where we were introduced to our waitress for the afternoon. The care and attention she gave us through out was exemplary, attentive and unobtrusive. On being seated a waiter went through the Afternoon Tea menu, explaining the choices, which was lovely and also about dietary requirements and allergies. It was nice to have the feeling of being looked after; this was a first class approach, and effortlessly transferred back to the care of our waitress. The execution and delivery was friendly, yet professional, allowing us to request at our pace, rather than that of the establishment. The waiters and waitresses were impeccably dressed, in keeping with the theme of Afternoon Tea.
Quality and Presentation of the Food
It's always a good sign when the food arrives and everybody goes, "ooh". The presentation of the 3 tiers, consisting of sandwiches, cakes and then finally scones with cream and jam was lovely. Part of the delight was the three of us looking around the layers and commenting and it was some minutes before we tucked in. With five different sandwich choices; a selection of five cakes and then scone, cream and jam, it was a traditional tea. You have a choice of hot tea or coffee with your sandwiches and cakes. The choice of tea is good and allows people to make a choice, with typical styles including Earl Grey, Lady Grey and English Breakfast. Both the tea and coffee were delivered piping hot and through out the afternoon we were asked if we'd like more. The sandwiches were all fresh and the ham, wholegrain mustard and rocket became a particular favourite of ours, but all of the sandwiches were good. The cakes of course were delicious and with a choice of five we were really spoilt for choice and then finally to the favourite part, the scones. They were moist and fruity and finished off an Afternoon Tea exceedingly well.
Presentation
It was clear that there was attention to detail. The cutlery was good, clean and fitting. The china ware was white, traditional and didn't look out of place; the napkins were fresh, white and starched. An eclectic mix of furnishings, using creams, golds to set off the room and much to my relief there was no nod to the Titanic, which would have been predictable. The layout and design of the room, was spacious; there was a lovely atmosphere, very calm and relaxing with music playing quietly in the background. All of these factors added to the overall ambience. The distance between all the tables allowed you to have your own conversations without over-hearing others. For a room of the size that it was, tables were not crammed in to maximise income potential, which was a novelty.
What did I like about the Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant? Firstly I liked the room that it takes place in, without being cliché, it felt like I was on an ocean liner's sun deck during Edwardian England, the only thing that was missing was the forked ferns. The airy and flooded natural light, even on the miserable day that we decided to go.
The second reason, and what I felt made it for me, was that only Afternoon Tea was being served. When we walked in, to see the three tier cake stands on the tables set the scene and I felt immediately I knew why I was there. We'd booked to have Afternoon Tea, and that's what was expected; I'm big on etiquette for something like this and not a fan of establishments serving Afternoon Tea when other people are having a meal, having cocktails, or even having a pint; that's when it loses its allure, it's all part of the elegance, the surroundings and the psychology of taking Afternoon Tea; it should be Afternoon Tea and that's exactly what we got at The Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant.
So many places in Liverpool now offer it and I was surprised after researching where to go, to find a number who offer it at ridiculous times. In that case they simply don't get Afternoon Tea. This is the third reason why I liked The Carpathia; Afternoon Tea is special and should be treated that way: The Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant does exactly that.
We chose to have it served with Prosecco and I would recommend this because it just adds to the overall feel of the afternoon. Normally this would be priced at £24.95, but if you go Monday - Thursday they offer it at £40 for two. This makes it really good value for money, even at the full price you are not going to be disappointed with the service, surroundings, food and atmosphere. If Prosecco isn't your thing, then the afternoon will cost £19.95.
We had a lovely afternoon and I would recommend The Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant for Afternoon Tea, the quality of the overall product, the service, surroundings and food were all excellent.