Food That Makes You Smile!

I love Fortnum and Mason. I mean, how can you not? It’s one of those places that is a real delight to visit because it is the epitome of luxury – from the food they serve, to all the wonderful things they sell.

I really liked the relaxed and welcoming feel. The ice cream parlour decor was perfect for the setting. I also liked that it was full of pastel colours, yet still bright with bold prints.

As we scanned the extensive menu, we found it so tough to choose what we wanted to eat. We had a nosey at what others around us were eating and it still didn’t help us choose as it all looked so good!
I couldn’t resist taking photos of some of the orders on the counter ready to be served. I was also quite impressed by the size of these, at which point I decided I must come back even before trying anything!

Choosing an ice cream flavour for our sundae was one of the most difficult decisions we had to make on our visit. It made me think that maybe we should just order scoops of every single ice cream they sold… but then the lovely waiter helped us narrow down our options. He kindly offered us a few samples of the flavours.

I got to try the Salted Caramel (obviously) and Fortnum’s Florentines, which was the waiter’s recommendation. And my friend tried Fortnum’s Mint Chocolate (delicious) and the White Chocolate.

The Salted Caramel was delicious! I have a slight obsession with anything Salted Caramel as my friends will know, so I have tried a lot of ice creams claiming to be ‘Salted Caramel’ and I’ve ended up being rather disappointed. But this was actually one of the best ones I’ve tried, so I was quite impressed.

In the end, we decided to go for the ‘Pick of the Parlour’, which was a little bit like an afternoon tea option. It came with a Spinach & Gruyere Tart, 2 scones – one plain, one with fruit, served with clotted cream and jam as well as a Mini Parlour Sundae. Also a pot of Fortnum’s famous tea blends. We thought it was such a great deal; all of that for £19.50 per person.

Can we just take a moment to truly appreciate one of Fortnum and Mason’s incredible teas…

The peppermint tea was by far one of the nicest minty teas I have ever tried. An amazing intense flavour, yet so refreshing. I don’t usually drink hot drinks at home, but even I was tempted to go downstairs to the shop and buy some myself. I didn’t want our pot of tea to end!

I thought the Spinach & Gruyere Tart was rather nice, and just the right level of savoury needed before we indulge on the sweet stuff!

To be totally honest with you, the scones were ok, but not my favourite. Obviously everything tastes amazing with a spot of jam and clotted cream, but they were a little bit on the crunchier side for my liking. But to be fair, I’ve had the pleasure of trying some of the best scones around London in my time (which isn’t really that long) so it’s hard to compare. But I’m sure this would be a different experience if I were to go for the proper Fortnum & Mason afternoon tea experience (totally going on my list).

I decided to stick with the minty theme as I was enjoying it so much, and went for Fortnum’s Mint Chocolate ice cream for my mini parlour sundae which was everything I dreamed of. Especially with the little bits of honeycomb and the tasty waffle cone-cup! My friend went for the Pistachio flavoured sundae and enjoyed it a lot.

At first we were both hoping these would be as big and beautiful as the ones we’d seen on the counter, but later on, we were glad this wasn’t the case. I didn’t realise how full I was going to be by the end of it. After our mini ice cream samples, the savoury tart, 2 scones and 2 huge pots of delicious peppermint tea… we didn’t have that much space left in our stomachs!

It was the perfect ending to a delightful afternoon treat and we left with full stomachs and a big smile on our faces. The staff were lovely, the ice cream was genuinely tasty and I already feel like I can’t wait to go back.