Afternoon Tea at Landgon Hall: mediocre service, fine ambience

Last Friday, Ms. Eclectic and I drove to Cambridge, Ontario, to take afternoon tea at Langdon Hall. My book-rep friend, Margaret, had recommended the place to us, though she allowed that she preferred afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC.

I was favourably impressed by the website for Langdon Hall. They know the difference between "afternoon tea" and "high tea" (even if many people who have been there don't -- see the reviews listed here, for example). It also spelled out pretty clearly what to expect in the way of sandwiches and pastries. The website did not, however, (so far as I could see) list the teas that Langdon Hall has available.

When we arrived, we were greeted cheerfully and helped in several ways.

And then, when we were led into the terrace area where the tea was to be served, my heart soared. Langdon Hall is one of the few places that understands afternoon tea is to be served on low tables. The tables were set appropriately, and I was expecting great things. 

To top things off, the person who seated us then brought out plates with containers of apple butter, currant jam, and real Devonshire (clotted) cream. I was expecting an authentic, magnificent experience.

Let me make clear at this juncture that I have no idea why I have become such an afternoon tea aficionado. I generally tend to prefer fast food and am the proud leader of the Philistine Liberation Organization. And yet, beginning a little over two years ago, I began taking afternoon tea at some of the finer places in the Mayfair district of London, England, and elsewhere, and writing up my reflections on the experiences. Through these experiences and the reading I have done, I have developed a sense of what to expect (see my previous reviews, listed below).

Because I do not often take afternoon tea with Ms. Eclectic, we decided to splurge and have the Royal Tea, which for $22 extra per person included a glass of very slightly fruity tasting champagne. It probably (certainly!) wasn't worth it, but we were treating the outing as a special occasion and didn't much care. We did sort of expect or hope that we would get better service as a result. What a sad mistake.

Things started their slight slide downward when the very friendly and helpful tea lady took our tea orders. We had looked through the tea menus, and I was disappointed to learn that Langdon Hall does not offer Lapsang Souchong tea. It is a smoky black tea that is not all-that-uncommon in Canada (we can buy it in our small town, population 3300), and even the smaller tea shops in England all have it available.

But no problem. Ms. Eclectic (who detests lapsang souchong tea anyway) ordered their fruit tea and I ordered the Imperial Oolong tea.

We finished our champagne and waited quite a long time for the tea to arrive. The pleasant young man who brought our tea set it down for us. That's it. The tea was already in the pots, and there were strainers over the cups. He didn't pour it for us, and when he saw that we were interested in trying each others' selections, he didn't offer to bring us extra cups. Furthermore, there was no way to keep the tea from steeping. We could not remove the leaves from the pot. By the end of the afternoon, we had the impression he was trying hard to fake it.

While we sat and enjoyed our tea, another party came in, received their tea, and received their serving of food. We understood that we had had some champagne to enjoy, but that did not excuse the long delay between serving our tea and our sandwiches, etc. The server finally arrived, but offered at best a weak apology. I remained calm on the outside, but I was disappointed that one of my few afternoon tea outings with Ms. Eclectic was being marred by such inexplicably poor service.

Finally, the three-tiered arrangement with the food arrived. The server set it on the table and explained everything to us. The presentation was quite attractive, with fresh fruit decoratively interspersed among the food on each of the tiers.

The food offerings were exactly as described on the website, with the above-noted addition that currant jam was also available for the scones. The sandwiches were quite fancy and intriguing. I think Ms. Eclectic and I both preferred the smoked trout and the quiche offerings. Overall, the sandwich course, especially the brioche, was a bit dry. Quite seriously, I wonder when those things were made. Ms. Eclectic agreed they were dry but suggested that might have been intentional.

Even though I'm not ordinarily a fan of cucumber sandwiches, somehow an afternoon tea without them seems incomplete; but that is not a complaint, it is just a personal reflection.

In most up-scale places where I have had a proper afternoon tea, once we finished the sandwiches, we were offered refills if we wanted them. I note that Langdon Hall sees afternoon tea as a light meal in contrast to the typical English afternoon tea where the food just keeps coming. Here, we were left just staring at the empty plate. Given the market-positioning of Langdon Hall, we were expecting more substance and ended up being hungry when we arrived home, something which simply does not happen after a proper afternoon tea.

The scones (pronounced "sk - oh -nes" by our server) were pleasant, but they had far too much granulated sugar on them. The clotted cream was great, though, and it really helped make the scone course very enjoyable. As we had come to expect, we were not offered refills of the scones.

Sometime about here, I noticed that my tea was beginning to taste quite bitter. This caught me by surprise because the Langdon Hall tea menu promises that Oolong tea can over-steep without becoming bitter. That is sheer nonsense, as I could tell from the taste of the tea. It had already become quite bitter only 15 or 20 minutes after I received it.

Important side note: either tea should not be served with the leaves in the pot (as it was served at Langdon Hall), or it should be replaced frequently to avoid such a bitter taste.

I mentioned the bitterness to the server, asking for a new pot. He clearly misunderstood, and brought more water to top up what was in the pot. The extra hot water diluted the bitter tea, but not much. He then explained to us that Oolong tea is dried over smoke fires. Huh? That's lapsang souchong tea, not oolong tea. See this article, which also points out that oolong tea becomes especially bitter when over-steeped:

Next, you’ll want to "awaken" the tea leaves. This is done by pouring some hot water over the oolong leaves to rinse them, pouring this water off quickly. Now you can add more water and allow the tea to steep for about one minute. Be careful not to over brew oolong teas, else they become bitter. [EE: i.e., you don't bring it to the table in the pot with water in it already, schlep it onto the table, and not refresh it often].

At this point we realized the server didn't really understand much about tea, and we began to wonder whether Langdon Hall does.

Unlike many of the places where I have taken afternoon tea, the desserts at Langdon Hall were quite nice. They were tasty and moist, unlike the dry cakes proffered in many places. I was surprised that I liked the coconut-custard tart, and I think it was my favourite of the three.

Overall, despite the ambience, I was extremely disappointed by the experience. As I reflect on it, I realize that the food was acceptable or better, and we truly enjoyed the setting. The disappointment came primarily because of the poor service. It wasn't surly or rude; it was just ignorant, uninformed, and inexcusably slow at times. I felt as if I was being flim-flammed by people who didn't even realize they were part of a massive misrepresentation.

I might be a bit harsh, but I would give it a 2/5; Ms. Eclectic gave it a 3/5. I might consider returning if I had assurances that they had a clue about how to serve afternoon tea, and so I'll put them in my intermediate category below.... but just barely.

Next year, upon my return to London, I hope to visit the Lanesborough.

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For my previous reviews of afternoon teas, please see these links (ranked in order of preference):

These two were superb. Highly recommended:

• The Four Seasons, London, England
• The St. Regis Hotel, Houston, Texas

Those in this next group were okay. I would consider returning to them:

• Claridge's, London, England
• The Dorchester, London, England
• Brown's, London, England
• The Pump Room, Bath
• The Boathouse, Guelph, Canada
• Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Canada

These next two were judged unacceptable:

• The Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath
• The Queen's Hotel, Portsmouth, England

Comments

[Joshua]

"The scones (pronounced "sk - oh -nes" by our server)"

From an article at Wikipedia:

"The pronunciation of the word across the United Kingdom varies. According to one academic study, two-thirds of the British population pronounce it /ˈskɒn/, rhyming with "con" and "John," with the preference rising to 99% in the Scottish population. The rest pronounce it /ˈskoʊn/, rhyming with "cone" and "Joan." British dictionaries usually show the "con" form as the preferred pronunciation, while recognizing that the "cone" form also exists.[1]"

I've always associated the "cone form" with the British lower-middle classes. Given the typical type of Brit immmigrant to Canada, unsurprising, therefore, the pronunciation at Langdon Hall. Garbage in, garbage out, as it were.

[Rebekah K]

I've always enjoyed the argument over the pronunciation of "scones" as done on the BBC comedy series "Goodies", in the "Bunfight at the OK Tearoom" episode (first part is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFRfgt_u5Oc and the rest is linked in the "related videos" ).

Mom's favorite tea was at Fortnum & Mason in London, and she did most enjoy the actual meal @ the Empress Hotel, as well -- though she has been to only a few different places for low tea. As she (and you) describe it when done right, you make me wish I were a little less allergic to the beverage, just so I could enjoy the whole experience.