Tea with that Ottolenghi Magic Twist – Afternoon tea on a horribly wet January afternoon seemed the ideal escape from the dreadful weather, so we checked out the latest offering from Ottolenghi Richmond. It’s a recently launched afternoon-tea, one with that distinct Ottolenghi style, encompassing Middle Eastern-Mediterranean influences but including the classics as well.
We settled into seats at a table right by the window, perfectly placed in the warmth to watch the world struggle past under their umbrellas. While we’re normally Earl Grey tea fans, I do occasionally enjoy Lapsang Souchong but that wasn’t available, but the Earl Grey we were served – in clever little glass teapots – was very good. We were told it’s from a company called Good & Proper – and it certainly was.
So to the food: we started with smoked salmon, pickled cucumber & lemon labneh on sourdough. This was absolutely delicious with some of the most superb smoked salmon I’ve tasted in a long while. The pickled cucumber added a lovely sweet ‘n’ sour element, and there was citrus from the labneh. It was a very well balanced – and encouraging – start. Next was harissa chicken with rocket on focaccia – shredded chicken in a gently spicy mayonnaise style dressing. The third savoury sandwich was a roasted aubergine and pepper brioche. This had a crusty, yet delicate shell, and the addition of some more labneh (not lemon for this one). It’s worth saying that each of these was very dainty – just a couple of bites – but bites of interesting deliciousness.
The scones were really unusual, as we had a mix of sweet and savoury. There was a Pecorino flan on puff pastry, which was the only slightly disappointing inclusion. The square of gently salted cheesy flan was excellent, but it was on top of a square of puff pastry which disintegrated and purely acted as a carrier for the flan. However, the vadouvan, cheese and chive scone was a triumph. Served with a pot of jammy peppers, it introduced me to a new spice mix and inspired me to buy a jar of Ottolenghi’s vadouvan mix to take home and experiment with. (Vadouvan is a French take on an Indian spice blend. It’s sweet, smoky, and aromatic, making it perfect for fragrant curries, rich soups, and creamy sauces)
The sweet fruit scone was accompanied by clotted cream and Ottolenghi’s strawberry and sumac jam. They were well baked and again, excellent. My husband, who enjoyed half of mine as well as his own scone, commented that the size of the scones was on the small side, but I commented that anything larger would have unbalanced the beautifully presented tea stand. Maybe for hungry men like him they could offer a ‘scone top up’ especially as the generous portions of cream and jam would have easily been enough for more.
I generally don’t have much of a sweet tooth (well, apart from chocolate!) so the seriously beautiful little cakes were shared so that I could have a tiny taste. The cakes were each an artform in themselves. Texan loaf cake with chocolate ganache included a top quality chocolate and was topped with pieces of edible gold leaf. It wasn’t overly sweet either. The passion fruit meringue seemed too beautiful to cut; it was fabulously citrus, incredibly delicate with excellent pastry. Despite the meringue topping, it wasn’t too sweet and was really good. I’m not a fan of cherry flavoured anything (but strangely I love fresh cherries) so the Amerena cherry and mahleb cake was the least appealing to me. How wrong I was…it was so tasty.
The way Ottolenghi has sprinkled magical flavour combinations across this beautiful afternoon tea is exceptional. The portion sizes were perfect, and it was a real flavour journey. At £29.95 per head, it’s good value and you’ll be comfortably replete. Available between 2.30pm and 5pm Monday to Friday at the Hill Street deli (minimum two people) with unlimited tea or coffee and the option to upgrade to sparkling or mulled wine. Booking is advised via ottolenghi.co.uk or email richmond@ottolenghi.co.uk
The Seasoned Gastronome