Fairmont St Andrews Afternoon Tea
If you’re looking to spoil yourself or a loved one rotten over some afternoon tea and bubbles, then you should seriously consider going to the Fairmont in St Andrews.
Located only a 10-minute drive from St Andrews, this little slice of paradise (or maybe not so little!) is a haven where you can retreat for not only a luxurious stay but also a memorable afternoon tea, too. It’s served in the Atrium lounge right in the centre of the hotel. This area is jaw-dropping in itself with all of the natural light flooding in and the epic light installation that covers the ceiling from one side of the building to the other.
So, the Fairmont have recently refreshed their afternoon tea offerings so let me break it down for you, including prices (accurate at time of posting). Strap in, it’s going to be a long one. The afternoon tea is available Thursday-Sunday from 1pm until 4pm and there are a few different options you can go for:
- Deluxe menu (£45pp) – includes the full afternoon tea only
- Champagne menu (£60pp) – includes the full afternoon tea and a glass of champagne
- Rosé champagne menu (£65pp) – includes the full afternoon tea and a glass of rosé
- Forever Flowing (£95pp) – this is the package I tried and it includes the full afternoon tea and up to 4 glasses of champagne per person.
The meal is split up into four different sections so you’re going to want to arrive hungry! To start on the ‘Forever Flowing’ package, you can choose from a large selection of teas from the menu whilst your first glass of champagne is being poured. The champagne that was served was the Delamotte brut which was lovely but my only complaint would be the glass. I despise a thick-stemmed glass…sorry not sorry!
To start, after you’ champagne of course, your sandwiches and savoury bites come served on a stand. There were four different variations of sandwiches: egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon, crème fraiche and lemon, coronation chicken & roast beef with horseradish mayonnaise.
The roast beef was by far my favourite and if you’re thinking what I was “oh there’s only one of each” then don’t worry because throughout this “course” you will be offered the choice to take some more of your top choices!
The savoury bites that were served alongside the sandwiches were my stand-outs from the whole afternoon tea. The lobster & gruyère cheese choux was phenomenal — I wish I had the option to take more of these! If I had to lay out my other favourites in order, the lobster choux was closely followed by the pulled pork croquette, the tomato, chilli jam and pesto tart (would have ranked this higher if it wasn’t so crumbly) and then finally the cheese and caramelised onion quiche. All exceptional!
Next up is the scones, an afternoon tea must-have! There were a couple of different flavours to try: plain and/or fruit. They were on the smaller (and paler) side but because there were two you wouldn’t be left with an empty stomach. These were served alongside clotted cream, apricot compote and lemon curd.
Fun fact: every single thing served was made in-house except the clotted cream because the chef prefers the texture of the clotted cream they buy locally!
The next “course” is for those with a sweet tooth…pastry and cake. I was absolutely stuffed by the time these were served but I made a point to try a little bit of each. There was a passion fruit cheesecake, raspberry roulade, peach and vanilla choux and a chocolate & coffee macaron. The presentation on each of these was incredible — so much attention to detail. And again, you will get the chance to snag more of your favourites mid-way through when the server comes around with more. I highly recommend the roulette and the cheesecake!
If you still have any room left after all of that and the glasses of champagne, the afternoon tea at the Fairmont is brought to a sweet end with their finishing cake course. I can’t comment because I never got around to trying them but there was Dundee cake as well as banana & toffee cake on offer. There is the option to take these away (which I did…and still couldn’t squeeze them in!) so don’t worry if you also don’t have any room left.
Overall, it was a pretty special afternoon tea in an even more special venue. The food and service you will receive here is enough to make you never want to leave the hotel whether you’re staying or just visiting for the day.
- The Fairmont
- Kingask House, St Andrews KY16 8PN
- 01334 837000
- www.fairmont.com
- Reservation recommended
- £50pp+
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