Thank you to Hotel Indigo for providing us with complimentary afternoon tea for the purpose of this review.
I love afternoon tea. I think if we could make it a mainstream meal that would suit me just fine, yummy sandwiches, delicious cakes and all the tea you can drink - it's heaven! A couple of weeks ago I was invited over to Hotel Indigo in Cardiff to try out the afternoon tea menu at their Marco Pierre White restaurant. I took an afternoon off from working and met the hubby on his lunchbreak and we headed over together.
Hotel Indigo is located in a really central location in Dominions Arcade right on Queen Street so the Marco Pierre White Restaurant is the perfect place to head to for lunch if you are shopping for the day or with work chums on lunch and even after work for drinks and nibbles.
The restaurant is located upstairs (take the lift unless you are feeling fit) and it has a really modern, on trend decor. Kitted out in monochrome and grey it has a modern feel and yet has a very relaxing atmosphere. We were sat at a table near the fire which would be lovely on a winter's day. It was wonderful to enjoy some time in such a glamorous setting while we didn't have the children!
The staff were very attentive during our visit and offered us a variety of teas and drinks to start with. Hubby went for a coffee which came in a huge cafietierre so he was very happy!) and I went for a fruit tea. We went for the prosecco afternoon tea and hubby enjoyed his prosecco while the very talented barman made me a surprise mocktail because I wasn't drinking alcohol that day. It was absolutely delicious!
The afternoon tea menu is full of what you would traditionally expect. There were limited vegetarian options and no vegan ones but they did make me a special vegan option so if you have any dietary requirements I'm sure they would be able to accommodate you if you notified them in advance like I did. It was really refreshing to see that they could accommodate vegans happily even though they don't have a special menu.
When our afternoon tea arrived it was served on large stands and looked really nice. Hubby had a selection of sandwiches, cakes, a fruit scone with jam, fresh strawberries and clotted cream and a macaron. He adored all the sandwiches and the scone and tried each of the cakes. His favourite was the cheesecake. He was very full after eating it all and thought that it was great value for money.
I had a selection of sandwiches, which were beetroot and avocado, cucumber and tomato and basil. I also had a lovely jar of fresh fruit and some toasted breads with toppings of beetroot, avocado and onion.
Mine was really delicious and I especially enjoyed the sandwiches and the fruit but I did feel that it was missing a sweet cake or two! It was quite bread heavy so I did get full quickly. I think because they don't get asked for vegan options too much they don't have a set menu for this, but the restaurant manager mentioned that they were definitely looking to improve this aspect. Again I was impressed that they put something together on request for vegans, even if it could do with a little improvement.
After we enjoyed our afternoon tea we headed outside to their roof terrace to look at the view over Cardiff. It was a cloudy day when we visited but it would be gorgeous to sit out here with a drink on a sunny day and look over the city!
We absolutely loved the food and atmosphere at Marco Pierre White's and will definitely meet here for lunch or afternoon again one day soon I hope. I'd also love to visit with my friends for a glass of prosecco and lunch one day when we go shopping together!
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