Friday, June 7, 2013

Prêt-à-Portea 2012 vs Prêt-à-Portea 2013 @ The Berkeley Hotel, London

ヽ(;▽;)ノおひさっ!!
After another long hiatus, I'm finally back!!
I hate exams so much, they deprive me of all social AND social media life.
I was supposed to post this weeks ago but never got round to it.
<(_ _)>
ごめんごめん~!!

Anyway, I visited the Berkeley Hotel last year with my parents for afternoon tea and I was extremely impressed with the service, food and ambience.
I swear,
you'd almost never see anything this cute and wacky on a plate except in Japan.


Cardboard shoe with my name printed on it. ^_^
Colourful menus for everyone~
The Menu

As usual, we started off with sandwiches.



Then came the all-mighty tea tray~




And....
The famous Bikini cookie!!




Out of all the cakes, this HAD to be my favourite!!
I ate 6 of it. 
( ̄〜 ̄) ムニャムニャ
食べ過ぎちゃったわ~!! 
(笑)


On top of that, because it was my birthday....


MORE of the handbag cake!!


Though I have no idea how they knew it was my favourite...

*cough*
Actually it might have been due to the fact that I asked them for refills of the same cake 3 times...
*cough* 

TA-DAAAAAAAAAA~!!


Yes,
we managed a clean sweep, including all the refills.
Proof of how good it was.

Which leads to......

My SECOND visit.



This time I went with 彼氏君.
And already it didn't get off to a great start.
First, he forgot that he had to be in formal wear, so I made my way alone to the Berkeley and waited for nearly an hour before he arrived.
I could tell that the waiters' were getting rather annoyed by that.

 To start,
the same old customary cardboard shoe.


Then the menu...


 

The Bikini cookie was replaced by an ugly looking blazer!! Nooooo!! T^T

The sandwiches first.


 Then the long-awaited tea tray.


Savoury Canapes 






The Cake Section


I was rather disappointed that the top of the chocolate mousse was not fresh cream, but solid rock-hard meringue which I could not eat.
In fact, it was impossible for anyone to eat it unless you had teeth like Dracula.



Cute Jigsaw Chocolates



I saved the pretty macaroon for last!!
(^_−)≡★


Although the food was amazing as usual this time round, I definitely couldn't say the same about the service. The waiters were extremely rude, spilled tea all over the table, rushed the bill, didn't get me my coat, and worst of all the way he spoke to me was extremely degrading.
He's not British by the way.
But that's not the point.
The point is I really cannot stand bad manners especially from people working in the service industry.
I wonder why posh hotels would even consider hiring people like that.

In conclusion I'd have to say my first experience was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more pleasant than the one I had this time. There was a lot left to be desired during my second visit.
I'd hate to see the quality of Berkeley's afternoon tea decline, but in my experience, if they continue using waiters like that, over the years they would eventually lose a great deal of loyal customers.
~\(_ _;)/~
Of course, the Berkeley isn't likely to lose guests for their hotel stay, spa or restaurant, but if the quality continues to falter, patrons might start to look elsewhere for better afternoon tea.
It's worth noting though, that the Berkeley changes their menu every few months which guarantees a unique experience every time.
......................................
Although, they DID launch a new summer menu which looks absolutely ADORABLE!!
>.<
I guess I'll be submitting my reservation now, how bout you??

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