Tea for Two

Back in the 1920’s, there were a multitude of illegal bars operating, due to increased licensing costs.  These bars were called Speakeasy’s.  A Speakeasy establishment was apparently “high-class”, where I imagine the women wore flapper dresses and the men wore tuxedos and top hats… sigh.

The “lower class” version of a Speakeasy was called “The Blind Pig”.  Ironic, really, that there is a place in Glasgow’s pretentious West End, which dons that very name.  Irene and I went a few weeks ago, to get the “Afternoon Tea for Two”: The Blind Pig’s Cake Stand stacked with a selection of bespoke Dainty Sandwiches, Chef’s Homemade Scones with lashings of Jam & Clotted Cream and our fabulous assortment of cakes.

Of course, we made ours an alcoholic “tea” for two; served in a gorgeous Hendricks teapot and poured into matching tea cups!  We got a deal through Living Social, which was £14 for two (instead of £22). 

We were greeted with friendly smiles and told to pick any seat we wanted (there were hardly any people there!), so I opted for a seat in the corner that would allow me to take photos and not feel like some kind of food pervert.  We told the waiter-cum-barman what we wanted as we made our way to our seats.

It was a pretty long wait considering it was so quiet, but he did apologise and said the kitchen next door (in their main restaurant) was mobbed and they didn’t have a minute.  He presented us with our cake stand:

Half the sandwiches contained smoked salmon; the other half contained salad.  I’m not a fan of smoked salmon and can’t comprehend a sandwich without some kind of meat in it, so I nibbled at them huffily and eyed up the cakes.

I think this was carrot cake – it was the nicest of the three, if a little dry! 

This is the Chef’s Homemade Scones with lashings of Jam & Clotted Cream.  It takes joint 1st place alongside my first attempt at shortbread (the competition being “most likely to be used as an offensive weapon when flung at someones head”).

These little cakes were tasty enough, although they did have a bit of a staleness about them unfortunately 🙁

The cakes and sandwiches, to me, were a bit of a disappointment.  Irene and I had been looking forward to this wee day out for a while, so it was a bit of an anti-climax… until…

The pièce de résistance – Strawberry Cream Tea Martini: Raspberry Skky vodka & strawberry bols liqueur, infused with a touch of double cream, strawberry & champagne jam and topped up with cranberry juice.

This was delicious, and lethal to boot!!  Definitely worth the £7 each as we got two cups full each (although theres no way I’d pay the full £22 for the package!).

Maybe we happened to catch The Blind Pig on an off-day with their Cake Stand, as I’ve heard so many good things about them.  The whole “cake stand & teapot cocktail” craze is all over Glasgow at the moment, and although many places are passionate about quality, I suspect others might be guilty of cashing in by jumping on the bandwagon half-heartedly.

At the end of the day, if I wanted to eat some solid scones I would have made them myself!  I’d go there again for the cocktails though! 😉

It has, however, made me want to buy a wee cake stand and have the girls round for some dainty sandwiches and cakes!  Join me, wont you? 🙂 x

26 Comments

  1. Wendy

    Oh. Oh. Ohhhhh… the Strawberry Cream Tea Martini? That is SOOO my kind of thing. But the jam? Was that mixed in? I love a “proper” tea…I suppose I had better up my skills in exotic martinis now….

  2. grace

    i’m sure you could do your own version much more successfully–sorry the food was lame! i will say, however, that the strawberry cream tea sounds delightful!

    1. noblenourishment

      Thanks Grace, I’d quite like to do my own little cake stand; the whole “afternoon tea” thing really appeals to me and I’m glad it’s becoming popular (but sad that it’s not being given due care and attention by some establishments!) 🙂

  4. Jill Colonna

    Love it. Forget the cakes, let’s all order that cream tea martini in a stylish pot! Now that’s living the good life. Must pop by in Glasgow next week…

    1. noblenourishment

      I would definitely pop in for the cocktails, but you wont miss much in the way of the cake stand! There’s a new-ish piano bar called Saint, on Bath Street in Glasgow, which does an AMAZING cocktail list! I would recommend the Drugged Mule 🙂

  5. Choclette

    Yes, yes, I’ll come and join you for a tea party – not sure how dainty I can be though! Most of these “posh” tea reviews I’ve read seem to be disappointing – maybe “chefs” aren’t so good at the tea side of things. Love the idea of cocktails in a teapot – not come across that one before and it sounds delicious.

    1. noblenourishment

      Yay! I don’t do “dainty” either, I’d have preferred a steak baguette on my cake stand hehe. Irene said they used to pour it in teapots so as not to look as though they were drinking alcohol, although I can’t seem to find anything to back that up on the internet! I do love the Hendricks tea set, I must find out where to get one!

  6. Jen@ blooming tea

    Hmmm.. this is very interesting, specially “Strawberry Cream Tea Martini” . I’m a tea lover but I’ve never had one like this before, I’ll definitely try it. By the way, this is my first visit to your lovely blog and ‘be back to check more of your post, thanks 🙂

    ~Jenny

  7. MaryMoh

    So sorry to hear all the bakes were not that great. But glad to hear at least the tea was good. It’s new to me…haven’t seen anything beautiful like that. Guess you can try to make that at home, too 🙂

    1. noblenourishment

      Thanks, Mary 🙂 I walked past the cutest tiered cake stand earlier, I am determined to do a better job of it myself! I’ll have to thoroughly practise the cocktail though 😉

  8. Ananda Rajashekar

    Oh that tea post so chick and pink and gorgeous tea with lovely flavors in there, will love to try! pity that cake were not up to the mark, never mind you had made a good batch for urself …i wouldn’t mind to hop in for the evening 😉

  10. Travel Food Phil

    Shame about the food, sounds like the tea room is a bit of an after thought as far as the chefs are concerned. That alcoholic tea sounds great though, would defo entice me!

  12. All That I'm Eating

    It’s a shame it was a bit of a disappointment, it looked like it would have been delicious! That cocktail looked pretty good. I wish we still lived in a world of speakeasys and tuxedos.

  13. Merisi, Vienna

    Cicero’s “stirring up waves in a ladle” needs an update: “Stirring up cocktails in a teapot”! *smile*

    The teapot is gorgeous. Wished I could give you my cake stand. I never use it! It just stands around, sans cakes, in my cupboard. They do look great when used properly, though.

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