Afternoon Tea at Fairmount Battery Wharf {Boston}

Cousin Violet, of Downton Abbey, is one of my favorite TV characters. A few of her lines:

“What is a weekend?”

“At my age one must ration one’s excitement.”

“It seems a pity to miss such a good pudding.”

I couldn’t agree more about the pudding! In the spirit of Downton Abbey, Chompy and I went to tea. We chose the mint and equilibrium teas. Chompy loved his mint tea (I personally think the mint tea at Dwelltime is much better). The equilibrium tea tasted like straw, but I drowned it in fresh squeezed lemon juice and Bonne Maman honey. Then it was delicious. On to the pastries, the real reason we’re here!

On the top tier we had traditional and apricot scones with strawberry jam and Devonshire cream. That Devonshire cream. So Good. No words good.

On the middle tier were finger sammies – smoked salmon on rye (very tasty), Waldorf chicken salad, egg salad on croissants, and cucumber with crème fraiche. I thought the cucumber sammies were a bit flavorless, but Chompy liked them.

Finally, on the bottom tier, we had chocolate pudding, walnut butterball cookies, and raspberry macarons, which I was saving for last because I love macarons. Sadly, these macarons disappointed. Maybe I just prefer a ganache to a jam filling, but they were overly sweet, and out of everything we ate, our least favorite. The pudding was great though. I could have had a whole bowl of pudding topped with Devonshire cream.

Fussing with the display.

Satisfied.

It seems like a small amount of food, but we were both quite full afterwards. Maybe because the tea comes in giant French presses. I had to pee three times. Anyway, it was very nummy overall. You have your choice of sitting by the window with a view of the water, or in cushiony armchairs, which we chose. Lazy bums. When you leave they give you a two for one card for next time – two afternoon teas for the price of one! Next time indeed.

Verdict: Delightful. A modernized afternoon tea. No butler in sight.