An afternoon tea with a difference

Last Sunday, my wonderful friend Judy and I went to the Maharani-inspired afternoon tea at the Metropole Hotel as part of the Cork on a Fork Food Festival.

The tea room at the hotel is a beautiful place where people can relax and enjoy the food.

We started off with an amuse bouche in form of a tart made from sweet star anise and cinnamon pastry shell with an Ardsallagh goats cheese, roasted pepper filling

and a basil beetroot gel. It was the perfect start to the Indian inspired menu.

Next up was the savoury selection of smoked bacon and egg mayo mini slider, mini spiced chicken tarragon poppadom wrap, smoked salmon with saffron lemon mayo, pickled onion on homemade brown soda bread and aloo masalla bite on sourdough bread and mango chutney.

Then we were treated to chai-spiced buttermilk scones and the most tasty rice pudding with raisins and cinnamon. I love rice pudding and the addition of cinnamon reminded me of my mum – we discovered that we all have memories that are tied to rice pudding.

The sweet plate included chocolate-based macarons, mini banana bread with a pistachio and strawberry cream, mini coconut and honey pancake roll and a vanilla and passion fruit lassi. Everything was prepared beautifully and tasted delicious.

The service was outstanding as was the atmosphere – something you can expect from one of the oldest hotels in town. The staff are very attentive without being intrusive and Judy and I had plenty to catch up on.

Unfortunately, something happened that put an abrupt end to our outing and I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few people.

First of all, Judy who took over a situation in her efficient and professional way. A lovely woman called Mary, who was on a date with her husband in the hotel (apologies to him) – she stayed at the my side cooling me down and telling me I will be okay.

The waitress (I didn’t catch her name) who made sure that I was cool and comfortable. Pierce Lowney, Food and Beverage Manager who despite pleas not to call the ambulance made the call (and it was the right decision) and kept his cool relaying the questions of the paramedics in a calm way not to panic me even more.

The two attending paramedics, Gemma and Ferghal who were calm, efficient, professional, supportive and understanding, LeslieAnn who happened to be on duty in the ED department and stayed a few moments to share some jokes and again to Ferghal and his colleague from New Zealand – I enjoyed our chat about the All Blacks, native cooking methods and ideas for a food truck (please let me know if you are going ahead).

Thank you to all of you – I am grateful to have met you.