I’ve raved about this place on my blog before, it’s my all time favourite haunt for breakfast and I literally go at every opportunity I can… So when I found out they also do afternoon tea, of course I was super, super excited.
A quick recap if you didn’t get the chance to catch my last post, The Wild Plum is a hidden gem nestled just on the outskirts of Harrogate town centre; a cosy little space that serves up super stunning dishes that are presented in the prettiest way, yet also taste incredible. Think pancakes and waffles laden with colourful berries and decorated with petite little flowers, iced coffees to die for, and some of the biggest and most mouthwatering cake portions I’ve ever seen.
Their afternoon tea is priced at £18.95 per person (or £25.90 with a glass of fizz), which I thought was a really fair price for what you get; and is served Tuesday – Thursday. Each person gets a trio of mini sandwiches, a homemade fruit scone, strawberry preserve & cream, a trio of homemade mini cakes & a pot of Yorkshire tea (although I opted for a strawberry soda instead – highly highly recommend) – and as usual, it comes out immaculately presented and leaves you feeling super excited to tuck in.
The sandwiches were gorgeous, really gorgeous and although we had a slight mishap with a dietary request, this was rectified quickly. Smoked salmon & avocado (the best one by far), egg mayo & chicken were on offer and I found them seasoned and presented to perfection. However… there simply weren’t enough sandwiches, or at least savoury options on offer. Personally, when I go for afternoon tea, I find it better to have more savoury bites to fill up on, before I move on to the sweet treats. Sweet treats really dominated the serving here – so much so that we were actually left craving something savoury afterwards. Perhaps it was because the sandwiches were so nice, that we were left hoping for more, I don’t know – but I feel that this would have been balanced much better with a few more sandwiches… or at least the offer of.
The scone was lovely (albeit quite small), it had that traditional homemade feel about it and had a good portion of cream and jam served along side (always a must). The cakes were portioned well and I can’t complain about the taste; but we all felt that the offering was lacking something chocolatey – everything was fruit based, and being a chocoholic myself, at least one chocolate based item would have won me round a little more. That being said, it does say on the menu that it changes weekly, so we may just have been unlucky with our chocolate cravings that week.
All in all I’d say that this was a decent afternoon tea, with perhaps some slight room for improvement. The idea is there, it looks the part and is really innovative in quite a saturated market; it’s modern, fun, gets you talking and is definitely worth a try if you’re into your afternoon teas – but more savoury, and a chocolate hit really wouldn’t go a miss.
I still absolutely adore The Wild Plum – in fact I’m going there for my birthday breakfast soon, and no doubt I’ll return many more times, but I think (for me) I may stick to the breakfast and standard lunch dishes in future.
You can find The Wild Plum on the 1st floor of the Snooty Frox, 34-36 Hookstone Road, Harrogate North Yorkshire, United Kingdom, HG2 8BW
