We cracked the weekend off with afternoon tea at The Principal Hotel, which is a 5* luxury hotel in the heart of York (right next to the Train Station, to be exact!).
I believe the majority of afternoon tea's take place in The Garden Room, which has lovely views of 'manicured lawns, all the way to the minster'. We were lucky enough to get a window seat too, which is always a bonus with such an outlook!
We were first provided with a tea menu, with a large handful to pick from. I'm not overly adventurous with my tea, so played it safe with an Earl Grey, my mom opting for a latte. We were then served our first 'savoury dish' which accompanied the afternoon tea stand which was yet to come. I've never experienced a separate savoury dish before so this was a real treat for us! The food consisted of sweet potato, chorizo and sherry vinegar veloute, smoked mackerel mousse, Yorkshire Rarebit, and a cheese flavoured soup. I didn't know what I was eating half the time, but it was lovely nonetheless!
Savoury Dish
After we had devoured the savoury plate, out came the afternoon stand. The sandwiches were egg mayonnaise, and Yorkshire ham and pickle. Although nice, I would have preferred 1 more sandwich and sacrificed a sweet for this (I always do feel that the sweet items outweigh the savoury massively no matter where you have afternoon tea). The sandwiches themselves though were fresh and the fillings were generous.
Next up were 3 different flavours of scones; plain, fruit, cherry & almond. Accompanying this was clotted cream and jam. These scones were bite size, so were manageable in terms of quantity (and how much our stomach would take!).
The last tier consisted of a large array of sweet items; salted caramel chocolate pot, passion fruit macaroon, and a white chocolate éclair, to name a few. Unfortunately I only got to sample the chocolate pot because by this stage I was bursting at the seams! (They did kindly box the remaining food up for us, but we never did get round to eating it later on). My only criticism with this tier was that there was only 1 of each variety, therefore you had to decide amongst yourselves who is eating what. This can put pressure on people, so usually I prefer the sweet items to come in pairs so its equal!
The service was on point. I couldn't fault it - pleasant, helpful and friendly.
The interior of the hotel was beautiful, in all areas from The Garden Room, to the hallways, even to the toilets! It oozed grandeur and detail, it was only a shame I wasn't staying there overnight too!
The Garden Room
Toilets
I definitely wouldn't hesitate in returning to The Principal and my mom was more than happy with her experience here.
