Takeaways are back up and running from many places in the North East now we’re locked down until December, but it’s a new venture for Jesmond Dene House this time round. They launched takeaway afternoon tea in a box to enjoy from the comfort of your home, and I was lucky enough to be invited to try it on Thursday. You might have seen on my instagram, so as promised here’s my full review, all the details and what I thought of the takeaway afternoon tea from Jesmond Dene House.

Disclaimer: I was given a complimentary takeaway afternoon tea for 2 in exchange for an honest review. As always opinions are my own.

Evolving from the 1840’s afternoon tea was designed as a mini meal to stop you going hungry before dinner in the evening, and as we all know it has become a popular social event with friends.

Jesmond Dene House usually offer afternoon tea in their restaurant and conservatory, with views out over the garden, but have adapted in line with Covid restrictions to create an offering you can take home with you. Although we can’t enjoy it with friends at the moment, it is a lovely treat to brighten up your lockdown days at home with your household or bubble.

I collected my beautifully packaged boxes at 2pm, via the contactless service at the front entrance of Jesmond Dene House. When ordering you put your registration in and they will bring it out and put it in your boot or on the back seat for you.

You could very easily take it home and eat it it straight out of the box, but I think it’s more fun to make a bit more of an occasion of it. Just because you aren’t in the atmosphere of Jesmond Dene House conservatory doesn’t mean you can’t go all out. Set the table, or put a blanket out on the floor, and to fit with the time of year when it’s grey and drizzly outside light the candles and get cosy.

The afternoon tea box comes with the menu card of everything included, beautifully presented and it would make a lovely gift for someone too. For your tea you have a choice of three – peppermint, earl grey or English breakfast. We went with English breakfast, and the kettle was boiling when we set up the sandwiches, scones and cakes.

Start with the four delicately cut, savoury finger sandwiches, that come with fillings of cucumber and tarragon cream cheese with white bread, oak smoked salmon and chive creme fraiche on brown, roast turkey and truffle mustard mayo on white, and cheddar cheese and pickle on brown. They were all tasty but my favourite was the cheese and pickle.

Next up are the scones. Enjoy cheddar cheese scone with salted butter, and Earl Grey tea and raisin with tiptree raspberry jam and clotted cream. These were amazing especially if you have the salted savoury one first then the sweeter fruit scone with loads of jam and cream. Lather it up because there’s plenty, it’s very rich and delicious.

Finally on to the cakes, and I always make the mistake of saving my favourites for last but being too full to enjoy them, so this time I went for the Battenberg first. A big chunk of gooey marzipan with sponge and jam it was my favourite bit of the whole afternoon tea.

Other cakes from the patisserie course include spiced carrot cake with cream cheese frosting – this was Kieran’s favourite, a lemon curd macaron and chocolate and coffee opera gateau. Amazing.

One of the questions I was asked on instagram was what are the portion sizes like and if you could share one between two if you didn’t want it to be a meal. We had ours for a meal and I ate everything except for two cakes which I couldn’t finish, and I had been starving as I deliberately didn’t eat much beforehand so I’d enjoy it. I had the two last cakes the following day with a cuppa for elevenses (they were just as fresh then after being kept in the fridge).

So I’d say you could share one between two if you didn’t want it to be a proper meal, and more of a late morning or afternoon snack. I’m not sure how you would decide who get’s which flavours though as personally I think they’re all so good you’d want to try them all. You’d definitely have to half the scones but there would be a battle for the cakes in my house!

For a meal to yourself it was more than filling enough, like I said I couldn’t finish all the cakes in one go. For £22.50 per person I think it’s excellent value, and also a reasonable amount to pay for a gift for someone if they’re celebrating a birthday, occasion or just need cheering up during lockdown. It was also nice to not have to think of what to make for one meal, while we can’t go out anywhere. We eat out so much I find it really hard to be creative after so many nights in.

So the Jesmond Dene House afternoon tea is available from Thursday – Sunday, between 12pm. 4pm. You need to put your order in at least 24 hours before the time you want, with 48 hours if you have dietary requirements. They offer vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options. To order the phone lines are open every day from 10pm – 6pm which is good, as I found last lockdown a lot of places only had limited times where the phone lines were open and it could be a hassle getting through.

You then collect the freshly made, perfectly packaged afternoon tea from Jesmond Dene House at your chosen time. It’s such a lovely drive along there at the moment too with all the seasonal colours. I can’t imagine a more perfect end to an Autumn walk than stopping by to pick up your afternoon tea to take home.

The staff are lovely too, they’ve created the takeaway afternoon tea option themselves to keep the hotel going during these difficult times, before Jesmond Dene House reopens again hopefully in December. So not only do you get to enjoy the delights of afternoon tea you’re helping out locally too.

For more information on the Jesmond Dene House takeaway afternoon tea and details of how to order visit their website here or call 0191 212 3000. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Disclaimer: I was given a complimentary afternoon tea for 2 in exchange for an honest review. As always opinions are my own.