The Palm Court at The Park Lane Hotel: Mayfair, Sunday 13th January, 2013

Our first wedding anniversary was upon us and since this was such a momentous occasion, we had to celebrate with several meals, apparently. On the actual day (Monday), I booked us a dinner at Le Vacherin, about which I would find it hard to write more. On the Saturday, the wife surprised me with an out-of-town trip to The Hand & Flowers in Marlow which we were both excited about, but failed to deliver.

That left the Sunday, which happily meant we could eat somewhere in London and I could review it. Given that we had a fairly extravagant dinner on the Saturday and another on the Monday, the Sunday was effectively some light relief with afternoon tea. We've sampled some excellent afternoon teas over the past few years (the outright best still being The Dorchester) so trying a new place is always exciting.

This time we opted for The Palm Court at the Park Lane Hotel which, for the most part, follows The Dorchester's method of making the lobby the place to be. It is every inch a luxury Mayfair hotel, with high ceilings, plenty of natural light, opulent décor and generally a well-furnished setting in which to take in some sandwiches and scones.

The standard tea menu costs £33 which is high enough to reasonably expect a better than average afternoon tea. Add to that they had just won the Tea Guild's Award of Excellence for 2013 and suddenly I was hoping for an experience to rival The Dorchester. In terms of setting, there is definitely something to be said for the grandiose Art Deco room at The Palm Court and the lighting in particular was quite amazing. However, I am one for comfort when it comes to eating an afternoon tea and The Dorchester's unique blend of relaxed, warm intimacy just edged it for me.

The food itself is what really counts though. The description of the finger sandwiches certainly read well and as they were served, we were reasonably expectant (left). There were some hits and some misses here. The coronation smoked chicken with watercress on raisin bread was a resounding triumph; a sweet and juicy filling, framed imaginatively with the raisin bread. Equally, the roast beef with rocket and wasabi was carried off with little fault. The rest were less impressive though. Grated egg on carrot & herb bread was confusing, salmon on peso bread was unnecessary and the crab meat on brown bread was okay but far too dry.

This gets to the real problem with the sandwiches: they were all a bit dry and a bit underwhelming overall. Despite interesting and generally good combinations, if you're going to serve finger sandwiches which are starting to show signs of staleness, you're already losing the diner. These were not great sandwiches in the main, affected by some iffy presentation (at these prices, in this setting, I expect my sarnies to be ruler-straight cut) and some questionable freshness. What really sums it up is we didn't have any seconds.

The scones were next. Typically served with preserves and clotted cream, they were a pleasant step up from the sandwiches (right). I enjoyed these more than the wife, who said they were "pretty normal". I particularly enjoyed the fact they were nicely raised, meaning they were light and easy to cut, but still retained a bit of bite. The jams and cream were all of a standard where we took plenty more than was necessary which is something of a ringing endorsement. A definite improvement.

Finally, pastries were brought to the table (left). Now I was initially impressed with the vibrant array of colours and shapes on show but I had one substantial fear: these had been rolled over on a trolley which had been on show in the dining room since we had arrived. I may not be a pastry chef but I know if you leave a variety of soft sponge cakes and slices out in the open for any length of time they aren't going to be in the best condition when they arrive at the table. This was a let-down because all the sponges - chocolate, lemon, mixed fruit - were essentially spoiled before we'd even eaten them. It didn't help that virtually all the icings and glazes were too gelatinous and thick also.

If you've read (or even skimmed) my review of afternoon tea at The Dorchester, you'll already know The Palm Court just isn't in the same league. It is a gorgeous room with big ideas but seemingly little knowledge on how to execute them. It was indeed a memorable weekend but, following the relative disappointment of England's only two-Michelin Starred pub, this was another downer. There is wonderful afternoon tea to be had in London, which means I'm unlikely to come back to The Palm Court at The Park Lane Hotel.

The Palm Court