In which we have tea at The Ritz

It is my mum's birthday. She's been a huge support to me through some tough years and has always been 100% behind me on the home edding thing. She thinks it is by far the best option for Hannah, looks after her if I need to do something without her in tow, supports us financially by paying for many of the activities that give Hannah such a rich and exciting life. So, as things have started to turn a corner now, I wanted to do something really special for her and booked afternoon tea at The Ritz.

We travelled there by taxi from the suburb where we live because Mum is not the most mobile and finds the Underground hard work. We were ridiculously early so went to another cafe across the road to have a quick drink then arrived at The Ritz at about 1.20 for our "tea" which was actually lunch as we were booked at 1.30. We left our coats in the cloakroom (no raffle ticket style numbers here, but engraved discs with elegant blue tassles) and then waited to be shown to our table.

I was a little anxious about having ordered different options for each of us as Hannah is vegetarian and my mum has coeliac disease, but it was perfectly slick and smooth (as it is out to be for such a top hotel). We ordered our different teas...out table got very overcrowded as we each had a separate plate and teapot. Hannah ordered lemon verbena.

I chose Darjeeling First Flush. It was described on the extensive menu as the "champagne" of teas and it was delicious. I'm not normally a tea drinker but I devoured the whole pot.

Then the cake stand was brought to the table, with small, dainty cakes and two layers of sandwiches. Hannah's came on a separate plate. I was a little  worried that there would be nothing H would eat because she is not a big fan of sandwiches and doesn't eat most of the options that are generally on offer to vegetarians in public places, but hers was hummous, cheese and chutney, tomato salad, egg mayo and cream cheese, cucumber and dill. She does like hummous so ate those first and, despite not liking cream cheese she enjoyed those. The rest not so much, but then she never eats a huge amount and four finger sandwiches was quite a bit by her standards.

Mum really enjoyed being able to eat sandwiches in a public place as, although awareness of coeliac and gluten intolerance is growing and a wider range of  products is available, eating out can still be a challenge.

Then we hit the cake. There were scones with cream and jam, then little cakes. Mum got her own selection which included scones, macaroons, a rich chocolate cake and a ginger sponge.

Waiters  frequently offered more sandwiches or cake, which we declined as there was more than enough to constitute a proper meal. We also got a delicious caramel desert and again, the fact that Mum needed her own version was taken into account

We were comfortably over-fed and and very tired when we finished....funny how exhausting eating huge amounts of food can be! Mum said it was her best birthday present ever so well worth  it!