meg-made it to The Royal Horseguards Hotel for (a GF) Afternoon Tea

Dear Meg, 

Would you like to attend a lavish afternoon tea at The Royal Horseguards Hotel London with a group of lovely blogging ladies and be treated to an afternoon of champagne and gluten free delights???

Gee... let me hesitate one moment before responding..... Heck Yes!!!

The Royal Horseguards Hotel Afternoon Tea GF meg-made

It was a no-brainer! My kiwi friend Emma introduced me to Selena, who arranged a group of lovely blogging ladies to all meet for High Tea at the Royal Horsegaurds Hotel on a particularly lovely London Sunday afternoon (if you live in London, you'll know which one, there haven't been many to choose from lately!!). 

Located in a particularly "London" part of town, Thames-adjacent and in the neighbourhood of Westminster and Horseguard Parade, the Royal Horseguard Hotel is in a highly sought after locale. 

The Royal Horseguards Hotel Afternoon Tea GF meg-made

Being gluten intolerant has kind of made me hesitant to attend High Teas, because in general they aren't terribly gluten friendly. Well, thanks to Chef Ben Purton at the Royal Horseguards Hotel, not only am I no longer not hesitating, I am going to be jumping in with both feet!

The Royal Horseguards Hotel welcomed us warmly (and pretty much by name, or twitter handle!!) and had arranged the private terrace room just for us, with a menu specific to our #LDNBloggersTea!

Most High Tea's don't actually place much importance on the actual Tea, but after we finished our delightful glass of champagne, it was all about the tea! We had a few to choose from (I was craving some classic Earl Grey but Sarah next to me had actual pink tea... herbal pomegranate).

But I have to take some time to talk about the scones for a bit. Have you ever tried gluten free scones?? I had not. The idea of a fluffy and light scone made dense and heavy with gluten free products did not appeal to me one bit. But somehow Chef Ben managed to make the impossible possible - a light and fluffy gluten free scone! The raisins helped to keep them nice and moist and they tasted so similar to a regular scone I would never have known it wasn't! 

And because I was a little bit impressed, we talked about them for a while... which inevitably lead to the discussion about whether you put your cream or jam on the scone first... It wasn't until coming to England that I really knew there were regionally distinct ways of cream & jamming your scones, but it seems I favour the Cornish Tea with my jam on first (all those years of being served a Devonshire Tea back home and I've been making a mockery of it... apparently!). It does crack me up that this is not my first discussion about this too! Oh England! 

When our desserts came around, us gluten-intolerants had a special little arrangement of treats. I can't eat chocolate so donated mine to the groups' cake stands, and devoured my rice pudding and passionfruit-brulee.... or whatever on earth it was that was so divine. I've only just discovered that I like passionfruit, thankfully or I would have missed out on something special here. I really have no idea what it was, but I loved every spoonful! 

I had such a lovely time meeting and chatting to some new friends and enjoying some iconically British activities. And in typical British fashion the weather was the number one talking point... but seriously, look at this day (and view from our private terrace... I mean....)

I can't recommend the Royal Horseguards Hotel enough! If you're not fortunate enough to be born an heiress, spending an afternoon and being treated like royalty is a pretty nice back up! Thanks to Selena for arranging, Chef Ben for such delightful treats that even GFers can enjoy, and to The Royal Horseguards Hotel for hosting such a lovely afternoon! 

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!