Afternoon tea for two (Or ten)

Last Sunday Henry and I went on a little date day adventure to Rendezvous cafe gallery for afternoon tea
 (it was actually a present from my mum for us both so thanks mum!). 

We had been told it was afternoon tea but weren't sure what else to expect.

I don't know if I have just been going to the wrong places all my life but this afternoon tea was organised complete differently. Instead of having the options brought out to us, with a selection of all the different cakes and sandwiches,  we were instead asked to pick every part of our meal. 

(Side note; we had not realised this so didn't look at the menu until the waitress came over, there may have been some panic ordering)

They didn't have the bacon sandwich, which I was a bit disappointed about, but there was a good choice. I think that if I had more time I would have gone for the ham sandwich instead. We also had the options of granary, white or gluten free bread. 

Henry decided to go for the goats cheese sandwich on white bread and I went with the mozzarella, avocado and tomato sandwich on granary; not the traditional afternoon tea sandwich but like I said, panic ordering. We tried both and I preferred Henry's choice to mine but both sandwiches were great and there were a lot of them. A full sandwich each, cut into triangles, with plenty of filling.

We then had the choice of scones; either plain, fruit or gluten free. I went for the plain and Henry for the fruit. With my orange allergy I always think it is a bit risky to just go for 'fruit' options and I am glad I picked the plain in the end. We also got to choose the jam; I went for raspberry and Henry for strawberry. 

They were really lovely scones, clearly homemade, and I really liked the small pots of clotted cream and jam each. 

We then had the choice of cakes. There lots of different cakes and tartlets on the menu, with no real sign as to the size of them. I went with a coffee and walnut cake and Henry a raspberry tartlet. The cake was amazing, even though I didn't finish it, but I think if I had known the size of everything else I would have gone for something a bit lighter. 

AND THEN.... I know, it was a lot of food. There were macaroons, luckily she asked if we would like to pick or if there should just be a random selection and we immediately went for a random selection. There are only so many choices a girl can make on a Sunday afternoon!

All in all, it was great to be able to pick each part of the afternoon tea and really customise it to what you like but (and I can't believe I am saying this) there was just too much food. A full sandwich, scone, large slice of cake, macaroons and a hot chocolate was too much food for both me and Henry, and it meant that by the end of the meal I was beginning to not enjoy the food. They were really great about it and put the remaining food in a box for us to take with us and tuck into later but if I was to go again I would probably think a bit more when I ordered.

Unfortunately this restaurant is no longer in Brighton. 
For other afternoon tea options check out my review of The Salt room here