Afternoon tea at the Dunadry Hotel

It was my friend's birthday recently and she decided that an afternoon tea experience would be a good idea. I did leave it up to her though where we went but when she presented me with a few options, I thought the combination of a spa treatment and afternoon tea would be a good idea as I know I don't take the time to relax as much as I should.
The packages available are:
  • Traditional Afternoon Tea | £12.95pp
  • Traditional Afternoon Tea & Glass of Prosecco | £16.50pp
  • Afternoon Tea & ½ Hour Treatment | £32.95pp
  • Afternoon Tea & 1 Hour Treatment | £48.95pp
The ½ Hour treatment includes a choice of, Boutique Express Facial, Mini Manicure/Mini Pedicure or Relaxing Back Massage.

 The 1 hour treatment includes a choice of, Full Body Massage, Full Steam Facial, Full Body Exfoliation or Spa Manicure/Spa Pedicure

We both decided to go for the back massage as I have been a bit stressed out and thought it would help me relax. I had a lovely back massage and as it was my first professional back massage, the therapist talked over things initially but apart from that, she didn't really talk that too much which was nice as I can find it stressful trying to make small talk especially when trying to relax.  
I had checked the afternoon tea menu online anyway before we got there but there was also a menu on the table as well. It is a set menu unless you have special dietary requirements but as neither of us had those, we had the set afternoon tea as while my friend can't eat eggs, I don't like fish so she had the two salmon sandwiches and I had the two egg ones.

The afternoon tea menu consisted of 3 tiers of goodies.

The bottom tier was made up of a selection of sandwiches which were egg and cress, Glenarm smoked salmon with cucumber and dill, coronation chicken and rocket and Irish ham and wholegrain mustard.

There was also a generous pat of butter on this Tier for the scones.

The middle Tier had two plain scones and two fruit scones along with a generous pot of strawberry jam on this Tier. This tier also had some bramley apple slices with grapes and kiwi and two heart shaped shortbread pieces.

I have a massive sweet tooth so the top tier was the one I was looking forward to and I wasn't disappointed. We each had a mini chocolate eclair, a mini meringue with fresh cream, a chocolate torte cake and a fruit tart. The clotted cream for the scones was also in this tier.

There was a choice of teas available but we just asked for a pot of tea for both of us and we got a large pot of tea. The tea choices are earl grey, camomile, black tea and green tea. You can also get a pot of coffee. A glass of prosecco is another option for an extra £4 or so with your afternoon tea but as both of us were driving, we stuck to the tea.

We were welcomed to our table which had been set out for the afternoon tea and consisted of two comfortable squash sofas although there were two chairs as well in case we wanted to it on something harder.  We were asked if we wanted tea or coffee and our pot of tea quickly arrived. Within a few minutes, we had our tray of goodies in front of us as well.

As it was a set menu, I knew what to expect and wasn't disappointed. As I said above, I don't like fish so my friend had the salmon sandwiches and I ate the egg ones as she doesn't like egg. Not really being a big fan of egg sandwiches, I was surprised at how much I liked the egg mayo sandwiches, although I didn't see any cress in mine. I also thought that there was no mustard on the ham sandwiches and the coronation chicken was more plain chicken as well but as they still tasted really nice and the lack of rocket and mustard on my sandwiches were things that I probably would have picked out anyway or eaten around.

We have a choice of fruit or plain scones and as I don't really like fruit, I had the two plain scones with a generous portion of butter on mine. I also tried some of the clotted cream on mine and they were delicious, soft and freshly baked and very rich. This tier also contained a small apple tart which was very flaky and fruity. The shortbread was melt in your mouth, light and buttery – just the way I love shortbread.

Last tier was the sweets and I really liked the bitesize eclair and the meringue on this tier although as it was quite warm in the conservatory where we were, the desserts had started to melt slightly, particularly the chocolate fondant cake but it didn't stop me enjoying them though and I soon had my plate cleared.

While afternoon tea isn't something that I would go for every weekend, I really enjoyed this as a girly afternoon out and the combination of a treatment in the spa and the afternoon tea afterwards meant this was a more unique way of having afternoon tea and I felt that at just over £30, it was a cheap enough afternoon. The treatment was lovely and I felt really relaxed afterwards and the nice food added to the overall relaxed vibe of the afternoon. As I said, I am very guilty of not treating myself or taking time to relax so having an afternoon where I was forced to do this really helped me.

I think that this afternoon tea package is a nice way to celebrate a special occasion, or just have a girly afternoon and I highly recommend it. The treatment was lovely and the food was really nice as well, and the decadent cakes were a nice way of treating myself as well. I will certainly be back at some point and will recommend this to anyone wanting a different spin on the traditional afternoon tea concept.

Further Information
Check out http://www.dunadry.com/afternoon-tea.html for further information.
Dunadry Hotel 
2 Islandreagh Drive
Dunadry
Antrim,
County Antrim,
BT41 2HA
Tel: 028 9443 4343 |
Fax: 028 9443 3767 |

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