Review: In Bloom, Ashmolean Afternoon Tea

As the weather warms up and sunny days arrive, it surely calls for an afternoon tea with a glass of fizz. At the top of the Ashmolean Museum is their Rooftop Restaurant, currently serving up their ‘In Bloom’ afternoon tea, which we were kindly invited to try.

The exhibition

Set up to match their ‘In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World’ exhibition, we checked that out first before stuffing our faces.

The exhibit was very vibrant and detailed- we enjoyed that there were different interactive aspects along the way, where, for example, you were encouraged to smell something or look at a certain piece through a magnifying glass to appreciate the detail behind it.

Now, for the main event

The sunshine really helped highlight how beautiful the rooftop restaurant is. As soon as I saw the ‘In Bloom’ afternoon tea menu, I was so excited and intrigued to see how it was going to be presented.

We kicked off with a glass of fizz – Hundred Hills Rose, which went down a treat. My tea choice is almost always Breakfast tea, unless I’m feeling adventurous.

First thing I must address was how cute all the cutlery and crockery is, perfectly matching the beautiful ‘In Bloom’ theme.

I need this exact setup at home.

Before the nitty-gritties, I believe that for the scones, the correct order is cream, then jam on top (felt like I needed to get that out of the way).

Here is a list of everything on the afternoon tea stand:

Sandwiches
Pulled chicken breast, lemon and thyme mayonnaise, spinach and basil bread, baby watercress
Smoked salmon, lime, and dill crème fraîche, malt bread
Cucumber, minted whipped cream cheese, white bread
Free-range egg and tarragon mayonnaise, rocket, beetroot bread
Scones
Lavender and orange blossom scones, English clotted cream, Tiptree strawberry jam
Sweets
Chocolate flowerpot, ganache, edible soil, chocolate flower
Raspberry and Prosecco posset, freeze-dried raspberry, cornflowers
Lemon and almond macaron, lemon balm
Rosemary and orange sponge, elderflower icing, violas

The scones were fresh, and the hint of lavender was the right amount, not too overwhelming. I couldn’t taste the orange blossom, but the scones were a good size.

The only thing I would say is that they were a tad dry and dense; the dough itself needed to be lighter.

The sandwich selection was good. My favourite was the cucumber, and my friend enjoyed the smoked salmon. The bread was fresh, and there was a good variety of choices.

The chicken sandwich has a bit too much going on for me – felt like a bit too much on the palette.

I would say the sweet stuff stole the show, especially from a presentation point of view.

How CUTE is that little chocolate pot?! (close-up photo below). The ganache itself was smooth, not overly rich, and delicious.

I really enjoyed the raspberry and lemon posset, a good contrast to the chocolate pot. The lemon and the raspberry complemented each other well and had a crisp yet tart flavour that tasted like summer.

Overall, we really enjoyed the afternoon tea. The staff were friendly, and there was a great selection of things for the afternoon tea.

I also got given a gift bag with an array of gifts to match the In Bloom theme. This was such a lovely finishing touch – petition to bring back party bags (first thing that came to my mind).

If you don’t feel like going for a full afternoon tea, they do also erve a cream tea and have a lunch menu.