Afternoon Tea At Tea Party, Finchley
Serendipty is a wonderful thing. A random comment I made on Twitter about being in Finchley caught the attention of Samantha Check, who runs a tea room just round the corner from where I live.
I’d never heard of Tea Party before, which probably says more about me than it does about Sam, given that her shop is bright pink and I go past it regularly. I say “shop”, but Tea Party is a private tea room, and if you want to have tea there yourself, you’ll need to book in advance.
Suffice to say, when Sam asked me round, I jumped at the chance. But fearing a bright pink tea room with pink decor may be a little much for me alone, I asked a couple of local female Twitter friends to come along for moral support. And so it was that Jennifer, Kavey and I found ourselves invited round for our own private chocolate-themed tea party on Wednesday evening.
Parties at Tea Party come with standard tea party fare including tea, scones, sandwiches, cupcakes and soft drinks, but Sam had clearly gone to some trouble to give us a chocolate themed parties, with beautiful chocolate cupcakes from Heather’s Pink Cooker Cupcakes, and brownies (which we’ll be reviewing separately later) from Brownie Points.
Also on offer were chocolate macaroons, chocolate spread sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate milk! This was a seriously chocolatey party, and needless to say it was clear from the start that we weren’t going to get through all of it.
Of course, as with any party, the atmosphere is as important as the food, and Tea Party has plenty of that – particularly if you’re into girly stuff. The bright pink shopfront is matched by the pink striped wallpaper, picture frames and other bits and pieces around the room. Pink and white feather boas and hats were available for dress-up – something which my female companions were keen to try – although repeated attempts to get me to wear anything more than a hat were unsuccessful!
And so we ate and we drank and we chatted, and before we knew it, a couple of hours had passed and it was dark outside. We all thoroughly enjoyed are little informal chocolate tea party, and if you’re looking for a venue for a kids’ party, hen’s night or just want to do something a little different with friends, then I highly recommend Tea Party.
The great thing about hiring a little private tea room is that you can tailor things to the kind of event you want. Sam is friendly and helpful, so just let her know what you need and I’m sure she’ll be happy to help.
I’m so glad I found this place. It may be a little pink for my personal taste, but I just love the fact that someone is doing something a little different just around the corner from me. Chocablog will definitely be back for more – but we still draw the line at dressing up.
You can follow Tea Party on twitter here.
