So planning a baby shower, turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it would be. This would be down to the simplicity of Waterloo tea rooms booking system. When enquiring I'd advise it would be best to go in and enquire. When I first looked into booking Mave(sorry if I've spelt your name wrong) the manager was so helpful in checking dates and giving me the low down.
Once I'd confirmed with the mother to be, I popped in and paid the deposit. The overall cost was £13.50 per person but a £5 deposit was all that was required per head to secure. With bigger tables on weekends, bookings for afternoon tea are from 3 onwards, but that suited us perfectly.
When we arrived, a few of us had turned up early to decorate. The tables were all laid out ready for us and they were happy for us even to move the one table so we could place the presents out of the way. We blew up the balloons lay out some banners and were ready to celebrate.
On the tables, there were bottles of water and glasses if you wanted to quench your thirst from cake overload. Drinks on offer though are any hot or cold drink which comes with your afternoon tea. You are certainly spoilt for choice on the tea varieties, so if your feeling adventurous get something new.
With the food before booking make sure you let them know about any dietary requirements and they are more than happy to accommodate. Options for vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and accommodate those who are pregnant. When bringing the towers of sandwiches out they had separated the food for us so it was easier to narrow down what could and couldn't eat.
Firstly the sandwiches, they consisted of a range of bread. A wrap with chicken and salad was one choice. Bruschetta with avocado smash atop, along with a range of sandwiches. All tastes fresh and were great flavours.
Now moving onto the sweet treats that we had the pleasure of eating. Each person had a scone each, which came with clotted cream and jam. When breaking the scone in half it was just the right amount of soft and hard and didn't crumble to pieces. As everyone has the discussion jam or cream first I just topped it with what came to hand first. A few people did have problems where they were full from cake so could not fit in the scones. Luckily we were given boxes so we could take them home with us.
Now the array of other cakes they are displayed on boards for you to share between two or three people. Some.cakes are hard to tell what they are but, we asked and had each one explained to us. So one cake is a chocolate and caramel cake that is beautifully gooey and melts in your mouth. You each get a chocolate truffle so no having to fight over that one. There is then a mixture of a lemon polenta cake, lemon and blueberry and a carrot cake to name a few. Though when you attend depending on what they have that week could alter these options.
But the absolute star of the show has to be the lemon drizzle cake. The best I've ever had, the moistness of the cake is so good, but not at all soggy. The strength of lemon is beautifully balanced and I could have eaten a whole slab of the stuff.
We played games in between and had enough time to eat and chat. If you don't feel comfortable sharing certain cakes then I would say it may be not for you. But most can compromise and sometimes just take slithers of each bit of cake. The staff are friendly the food is great and I'm going back soon to grab a slab of lemon drizzle cake.