{Review: The Girls Do Afternoon Tea at Sloans}

I was delighted to be asked along to review the new kids afternoon tea at Sloans, Glasgow's oldest bar and restaurant in the heart of the city centre (cake? I'm in!!). If you haven't been before, it's a really unique venue. 

I wasn't sure what to wear but I had just bought a new black maxi dress from Warehouse for my summer holidays and paired it with my gold bow belt from Warehouse. I did wonder if it was too much to wear my sequin jacket from HOF and took to twitter/instagram to get some lovely feedback from you all so I went ahead and wore it. 

Afternoon tea is served in Mrs Sloans Cake Salon which is on the first floor in the restaurant and up two flights of stairs, but there is space to leave buggies on the ground floor and the staff are more than ready to help out.

We had timed our visit to coincide with the Little Birds Market and there were 28 vintage, craft & design exhibitors to browse. Cotton and Sharks were running a lovely workshop where you could lino print your own tote bag for £8. They've also teamed up with Sloans to offer 'Crafternoon Tea' - find out more here.

The history of Sloans is captivating. Sloans started life as a coffee house in Morrisons Court, named after prominent Glasgow man Baillie John Morrison, in 1797. David Sloan bought the cafe at the turn of the 20th century transforming the cafe into an opulent venue containing a lounge bar, several dining rooms, a cocktail bar and even an aquarium. The Grand Ballroom (the venue for Eat Film, movie & a meal) featured a magnificent vaulted ceiling, period marble fireplace and stained-glass windows. Many of the original features remain to this day. Traditionally, couples would choose their engagement rings in the adjacent Argyll Arcade (the largest selection of diamond rings in a single location in Scotland) before celebrating in Sloans. 

My children were with their dad on Sunday, so I took with me my sister-in-law Fi and her two lovely daughters. The grown-ups had afternoon tea with a glass of Prosecco (£14.95) and Fi's daughter had the children's afternoon tea (£5.45). The sandwiches and cakes were yum and the Prosecco was delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think the prices are reasonable and I'd definitely recommend you pop along to try the experience.

It's not ideal that you can't take a pram into the cake salon due to the stairs and the baby changing facility is on the ground floor, but the layout can't be helped given the age of the building. The staff were lovely and more than helpful and I wouldn't have been reluctant to ask for help if needed as they were very approachable.

The children's afternoon tea consisted of a sandwich, piece of carrot cake, a chocolate profiterole and some strawberries, served with a pot of hot chocolate (just adorable!). The food arrived on a small side plate and it would have been so cute if it had come on it's own mini-tiered stand. For £5.45 its an expensive lunch for a toddler especially when it's unlikely that they'll eat it all (bearing in mind that my own kiddies are 3.5 and 2 years old) but for older children it would be ideal and the experience really makes it special. 

The grown-ups afternoon tea.... finger sandwiches, scones with whipped cream and jam and some  gorgeous pastries

Delightful bubbles!

Mmmmmm

Children's afternoon tea

Cheers

We loved the vintage teacups and plates :-)

Have you tried the afternoon tea at Sloans? Would you now pop in for a visit? 

Comments make my day :-)

We received complimentary afternoon tea for three in exchange for an honest review. Opinions as my own.