A couple of weekends ago a few girlfriends and I had Afternoon Tea at the Peninsula in Chicago. We went to celebrate my friend Carolyn’s birthday and her becoming a CPA. This was my first time at Afternoon Tea and I think that’s a great reason for a review. I’ve had a few people ask me if I ever eat sweets and junk food. The answer is yes I do. I just prefer them on special occasions like this one and when possible I prefer to make ‘clean’ versions of my favorites.
Now on to the Tea.
Tea cup
These were the ladies of the afternoon, we dressed up for the occasion.
Carrie, Lynn, Alana and me
The setting at the Peninsula is luxurious and equipped with fine China, fresh flowers, live music and extraordinary customer service. From the moment we walked in the staff attended to our every Afternoon Tea need.
Ordering from the menu we chose the prix fixe option which included warm scones, desserts, savory sandwiches, warm quiche, coconut cake and choice of tea. There were also gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, children’s and a la carte options. Overall, everything was delicious and decadent. The ladies ordered champagne with their tea, I almost never drink alcohol, so I didn’t have any. Our server, to have me feel included brought out a champagne glass with ginger ale. It was a nice gesture and we were all able to share a toast with no one left out.
All the food was served on a three-tier tray…
Three-tier tray
…sweets on the top, vegetarian in the middle (for Alana), and savouries on the bottom. You can’t see it here, but we also had a basket of warm scones with a side of butter, lemon custard and raspberry preserves.
First up was a warm spinach and mushroom quiche. It came straight out of the oven and it was delicious. Just the right size for the start of our snacking.
Spinach Mushroom Quiche
Next up was this bite sized turkey sandwich, simple and fresh just how I like it.
Turkey sandwich
I then moved to the top tray of sweets. There were six sweets total. I liked all but one of them. There was a nice variety of tart, chocolate, fruity and nutty so that everyone could enjoy their favorite flavor. My favorite was this cranberry cake.
Cranberry cake
In the middle of our feast a server brought out this warm coconut cake with warm melted chocolate inside.
Warm coconut cake
The last thing we ate were the scones with lemon custard and raspberry preserves.
Scones with lemon custard and raspberry preserves
At first glance, the tray of sweets and savories didn’t seem like it would be enough to satisfy my hunger but after two hours of munching on tiny sweets and sandwiches and sipping on tea I was full. It was much more sugar than I am used to in a single afternoon.
On a scale of one to five, five being the best, I would rate the Afternoon Tea a four for flavor and quality and I give it a two for health and feeling good afterward. At the end it was just too much sugar.
Overall, a good experience, worth it every once in a while. I’d like to make my own ‘clean’ version o afternoon tea. 
The scones look amazing, I cannot wait to land in the England this christmas and take advantage of one of the afternoon tea deals during the festive season to do tea as it should be done.
What an adorable place! I would love to go somewhere like that but think it would be somewhere for special occasions and not somewhere I would go all the time. Those scones and coconut cream look absolutely delicious.
Ps—Love your dress! All you ladies look gorgeous and I am also diggin your friends lime green dress.
Great blog! Inspirational. A bit intimidating. I am the fat guy who sat next to you on the inbound Metra a few days last week. Very glad to have met you and happy to find your blog. Nice work!!!
Thanks for checking it out!
I appreciate the comment, it’s a very nice surprise. I strive for this blog to be more than my opinions and what I eat day in and day out. I really want people to take away that being healthy is about making a single choice a single moment at a time.