"This is the first place I've ever been to, where as soon as I came in, I wanted to figure out who I could bring here so I could torture them." - Quote from my husband.
Sketch's afternoon tea is ridiculous, but in a good fun way. I had a great time, and despite my husband's initial above statement after being seated, I know he did too.
I ordered the afternoon tea option that included the infused tea champagne (£79) and he had the Exotic tea (£78.) The glass of Earl Grey-infused champagne was really good, but sadly no refills -- though the tea and main course offerings are endless.
We're served a creamy (comte?) cheese with petite breadsticks to start. The cute dishes have words and phrases on them.
I'm taking in the infamous pink room and began to see a pattern of funny characters, from the interesting wall drawings to the rest of the staff themselves. I'm feeling all 'Twin Peaks.'
There's this guy, see. Dressed in a ridiculous pink full tweed suit. He's their caviar mascot, it seems, handing you a scoop of their caviar for your plate before happily twirling off. Dr. Jacoby. Yes; he's like a young Dr. Jacoby.
Next comes a guy that reminds me of the Giant from Twin Peaks, who would sometimes serve as well. We couldn't understand a thing he said, and you know: I felt like he knew it lol I know the gals next to us couldn't understand him. I'd like to think he was telling us clues 'the owls are not what they seem.'
Later, I notice a patron across from me has his head unfortunately placed next to one of the drawings, and I can't help but get a picture of him.
And then the main courses arrive! Curry chicken, cucumber, smoked salmon sandwiches at the base of the tiers. Above that, the Battenberg cake, chocolate caramel cake, pistachio Petit Choux, and at the tippy top, homemade marshmallows and rhubarb cheesecakes. It was good; I tasted all the desserts not finishing them. I'll say that I enjoyed the sandwiches more (the curry chicken was my favorite) so I ordered more of them.
Next course are the scones, with clotted cream and jam (his favorite thing always.) And last is my favorite dessert, the Victorian Sponge cake.
There's a two-hour time limit to afternoon tea noted when you make your reservations, which I recommend doing as far in advance as possible. A notable thing to mention is that my husband loves tea. The variety is excellent here, and he ordered a few pots over the course of the meal. Two of the pots he had are from tea bricks (pu'er tea) and are normally £25 each serving there, but you can have it during afternoon tea. I felt it tasted like dust and prefer the pu'er we have at home.
One last thing: I couldn't not talk about the RESTROOMS. It really capped off the experience of Sketch. Through the room's pink door, up the pristine white stairs (a bar is in middle of the floor) you'll find the restroom pods. Men's = left staircase; Women's = right staircase. The pods are placed in no particular order, and sinks are found along the walls -- hiding behind pods. I felt like I was in Labyrinth for a moment, expecting Jared to come around the corner any moment as I searched for a sink. Everybody was taking pictures, which is kinda funny if you think about it.
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