Afternoon tea with a bit of difference. It just had to be done. I owed Sabina a treat for her birthday and it had to be.. Hmmm. …how can I put it?….. Different.
I think that’s the best way to describe it. We have a tradition now, we don’t give each other gifts anymore, I mean I feel like I have everything I want anyway, and if I don’t. I’ll go and buy it. So in terms of gifts- it gets really hard for us to buy each other…. Stuff.
So we made a tradition that we will just take each other out. We both love travelling, we love our days out, we love food….. So that ticks off some boxes….
When it comes to Sabina I know there’s one thing I can never go wrong with. Like me- she loves Afternoon Tea. Having already been to The Dorchester and Shard, it was looking difficult to find something to top it. Also she took me to Disneyland. I mean how can I top that (by the way, I still haven’t!)
And then I found this
Afternoon Tea on a Boat! OK, OK, I know…. She’s not keen on boats (or planes, or cars, or trains. I really don’t know how she gets out) . But I asked her first and she was super excited and agreed on the condition that she could wear her life jacket….. on board…. I went with it….
So now, a bit of “What is Bateaux London?”
Well. A boat trip on the River Thames, where we can see the highlights of London whilst enjoying Afternoon Tea. I mean like…. Where have I been all my life! And let me tell you the price… £46 per person. That includes the afternoon tea and the boat ride which is one hour and 15 minutes. How could I possibly go wrong?! ( I paid an extra £5 per person to get a window seat)
Our Journey
Me, Afsha, and Sabina headed off with Sabina’s life jacket in the boot of the car. We had to get to the Embankment Pier- which is just outside The Savoy. Lucky for us Afsha’s sister works near the Savoy- so parking was arranged for us. (She’s our new best friend. Yup Asma you heard it here. Hello Bestie! xxx)
After consoling Sabina with; ‘Yes, they will give us life jackets on the cruise if needed’, and ‘Yes, ofcourse! Theres a rubber dingy for each and every one of us’ and not to forget ‘The life jackets on the boats are so much more better than the one in the boot’. We headed off. Without the life jacket (Wahey!. I do love her little soul!)
Our meeting point was at the Embankment pier, Half an hour before our cruise was to leave we were taken in to a reception area- a large room on top of water, it had a bar for drinks, and generally a waiting area. Also a place for photos.
And then we were seated, and our boat trip started. The layout was beautiful, the tables clean, pianist playing live music. All in all I couldn’t fault it. It looked fab. As soon as it started we were offered tea or coffee….
That was the only selection. Being Afternoon tea enthusiasts- well let’s say we have never been given only 2 options before.
We had our tea whilst watching the wonders of London go by.
Lets be fair, the Tea wasn’t the best. It was just Tea. I make better. Also the Afternoon Tea in general wasn’t that great either. Here’s what we were given:
For sandwiches we had egg sandwiches, and cheese and salad sandwiches (we had gone for the vegetarian option as the food is not halal on board) both of which were cold- I mean like just come of the the fridge cold and hard.
We had scones and clotted cream (in the plastic tubs) and jam.
And a selection of desserts, which also were not the best. But we were here for the experience and so enjoyed what we could .
In terms of the cruise itself, i have no complaints, it was amazing, the views were great, they served us quickly. When we asked for more tea, it was given quickly and I would definitely recommend the window seats! that is a must! Just do keep in mind that a stopover for food is needed after this one.
After we had our Afternoon tea (having left most of it behind). We headed on upstairs. Luckily for us the weather was beautiful.
Upstairs on the boat is a open top. its a really pretty set up, they have artificial grass on the floor, and benches running along the middle so you get to see London in all its Glory.
The perfect spot for our pictures, and i think we enjoyed this the best from the whole trip.
So All in All- Would I recommend Bateux London to you? Yes I would. It is a very different experience of London, and its at a very affordable price for being in London.
The trip itself is a 1 hour 15 minute boat trip- all in all you need 2 and a half hours from boarding to unboarding, and the rest of the day is yours in London to do as you please. So we got a chance to do other preety cool things once we were there.
Like visiting the Twinnings shop- which was on the Strand- on the other side of the Savoy and a 15 minute walk down. Do visit this shop it is the preetiest tea shop I have ever seen.
We then used the tube to do some tube-hopping and ended up for a stroll in Harrods, and ended up eating at Burgeri in SoHO- which was Devine!!!! a must stop people. Get that ticked off on your to-do- list, and put it back on for next year- because I could, I would, and I will be going back.
And then we caught our last tube, and headed off home. Thats Sabina’s birthday trip done for last year, now I got to cover this years. Stay tuned guys.
Love and Regards
M11bna
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