If you want to get into the (sorry) spirit of the season – and channel some of that feverish anticipation – then look no further than a deliciously spooky experience in a boutique hotel in the City of London.
The 5 star Vintry & Mercer already has an atmospheric basement bar with leather seating in darkened nooks.
Cue candlelight, magic themed music (the Harry Potter theme features prominently) and a pastry chef with a vivid imagination and magical skill and you are in for both tricks and treats.
My teenager wasn’t too old to squeal with delight when she was handed a UV torch and a beautifully bound menu that revealed hidden magical symbols when you shone it across the pages.
Then we were brought a treasure box containing three vials of potions – you mix the first two together to get a glittery blue liquid – then add the third to turn it purple.
We tossed back the Hocus Pocus Elixir of apple, elderflower and edible glitter in our shot glasses and it was zinging and refreshing.
Adults can summon up a glass of chilled Charles Heidsieck Brut Champagne with their tea, while the children’s Wizard’s Tea appears, as if by magic, with a mug of hot milk, marshmallows and a wand of melting chocolate.
There’s also a tiny coffin containing edible soil, a white chocolate skeleton and a spade to exhume your treat.
We were already having so much fun – then the main attraction arrived in a half birdcage, with a cauldron of dry ice ceremoniously poured over the top that rolled over the table.
The staging was theatrical, and the food tasted great too – sausage rolls and witch hat-shaped cheese straws alongside little brioche rolls with coronation chicken and truffled egg.
Our absolute favourite savoury was the perfectly cooked mini Yorkshire puddings with folds of sliced beef, gravy and a blob of horseradish. When we told the delightful waiting staff how much we liked them, they brought us a couple extra.
The featherlight scones with strawberry jam and pot of Earl Grey were wizard, but the cakes were pure sorcery;
A chocolate wand and spellbook hid a gorgeous layered choc and vanilla Opera cake; a white chocolate owl was perched on a chewy blueberry macaron, and when you sank your teeth into the Blood Moon it oozed the lightest mousse and a vibrant raspberry and grenadine gel.
Chef’s crowning glory was the Sword in the Stone – a delicate mango cheesecake coated in a grey-ish gel studded with edible rocks with Excalibur triumphantly embedded in the top.
It looked and tasted great.
The Magic of Afternoon Tea is the next best fun to trick or treating and utterly enchanting. At £49.50 per person it is also excellent value. ( Or £64.50 with Champagne or one of the themed cocktails; the Witches Brew, Mystic Orb, or Enchanting Hat.)
Children’s tea is £37.50 and it runs at Vintner & Mercer Hotel in Garlick Hill on Saturdays and Sundays, and throughout the school holidays in October and December.
www.vintryandmercer.com
