Afternoon Tea in Barcelona and Athens

El Palace Hotel, Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea is everywhere in London.
In New York it is prevalent, in Chicago it’s not uncommon.
But in Athens and Barcelona? As of this writing, there were just a few places it could be found.

I returned from a Mediterranean trip that encompassed cities that dot that beautiful sea. It started in Barcelona and ended in Athens, and so to did my tea experiences on the trip.
I contemplated making reservation in in Rome too but as it turned out, I wouldn’t have the time and if I recall the reservation process on the website was a little ambiguous (I only saw one place with traditional AT).

But no matter, but I found two gorgeous spots in which to sip at the beginning and end of our trip.

In Barcelona, it was at the El Palace Hotel.
And this was the best tea of the two. Why? The hotel service was impeccable and the setting palatial indeed.
And there was something they did here which was never offered before but something which I’ve previously been annoyed by. A little pet peeve, if you will.

When I told the waiter that we would be having the sparkling tea (one with sparkling wine) he asked if I would prefer to have the wine first before the hot tea came out.

Yes!
I can’t tell you how many times, even in the best hotels, they bring it out at the same time, so you’re trying to sip your Champagne all the while your tea is over-steeping and becoming unattractively tannic.
So, when the waiter asked about this simple detail, I knew we were in for good service.

You have the choice of Champagne or Cava.
Cava is the sparkling wine of Spain and made in the traditional method (like Champagne, the second fermentation occurs in the bottle).

When in Rome as they say, or in this case Barcelona, we decided to go with the Cava. And it was really good. Champagne will almost always be the more expensive option when comparing sparkling wines but it’s not always better – it just has better name recognition.

In this case, the Champagne that we could have had would have been Ruinart - which, incidentally, is a marvelous Champagne and at the price they were offering it, was a good deal.
In fact, Afternoon Tea in both Athens and Barcelona were less expensive than other cities, such as London.

Both tea servings in Barcelona and Athens were taken in luxurious settings, just the kind I like best, a classic, old world hotel lobby or just off the lobby.

Classic pastry, El Palace

The tea at the El Palace was perfect in every way. Very traditional and one thing I’m always grateful are sandwiches that don’t try too hard to be ‘different.’
That’s just me, I like tried and true finger sandwiches in the same way I kind of prefer ‘regular’ food to the new gastronomy with foam and what not or ice cream that tastes like a mushroom forest etc. etc. (you may feel differently, and that’s fine).

Interior Grande Bretagne

In Athens, it was The Grande Bretagne for Afternoon Tea

Now, the tea at the Grande Bretagne.
The room was elegant, beautiful, the glasses sparkling. But…there’s something about the service that was, how should I put it…abrupt?

Yet, I don’t think it was intentionally abrupt, it was just a different style.

For an example, the waitress was giving me a cloth napkin and she kind of threw it on my lap. Again, not intentionally as a rude gesture, it was just not quite as smooth as you might expect it to be.

Another difference with the tea here is that the teapots came with tea bags in them.
It's not that I’ve never had this happen, but generally loose tea is used in a formal setting. They also did not offer milk for the tea.

At any rate, the food at both the El Palace and the Grande Bretagne were very good and I enjoyed both outings and would encourage you to book a reservation at either establishments. When you’re running about touring sites and being in crowds of people, it’s wonderful to have a respite from all the noise.

Afternoon Tea is true little luxury that takes you out of the everyday and whisks you off to a place reminiscent of the days when the world didn’t move so fast and the soft clink and rattle of porcelain was heard.

El Palace Hotel Afternoon Tea, Barcelona
The Grande Bretagne Afternoon Tea, Athens

Sometimes when on international websites, finding where to make the reservations is not always straight forward, but you can also always call or email.