Afternoon Tea at the Peninsula Chicago

Last time it was great, this time it was good.

If you had asked last week what I thought might be the best Afternoon Tea in Chicago, I would have told you, The Peninsula Hotel’s tea in The Lobby.
That’s because the last time I had this tea experience it WAS the best tea I had had in this city.
That was a few years ago and I remember it fairly well.
Everything about it was perfect.
The service was impeccable, the food delicious, The Lobby was cheerful and warm and spotless.

My experience recently was slightly different.

From Colorful to Grey…

One of the first things I noticed was that the The Lobby, the restaurant where tea (and other meals) are served went from being warm and colorful to fairly monochromatic and grey.

I would say the photo I took above actually looks a little brighter than it felt, the rug and chairs are soft grey not off white in real life.

Ambiance is Everything

Well, not everything but A Lot.
Especially because part of what you’re paying for with Afternoon Tea is the elegant experience.
The fine china, the overall presentation. Tea is expensive in most hotels. And at the Peninsula Chicago, it’s even more expensive than most. More about this soon.

The room felt a little less remarkable than its earlier version.
I would describe the earlier decor of The Lobby like a lovely, luxury hotel space that was vibrant, well-staffed and welcoming in a joyful kind of way.

And the latter more like a medium-upscale corporate restaurant devoid of personality. It wasn’t bad at all, it just wasn’t special.

I did notice when I sat down was that my place mat was frayed all around the upper edge.
It’s a small thing - but it stood out. My husband’s fork tine was also bent and my teapot dribbled when poured from (both by the waitress and myself).

When the waiter brought the tea cake/stand, no description of what was on it was given, it was just unceremoniously dropped off. Plunk.

I have never been to an Afternoon Tea where they did not present the food without mentioning what the items are (yes, you see a menu card when you first sit down, but you don’t remember what was on it because there are many components).

There were two people who attended to our table, and they were both primarily absent. One checked backed once but it was quite a bit later. However, they were both very polite.

I will also mention the music. At first I thought it was live but I heard the same tunes being re-played after about 20 minutes, so I’m guessing it was recorded?

It was still nice, they were playing classical versions of modern songs (Miley Cyrus’ Flowers was one of them and I think Hozier’s Too Sweet), so they stood out when they came around again.

The photo above is a detail of their china pattern.

Pre-Pay, Pre-Tip? $373.90 for two.

Afternoon Tea is not inexpensive at most hotels. As of this writing, the cost for this tea at the Peninsula Chicago was $140.00 per person (adult). But that’s not the end total.

For my husband and I, it was $280.00. But then there’s tax ($32.90) and tip ($56.00) and - since I had to reserve pre-paid online, there was an additional $5.00 booking fee.
The total for the two of us was $373.90.

I want to mention something about their reservation process.
On their website if you click to make a reservation, it takes you to Tock - a third party res site.
You must pre-pay to make a reservation. And they ask for the tip at that time.

Now, I’m sure I could just skip the tip, but I didn’t. However, it still felt not quite right to ask for a tip before having the service as a tip is usually based on how your meal went.

However, I have worked in the service industry and so I went ahead and tipped 20%.

I also want to add that having worked in a restaurant waiting tables, I know sometimes you have an off day, so perhaps on a different day the service would have been more attentive.

But The Food was really good…

The actual food at this tea was good.

The presentation on the plates, aside from the top tier with the pastries, was a little sparse (see photo at top of post). And I think crinkled peas are not quite as appetizing as plump ones, but the flavor of the mini-quiches was fine.
The Champagne poured was Taittinger Brut, NV. Lovely, I’m a fan of Taittinger.

The pastries were delicate and pretty. I have to admit, I enjoy the savory sandwich portion more than the sweet but these were nicely done. The scones were also very delicious and served with the usual lemon curd, clotted cream and butter. No complaints there.

Parting Gift

This was a parting gift they gave to take home. It’s nice, though I think I would have preferred a small tin of tea or something non-sugary after all the pastries just eaten! Still, it’s the thought that counts and I did notice some little girls received stuffed bears in cute chef-like (I think) outfits rather than the potted edible. From a few tables over they looked charming.

Overall, the reason for my disappointment with Afternoon Tea at the Peninsula Chicago Hotel was due to lack of service and tableware that could have been replaced due to overwear. The food quality was very good and the tea and Champagne were both very fine.

The fact that The Lobby no longer looked as inviting to me is not something I would give bad marks for as that comes down to personal taste and preference. But it really wasn’t as warm and enticing as it used to be.

And again, at $373.90 (including tax, tip and online service booking charge), it just needed to feel a little more…special.