AFTERNOON TEA REVIEW: Hello Kitty at Cutter and Squidge

Hello Kitty afternoon tea at Cutter and Squidge was a date I'd been looking forward to for a very long time. My friends and I booked as soon as it was announced and I patiently waited until the months rolled around. Before I knew it we were in July and that meant cake, and lots of it, with the girl dressed in a cute kitty costume.

Despite being a well known cake lover I'd never managed to visit Cutter and Squidge. It's a lovely shop with a relaxed cafe on the ground floor and a long counter over flowing in incredible looking cakes. The ethos at the cafe is too make delicious cakes without loading them up in unnecessary sugar and fat. The cakes aren't healthy, they're still indulgent but it's nice to know that they aren't prepared with wads of butter and sugar just for the sake of it. 'Healthy' cake isn't something that I normally care about it, if I'm trying to watch what I'd eat I'd rather have an apple then a substandard brownie but the cakes here are just as delicious as any you'll find elsewhere. 

The afternoon tea is served in the basement of the cafe which has been transformed into the most delightful Hello Kitty garden. As I walked down the stairs and around the corner I was loudly cooing about the sheer cuteness of the garden. In all honestly I was completely shocked by the attention to detail as I didn't realise how visual the entire experience was going to be. Yes it was childish and kitsch but I absolutely loved it.

As for the afternoon tea itself, my expectations were surpassed. I'm normally a little fussy when it comes to afternoon tea, I adore sandwiches and cake but I like them on the simpler side of the ingredients list. The child proof menu meant that everything is kind of simple but still delicious. I absolutely loved cheese and pickle sandwiches and the hummus and red pepper weren't bad either. The cheese scones were rich but the cream cheese and red pepper relish helped cut through the sharpness. There were so many cakes I don't even know where to begin. My favourite was the simple, circular cake truffle which is basically a cake pop without the stick. I loved the sourness of the pink lemonade marshmallow and the strawberries dipped in rich chocolate sauce were absolutely perfect (I wasn't a fan of the matcha dip). The chocolate mud pie is my perfect idea of a heavenly chocolate cake and the strawberry milkshake biskie was the most delightful cake / biscuit sandwich combo I'm yet to try. There's a ton of other food on the menu but these were the bits that really stood out for me.

As for drinks, I could not get enough of the pink lemonade, I think I drunk about 4 bottles of the stuff (yay for free refills). The lychee peach white tea is a lovely sweet but subtle drink whilst the Hello Kitty spiced apple tea was a little too festive for my liking, it it July after all.

The food comes in bamboo steamers which is a lovely Asian take on the traditional cake tower and as I mentioned everything is refillable if you ask. We ordered lots of extra drinks and a few extra sandwiches and cake. The cost of the afternoon tea is £40 per person which is on the expensive side but for the attention to detail and overall experience I think it is more than worth it. As the cafe is so small there's a quick turn around on the tables which meant our experience felt a little rushed but we were given the choice to finish anything we'd yet to eat in the cafe upstairs.

If you're a fan of Hello Kitty or you're looking for an afternoon tea experience with a difference then I thoroughly recommend booking yourself a table (if it isn't already fully booked). The salmon sandwiches were the only meat option on the entire menu meaning this is a great choice for vegetarians. I'm hoping to pop into the shop again this summer to pick up some bits from the Hello Kitty shop and maybe a slice of cake before the tea finishes on 31st August.

Follow me on: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Bloglovin'