Monday 21 April 2014

Chocolate Afternoon Tea at the Dylan Hotel


Easter eggs aren’t really my thing but afternoon tea is right up my alley so when I saw the Dylan Hotel was doing a chocolate afternoon tea for Easter I just had to try it.

The chocolate afternoon tea is currently being served every day from 12pm to 5pm until the 27th of April and has to be booked in advance. When I saw the price of €35 per person I almost didn’t book it, thinking it was a bit too pricey but Mr. FFID said the magic words ‘Ah go on, it's an Easter treat!.

Three options are available for this afternoon tea, so you chose your preferred chocolate (white, milk or dark) at the time of reservation.

It was my first time in the Dylan, a five star boutique hotel located in Ballsbridge, which reminded me of the G Hotel in Galway.


The room we were in was small, cosy and bright with a few sofas, beautiful armchairs and mirrors.


Our tea and coffee were served straight away and then the food was brought to our table. I’m not going to lie, at first, I thought it looked a little small but that’s because my eyes are bigger than my stomach.


The savoury part of the tea included 4 types of sandwich per person: beetroot and goat cheese, chicken pesto and rocket, smoked salmon chive crème fraîche with pickled red onion and capers and finally, egg mayo on brown bread. 


The sandwiches were fresh, tasty and very nicely presented.


On the middle tray we had two substantial freshly baked scones served with clotted cream with a strawberry in the middle and a delicious strawberry jam. 


The scones were lovely, soft and still warm.


We then had a dark chocolate mousse with a passion fruit gel beautifully presented in an eggshell and served with a small shortbread biscuit.


The mousse was light and the combination with the passion fruit was lovely, it went down a treat.


Then the waiter brought the hot chocolate with a shot of King's ginger liqueur in it. This was very good, the chocolate was thick and rich and the ginger liqueur worked really well with it.


I have high standards in terms of macarons and unfortunately the dark chocolate and passion fruit macarons were a disappointment. They were too chewy, a bit dry and the flavours were lacking.


However the dark chocolates truffles were amazing, being provided by my favourite place for sweet treats in Dublin: Cocoa Atelier. They would do well to also source their macaroons from there, as they're the best in the city.


Overall we enjoyed our Easter afternoon tea, the service was friendly and the surroundings were stylish and modern. My fear of leaving hungry was irrational as we were stuffed: the portions were actually just right as the scones were big and the chocolate was quite rich. It was a little overpriced for what it was and in comparison to what’s on offer in hotels like the Westin or the Merrion but as Mr. FFID said ‘It was our Easter treat!’ and we're glad we tried it.

The Dylan Hotel
Eastmoreland Place
Dublin 4
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