REVIEW - Hogarth's Kids Afternoon Tea Solihull

UPDATE 2022 – After a terrible customer service experience at Hogaths Solihull today, I can sadly no longer recommend this establishment or the afteroon tea. What used to be one of my favourite establishments and now I will most likely not return.

Afternoon tea is such a grown up thing to do right? Not necessarily. There is something strangely appealing about afternoon tea to a four year old – the thought of sitting pretty with her very own little tea cup and lots and lots of cake. What if you could take the children along for afternoon tea and be confident that they would enjoy their very own child friendly version just as much you enjoyed yours? I think I’ve found the answer at Hogarth’s in Solihull who recently introduced their kids afternoon tea.

Today is the second day in my Mother / Daughter Date Week, and I had decided I wanted to take Erin somewhere really special where we could dress up and have a lovely meal together, chatting about her fast approaching first day at school. Since Neve was born last September we haven’t spent much time completely one on one and I really miss our chats.

We headed along this afternoon to Hogarth’s for their kids afternoon tea to make up for lost time.

About Hogarth’s

Hogarth’s Hotel is a luxury hotel situated in Dorridge, Solihull, nestled in 27 acres of woodland and countryside yet just 15 minutes from Birmingham Airport and the NEC. With beautiful grounds and an AA Rosette Brasserie, I have a real fond spot for Hogarth’s, having celebrated my parents golden wedding anniversary there some years ago, as well as watching a close friend say her vows on her wedding day down by the lake. Not only is Hogarth’s a fab conference and wedding venue, it is also one of my favourite locations for afternoon tea in the West Midlands.

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Hogarths Kids Afternoon Tea

Hogarth’s offer a variety of afternoon tea menus to suit every taste, from their traditional afternoon tea, to their sparkling afternoon tea and childrens afternoon tea. Gluten free and dairy free options are available on request and the latest menus can be seen on their website.

The traditional afternoon tea is £25 and the children’s afternoon tea – perfectly tailored to a younger palette – is £15.

Our Experience of Hogarths Afternoon Tea for Kids

We arrived at the Hogarth’s Brasserie at 1pm where we were greeted by our friendly waitress and taken to our table – a two seater table overlooking the terrace with some great views of the garden beyond. Erin sat excitedly in her chair, and I was reminded of just how small she is when she had to ask me to “push the chair in” so she could get a little closer to the table! 🙂

The Brasserie itself is a light and airy room, with a white and lime green themed interior and large booth seats for bigger groups. The majority of seats have at least a partial view of the beautiful grounds surrounding the hotel.

First we were able to select our drinks – for me, a choice of a variety of teas (with coffee’s also available as an alternative if I preferred). For the children’s afternoon tea Erin was given the choice of hot chocolate or flavoured milk (chocolate, vanilla or strawberry) – it didn’t take her long to make that decision, and she was soon happily sipping away at her choco-milk through an extra big straw.

I opted for an English Breakfast Tea which was bought out in its own little pot. Erin really enjoyed helping me by popping in my sugar cubes and milk and giving it a little stir!

The sandwiches were bought out first on a wooden board, with a row of sandwiches for each of us. They were absolutely delicious.

The traditional afternoon tea sandwiches included a brie & red onion chutney, roast beef and horseradish, smoked salmon, crème fresh and cucumber bap, and a absolutely heavenly broccoli and stilton tart. The latter is something that I would never have necessarily chosen had I seen it as a meal choice, but was delicious, and by far my favourite element of the savoury selection.

For the children’s afternoon tea, there was a choice of jam, ham and cheese sandwiches, however Erin had specifically asked for just cheese. We were asked about any dietary requirements upon ordering, and simple requests like “all cheese please” were met with no quibbles what so ever.

There was also a small pot of Kettle Chips for us to share, and Erin managed to earn the last one by polishing off every last bite of her sarnies.

After a short breather and another big slurp of choco-milk, the cakes were bought out in all their glory. Erin’s face was a picture as our waitress placed the tower in the centre of our table – the top layer of cakes were mine, the middle Erin’s and the bottom layer scones for us to share.

The variety and quality of the cakes was fantastic, and I loved how the kids afternoon tea choices were a little more quirky and fun to appeal to a younger audience!

Erin couldn’t wait to get her hands on the mini blueberry iced lolly, before having a taste of all of the others, including the rainbow patterned marshmallow, chocolate cheesecake, a plain scones and her very own chocolate pot. The portion sizes were generous, so at just 4 years old she didn’t have the appetite for all of them, however we were offered a doggy bag should we have wanted to take any of them home with us.

For the traditional afternoon tea, I had a strawberry tart, black forest gateau, elderflower panna cotta with peach compote and a delicious praline choux bun which was heaven on a plate. The scone was cooked to perfection, with a light and crumbly middle which I covered with a plentiful helping of jam. Always jam first (that’s not up for debate!)

I couldn’t fault the food at all, other than perhaps that there was just too much to fit in (never a bad thing!). My mind wanted to carry on eating but my body wouldn’t let me!

Once we finally admitted defeat, we went for a little explore of the grounds (a somewhat lame attempt at working off some of those calories!) with Erin keen to go and see where the weddings take place and cross over the bridge down by the lake.

Overall, both the adult’s and kids afternoon teas at Hogarth’s were absolutely fantastic. The food was well presented, fresh and appetising and I would definitely return with my girls in future. Whilst there are cheaper afternoon tea options available in the West Midlands, I am of the view that you most definitely get what you pay for, and I would happily pay a few pounds extra to experience a higher quality meal.

I also have not seen any other afternoon tea that caters for children in quite the same way as Hogarth’s. Erin loved the experience and felt just like a princess. We sat opposite each other, we talked and we laughed, and for me, that is something completely priceless.