afternoon tea at hard days night hotel, liverpool.

if like me, you love both afternoon tea and the beatles back catalogue, hard days night hotel is somewhere you need to visit. i was whisked away for a surprise birthday trip to liverpool last weekend and my boyfriend had booked us in for their high tea. cue perfectly sliced sandwiches, warm scones, bottomless tea and a cheeky glass of bubbles. i was in my element.

as you would expect, the beatles tunes were playing in the background and there were prints of the famous four dotted around the room. although don't get me wrong, the place isn't gimmicky at all. the music is faint and the art is abstract and subtle. it only stood out if you recognised the song, if you know what i mean. no yellow submarine on a loop and abbey road wallpaper if that's why you were imagining. 

one thing i did absolutely love (which was actually amazingly gimmicky) were the beatles puns now and again. john lennon-ade anyone? genius. they also had a sgt pepper's style cocktail, which was inspired by the colours of the album art. this was no place for a rolling stones fan.

you'll have to apologise for the lack of good pictures, i wasn't quite expecting the photogenic creations that i was about to behold. as soon as the beautifully presented rectangular sandwiches, pretty cakes and scones came out and i went into an excited afternoon tea frenzy, so it's probably a good thing that i didn't have my proper camera.

delicious sandwich fillings? check. soft bread? check. promptly topped up earl grey tea? check. fresh cream and jam? check. far too many cakes to manage? check. at the risk of using an overused foodie expression, it was almost too good to eat! not to mention fabulously friendly service from our doting servers. 

the sandwiches were a mix of the classic salmon, egg mayo, ham, tuna and cheese. whilst the cakes were a chocolately fudge brownie, mini victoria sponge and a hefty chunk of carrot cake. you also have a choice from earl grey, english breakfast, jade tip green tea, mint blend or red berry and hibiscus. delightful. 

such a brilliant surprise really, since my boyfriend thinks afternoon tea is just awkward sandwich nibbling and clinking of china. boy did good, don't you think? (he also secretly enjoyed it too i reckon). i've since seen they have launched a winter warmer afternoon tea, which looks fantastic although i think a festive cocktail would probably have sent me into a slumber.

i left feeling happy, extremely full and a little bit giddy from one glass of bubbles at 2pm in the afternoon. off we tottered to the cavern club and albert docks, for a lovely weekend with a little blog post to follow.

also on a side note, i'm not sure if it's hard days night or hard day's night so thought i'd put that out there too. 

hard days night hotel

central buildings, 

north john street, 

liverpool, 

l2 6rr.

note: my boyfriend paid for the afternoon tea but i thought i should put a disclaimer anyway. does that count?