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| The Dome from George St |
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| Chandelier and decorations in entrance hall |
Last
Thursday I treated my friend Maria to afternoon tea at The Dome in George
Street. They only serve them in November
and December and they do not take reservations.
There is usually a queue so you must judge for yourselves how long you
want to wait. We missed out last
December so I was really looking forward to going this year.
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| Huge Tree in Bar |
The Dome looked fabulous, they always have lovely
decorations but this year they have surpassed themselves! Go in and have a
look, the friendly concierges do not mind.
They even got the smell Christmassy.
Cinnamon pervades the entrance hall but does not affect the eating
areas.
The
teas are served upstairs in one of the function suites. Three vast rooms joined together make a
palatial space. There are crystal
chandeliers and wall lights and Christmas wreaths on every wall. All of the vast windows have luxurious lined
velvet curtains and a Christmas tree in each.
The marble fireplace nearest us was lavishly dressed with pine boughs,
baubles and other decorations. There
were cute seasonal table centres too. A
giant Christmas tree was visible down the other end of the room.
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| TheTearoom |
The waiting staff was dressed in 1920s style white crossover
jackets and black trousers. First they brought
in little pots of Twinning’s English breakfast tea, then a massive cake
stand. We had 4 finger sandwiches each,
ham and mustard, roast beef and horseradish sauce, salmon, cucumber and cream
cheese and finally egg and cress. The
second tier was fruit scones, jam and a choice of cream, clotted and
whipped. Plain scones were available too. On the top tier were 6 mini treats, a coffee
and chocolate cake, carrot cake, a mixed fruit tart, a mincemeat pie, a white
chocolate cheesecake and a macaroon.
Unfortunately by the time we had eaten our way to this layer we were too
full to eat them all. I had the macaroon
and a tiny piece of each of the others and they were all sublime. You can have
another pot of tea gratis but after that you pay. I had an extra pot which was only £1.90. The afternoon tea itself is £24.00 for 2.
The ladies loos had many stalls were clean and
spacious. It too had a Christmas tree!
There were a great many ladies of all nationalities enjoying
one of our great national traditions. There were some young Japanese girls in the
corner and we were seated next to a group of ladies from Swansea. They were speaking Welsh at first and I couldn’t
recognise the language but when they started speaking English their accent was
unmistakeable. We got talking to them
later and they were very impressed with both the tea and Susan Boyle, who they
met at the entrance.
The whole experience was great. I think I am going to make it a Christmas
tradition!
The Dome
14 George Street, Edinburgh
EH2 2PF
0131 624 8624
www.thedomeedinburgh.com
