Afternoon Tea with Kids at Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House
Afternoon Tea with Kids at Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House
Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House hotel, a beautiful country pile in rural Aberdeenshire, now offers a startling wonderful but simple idea – a Young Diner’s Afternoon Tea. Why isn’t every hotel doing this?
What makes this genius – apart from the cake – is that any hotel can claim to be ‘child friendly’, but by putting a ‘Young Diner’s Afternoon Tea’ on the menu, in black and white, you are going beyond the ‘child friendly’ platitude where they nibble from your plate. Ardoe is actively catering for the little terrors, and this is terribly important to families because, as a parent, I am now confident in bringing my cherub with me and feeling welcome.
Setting – Afternoon Tea with Kids at Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House
Ardoe House could be a backdrop for a costume drama – the perfect setting to take tea (even with a rugrat). We were led through to the drawing room with its log fire, historical portraits and unblemished sofas and I had a slight panic – perhaps a toddler was too young for tea, what would he do to the furniture etc.?
But to encourage other parents to just go forth and try things, Mr Toddler somehow sensed this was special, check him out reading his book waiting for his order to arrive. I was blown away, though I did remove his shoes as a precaution.
Then he decided to take in the grounds with a jolly good look out of the window. To be fair in a building like this there’s a lot to look at, the fine art of distraction was relatively straightforward.
Quick Service
The service at Ardoe was quick enough for a child’s extremely limited window of patience, which as any parent knows means a great deal. Mr Toddler was offered a choice of ham or cheese sandwiches and a soft drink as part of his afternoon tea. Before long he had food in front of him.
The Children’s Afternoon Tea
But let’s cut to the chase, cos I know you really just want to see photos of cake. Mr Toddler’s afternoon tea looked totally different to mine yet just as appealing. Yes, his was the child’s version but not in that naff chicken-nugget-second-class-citizen kind of way, but in a yummy-celebrate-being-a-kid way.
He hoofed down the ham sandwiches. He sampled the hundreds and thousands bread pieces but was a little unsure, but they certainly looked pretty.
Next up, Chocolate Crackle Cake, Strawberry Jelly with Ice-cream, Ardoe Chocolate Shake (unexpected bonus for me), a Strawberry Marshmallow Skewer, and a Smartie Cookie.
Meanwhile, for adults, the afternoon tea includes smoked salmon sandwiches, plain scones with clotted cream and jam, a Chocolate Brownie and Caramelised Passion Fruit Tart.
The children’s afternoon tea was a treat, and it was nice to see fruit and milk incorporated into the child’s version. I also appreciated that the Young Diner’s Afternoon Tea was as beautifully presented on a cake stand as any adult version.
This experience is open to all ages, I can picture three or four generations sitting down together just sharing some time and cake together – never forget the cake.
Lastly, with so many toys in circulation having an experience with your child, or buying a voucher as a gift, rather than another toy, is a novel option.
If you liked more ideas of things to with kids in Aberdeen, then click here.
LOWDOWN
Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe Hotel is situated in thirty acres on grounds on the South Deeside Road, a short taxi ride from Aberdeen city centre and its train station.
Afternoon Tea is available from 12 noon till 6pm. The Classic Afternoon Tea is £19, the Chocolate Afternoon Tea is £21, the Gluten Free Afternoon Tea is £19 (requires 24 hours notice) and it’s £12 for a Young Diner’s Afternoon Tea (requires 24 hours notice). If it’s a special occasion, or if you’re just in the mood for some bubbles, upgrade to a Champagne Afternoon Tea for an additional £9.50.
I opted for the Classic Afternoon Tea whereby you select between roast beef, smoked salmon and dill or egg sandwiches/a plain scone or a whisky soaked sultana scone/tea or coffee.
Often you have to order afternoon tea as a couple, but it’s no problem to order one adult afternoon tea and one young diner’s version.
Scots2Travel were guests at Ardoe Hotel. Mr Toddler’s opinions are his own as, trust me, you can’t feed a toddler anything he doesn’t want to eat.
If enjoyed ‘Afternoon Tea with Kids at Mercure Aberdeen Ardoe House’, we’d love you to subscribe here. For any comments, queries or opportunities please contact scots2travel@hotmail.com.
Folloe
Wow! This sounds like an awesome adventure for you and ‘Mr Toddler’. 😁😁 Lobe it!
It was pretty cute. And yummy too.
The food looks so good and what a great idea!
I know. The best ideas are so simple. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
I love afternoon tea we went to a local cafe for one recently this looks so delicious
It’s such a girly treat, but I like introducing my wee lad to a range of experiences.
That afternoon tea looks amazing and what a wonderful setting to enjoy it in!
It was lush. It was quality time with my son doing something I actually enjoy. What a wonderful idea.
The north east of Scotland is full of castles and restored/converted country houses. We’re definitely spoiled in that respect.
This looks fab and really luxurious! It tickled me about your disclaimer you can’t feed a toddle anything they don’t want to eat! too true lol x
Thanks. It was a truly lovely afternoon.
oh my that looks absolutely incredible what a fantastic day out and the afternoon tea looks so lovely and what amazing pictures
Thank you. It was a treat. Scrumptious.
What an impressive frontage! We’d love to stay somewhere gothic like this! It looks amazing! Nice review x
Thank you. The architecture and atmosphere at Ardoe is pretty special.
Oh my gosh, those desserts looks just absolutely divine, I love how they are presented x
Yes, I really appreciated how the Young Diner’s tea was as beautifully presented as the adult version.
Omg what a hotel and I bet Mr toddler will be remembering this for years to come, what an amazing adventure you both had.
And if he can’t remember (cos he’s so small) he can hopefully read the blog. It is a beautiful hotel and such a treat.
Well hello delicious cake, care to get in my belly? Lol they look delicious especially the milkshake, I am obsessed with milkshakes!
Yes, such a shame he decided to ‘share’ it.
Jenny (4) was reading this over my shoulder and was pointing at the cakes telling me how nice they looked. Says it all! And what a beautiful building.
I think that’s what’s known as a female subtle hint [even at 4 years old :-)]
I love afternoon tea… It’s probably one of my favourite things to enjoy! I love that there are now children’s versions available x
I know. It’s such an obvious idea, and it was so enjoyable.
What a fabulous idea. I would love to take mine for afternoon tea but always worry the kids would kick off. Shame it’s not closer
I feared the same but I was surprised that he kind of sensed this was special. I also figured that you don’t have much to lose so go for it, if it doesn’t work wait a while and try again!
This looks such a treat – absolutely delicious! I have never had afternoon tea! Kaz x
Ok change that as soon as you can 🙂
What a lovely Mother and Son date. I think it’s really important to start children enjoying experiences like this from a young age. The hotel and afternoon tea look amazing
It is a lovely place – set the bar high for a first mummy/son date.
[Maybe when he’s 18 I’ll take him to New York 🙂 ]
What a fantastic idea! I love afternoon tea, but I wouldn’t normally dream of taking my daughter until she’s older – there’s something so civilised about afternoon tea, and my three-year-old isn’t always quite so civilised… But this is perfect, properly thought out for small diners, just as beautifully presented and lovely fun touches like the drink. Genius. Thanks for linking up to #citytripping
Thank you. I mentioned on Twitter that my little Toddler became a little gentleman (I was shocked) and I had a lovely time with him. Your daughter would love it! I spend so much time with him at soft play, playgrounds etc. that it was nice to do something more geared in my direction yet still very child friendly.
Oh what a lovely place to spend some quality time together
Heading into the mountains, with a chilled out hotel, did feel a million miles away from work and everyday life.
Haven’t done an afternoon tea yet, and I love tea! And the cakes look nice 🙂
I’d change that – soon 🙂
What a great idea! Fab for them to have their own afternoon tea to themselves – and good value too – for all parties (or am I just used to London prices?). From my point of view it would have been nice to see a fruit salad or something on the kid’s version – that would go down well with my daughter. Thanks for linking to #citytripping
Yes I believe London prices are pretty eye-watering! There was a fruit jelly and fruit skewers so I thought the Vitamin C was incorporated in amongst the treats pretty well but I have no doubt they would have made you up a fruit salad no bother if you asked. It was such a nice afternoon. Mr Toddler even met some famous football players which was a pretty unlikely ending to the day. #citytripping
Perfect! Oh, that’s good to hear they’d do that x
Yummy yummy! Afternoon tea is my fave time. even if it’s just bread and butter!
Would love to see your posts in the Practical Mondays Link Up:)
I think we can do better than the ol bread and butter but I take your point. Will look up the Practical Mondays. Thanks for the invite.