Review: Hello Kitty afternoon tea, Cutter & Squidge, Soho

At the beginning of July I joined some of my favourite girls, Hannah, Sarah, Michelle and Lily, for an afternoon of eating lots of cake and drinking endless cups of tea at the Hello Kitty afternoon tea. On offer until 31st August, Cutter and Squidge is hosting the first ever pop-up cafe in Europe dedicated to the iconic character. At £40 it isn't a cheap afternoon tea by any means but you do get an awful lot of cake and savoury treats to savour with the option to refill if you wish. Which we did. Obviously. So, what did we get to eat?

Starting with a cute milk bottle of sweet pink lemonade, I opted for a pot of white peach loose tea to keep me refilled throughout the afternoon. My eyes grew as wide as saucers when the waitress put all our treats in the middle of the table. Following tradition we started in the selection of savoury sandwiches first. Cucumber and cream cheese, hummus and pepper, cheese and red onion and salmon and chive were all on the menu. The cheese and red onion sandwiches were divine and I made sure I asked for a second round of these. The generous fillings got a massive thumbs up from me.

After we had scoffed all the sandwiches it was time to try out the sweet treats. My favourites were the sweet strawberry milkshake biskie, rich white cake truffle and the decedent Kitty's chocolate mud pie. With so many sugar-filled concoctions, it was a welcome relief to try the savoury cheese scones with delicious red pepper relish and cream cheese. In fact, I think these were my favourite part. The scones had a lovely crunch yet fluffy middle and the subtle cheese flavour help to give them something a little special. A special shout out to the juicy strawberries with a creamy chocolate dip - they were the perfect end to a wonderful afternoon.

I'll hold my hands up and admit I'm not really much of a Hello Kitty fan and only went along because I wanted to spend some quality time with the lads. But I had such an amazing afternoon and completely got caught up in the moment. The staff were attentive and helpful, the sheer amount of food on offer was amazing and despite a 1.20 hour slot, I didn't really feel too rush as they moved us to a different part of the cafe so we could continue with our nattering. It's quite a lot of money for something if you're not into the hype but if you are, you really can't miss out!