Swing Afternoon Tea @ 30 James St

That's SWING, not swingers, by the way. Just saying. 30 James Street Hotel in Liverpool have all sorts of exciting stuff happening this summer, and when I saw that one of their themed afternoon teas was a 'swing afternoon tea' I was so excited. Swing is one of my favourite genres of music so when I was asked to come along and blog about it, I was thrilled. I took Holly with me and we put on our glad rags and off we went...

Now, the grand hall at 30 James Street is truly bloody stunning. Chandeliers and big mirrors and flowers, and the brilliant Titanic theming that extends throughout the entire hotel. Every table was full, too, from hen parties to baby showers and some special birthdays as well. We sat down and immediately one of the waitresses, who were decked in all black with these little white gloves, poured us a glass of prosecco.

Immediately we started snapping pictures for the 'gram, drinking our fizz and pointing out our favourite bits of the decor as well as quietly trying to decide who was the best dressed in the room because Liverpool girls are so glam. After a while the entertainment started: we were treated to some swing tunes by Lee Ball,  who did all sorts of covers from Frank Sinatra to Michael Bublé. When I originally got invited to the swing afternoon tea, I was expecting a full swing band - so I did feel a tiny bit let down, but Lee was entertaining nonetheless and the crowd really did lap it up.

Then it was time for the food: three tiers, savoury at the bottom, cakes in the middle and scones on top. What I liked about the savoury was that it wasn't all just sandwiches on bread - there was a mixture of croissants, brioche, wraps etc. I am a fairly fussy eater, and I liked a lot of what there was to offer so for anyone who isn't fussy, you're most likely onto a winner. The cake selection was fairly varied too: there was a chocolate tart, a lemon mousse tart, red velvet cake, a little bakewell and some lemon sponge too. And last but not least, the scones - still slightly warm, with clotted cream and little individual jars of jam. So cute and obviously absolutely delicious. They also brought round tea and coffee (neither of which I drink) and Holly asked if they could possibly get her some green tea instead, which they did, and I thought that was pretty good of them.

We ate our food and took more pictures and listened to the music, then decided to head up to the rooftop bar for a drink. It's breathtaking up there, and there was a man playing the violin (everything from Take On Me by a-ha to Celine Dion's Titanic classic, My Heart Will Go On). It's fairly pricey but for the views and the atmosphere it's worth it.

All in all, I'm not sure the afternoon tea experience was worth the £30 it would usually be; it was fun and a lovely way to spend the day, but I think maybe around £23 would be a better price point. I do also wish there had been an actual band, because y'all know how much I'm into my music and I had been really excited to see some good saxophone. But what can you do, eh?

There's some more themed afternoon teas coming up, if it's something that floats your boat: a Mamma Mia one on July 20th which includes a free cinema ticket to go and watch the new movie, 'Cilla and the 60s' on the 21st of July, and on the same day - but at the Cunard instead - there's a 1920s/Gatsby themed afternoon tea which sounds like it would be brilliant! Head to the 30 James Street events page to find out more.

Big thank you to 30 James Street for having me over for afternoon tea - I'm sure I'll back one day...