Tea and cakes and things I like

This is my tea and panini at IMMA, the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It was disappointing, and my expectations were low to begin with.

Tea
The teapot held barely 1 cup. The mug didn’t belong on a saucer. If you’re going to give me a saucer, I want a cup. The milk was in a tiny little plastic glass. Why? Why not a little jug?

The Panini
Wow, this was a let down. I wanted soup, but they’d run out, so I settled for the mozzarella, tomato and basil panini, except they’d evidently run out of basil too. I declined the salads as they all looked tired and nasty.
A trend has developed in Dublin for microwaving tomato mozzarella paninis before toasting them. This is not a good trend. The bread goes doughy, the mozzarella goes stringy, and the tomatoes go mushy. A panini should be crispy. I’ve ordered toasted, flattened bread, and what I get is a microwaved roll that’s been squished by a ridged iron for a second.
IMMA would appear to be following this trend, and it’s nasty.

I find IMMA a shame. It’s a beautiful building in lovely grounds, and it should be busier. Part of this I put down to their choice of exhibitions, and general lack of things to look at. (I can appreciate space, but sometimes there can be too much space, and I’m not a fan of dvd installations and modern art that sets out to be shocking with no artisitic merit). They do seem to have a good educational programme, so that’s a start.

I do think the café needs to bear the brunt of the shame though. It’s kinda grubby, for a start. Someone also decided to put it in the basement, which is simply criminal when there’s a large, under-used courtyard just crying out for some tables and chairs. Most of the people there on Sunday were middle class parents with young children. These are people with money to spend on posh tea and cakes. There’s just no excuse.

Every time I go I think that I should really go back in the summer, with a picnic. Then I forget.

Delicious apple spice tea. Not too sweet, was a tea, not a “fruit infusion”. Nice glass too, although the saucer was unneccessary.
Theatre was excellent.
Bewleys is a great location for that sort of thing too - intimate, with a sort of french cafe type feel to it (that might just be the type of chair), and any theatre that serves me tea I can drink during the performance is fine by me.

Now, this is how a pot of tea for one should look.

This was a couple of weeks ago on my trip to Galway, I’ve got a bit behind on the tea reviews.

Setting: Cafe du Journal, Quay St, Galway. Lovely little cafe, a bit dark but ok, I wasn’t the only person alone and they didn’t seem to find it strange that I was. My panini was delicious - full of fresh roasted veggies and dripping with homemade rocket pesto.

Cup: My only complaint would have to be the cup here - it was a bit too thick for my tastes, and I don’t like the colour yellow. Not sure why, just don’t.

Pot: Now, the pot was excellent, just the right size for one person, it had a good couple of cups of tea in it, and poured without spilling.

Beverage: The tea was nice, could have had a touch more flavour to it, but was smooth and not bitter.

Overall a good experience. I did feel a bit strange taking the photo this time - I’m happy being alone in cafes, but alone and photographing your pot of tea does make you look, well, a little eccentric shall we say.

I didn’t have any cake, my panini was enough and I had to get back to work, but a few people around me were tucking in and it looked good - generous portion sizes, good amounts of cream, and cake and desserts that looked home made and messy.

I would have liked to have been able to sit around for an hour or so, reading my book and savouring the tea with something nice and sweet. One time I’ll go to Galway again for fun instead of work and get to do just that.

This was from the other night. The mug is one of my favourites - it’s fine bone china, so it’s lovely to drink out of, nice and light and delicate, but it has funky blue spots, so it’s not dull and fusty.
I like spots.
The tea was indian chai from Whittards. Loose tea, which is best, but a pain to clean out of the pot afterwards. Sometimes I like chai tea with milk (sweetened soya) and honey (bunalun organic honey), but other times I like it black and unsweetened. This was one of those times.
Behind the mug is my bag of minstrels. Technically it’s a shared bag, but all chocolate in the house really belongs to me. It’s just better that way. I like minstrels. They’re like the spots on the mug, but made of chocolate.

This was my afternoon tea at the Japanese Gardens at the Irish National Stud.
Setting
The setting was most pleasant. We found a table on the balcony looking out past a large bamboo plant on to a small lake. Lots of small birds were flittering around picking up crumbs.
Teapot
The teapot was what I expected, that is, unsatisfactory. Although it poured well, it only gave enough tea for one and a half cups, which is not enough. Hot water is free people, why should I be expected to pay an extra euro for a two person pot just to have a decent cuppa?
In summary: Good pourer, let down by size.
The Mug
Ahh, catering cups. Plain white, which is good, but too thick, an unattractive shape, and didn’t fit properly on the saucer. A good match for the teapot. Not worth wasting any more words on.
The Beverage
Cheap black tea which stewed quickly thanks to the previously mentioned stingy pot size. Euch.
The Cake
Now, this is where the experience was redeemed. I didn’t have high hopes for the cake, it looked a bit dry. It was the second last piece of cake on offer, and the only option, my companion having taken the final piece of cheesecake. I haveto admit, I was suprised. Dense and cocoaey, this was chocolate cake made by someone who appreciated chocolate. The portion was just about right, and, while I am partial to gooey butter icing on chocolate cakes, on this occasion the more traditional type worked very nicely indeed.