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Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea?
How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.
Sydney Smith
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The Randolph Hotel, Beaumont Street, Oxford - Sunday 3rd August 2013
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Tea Takers
Sarah Ryan
Paul Ryan
Olivia Ryan
Nicola Thomas
Martin Rist
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The very fine celebrations of the Broome Saunders' birthdays brought us to Oxford, and provided the opportunity for another Oxford tea. It was inevitable that The Randolph should feature in the odyssey at some point (and, yes, I know some hotel chain think that just because they own it they can change its name to incorporate theirs, but I refuse to give in to the barbarians) and it was a very civilised setting for a lazy Sunday afternoon.
'The' grand hotel of central Oxford, situated opposite the Ashmolean Museum in the centre of this most beautiful city, it has long represented elegance and style. We came here today with our friends Nicola and Martin - who are always civilised and stylish, and therefore exceptionally appropriate. Nicola and I met as undergraduates at Oxford, and indeed we came to The Randolph (with Lucy and Sophie), on 8th February 1994, to have breakfast here to celebrate my 21st birthday, so it was only poetic justice to drag her back again.
Tea was served in the drawing room - a high ceilinged, typically elegant affair looking out over the Ashmolean. The walls are arrayed with Osbert Lancaster's paintings illustrating Zuleika Dobson, and the room is tasteful and reposeful, with its well-stuffed armchairs and sofas in autumnal shades of sage green and burnt orange, around the impeccable white linen on the low tables. All very pleasant.
There were a couple of initial qualms, however. The china was a little chunky, perhaps rather too 'catering' for our (now very exacting) taste, and whilst offering an alternative to sugar may be thoughtful, there is really no excuse for paper sachets of proprietary sweeteners to surround the sugar bowl. It also rather concerned us when the waitress, from whom we had ordered a drink of water for Olivia, asked me if we wanted more than one 'tub'. Fortunately when it arrived in was in glass rather than Tupperware.
These quibbles apart, it swiftly became a very high calibre experience. The service was discreetly attentive and the the tea itself was very well supplied.
I consider wonkiness of the cake stands to be a rather attractive suggestion of frequent use.
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The tea was very generous, beautifully presented and most delicious.
We all rated the scones very highly. They were clearly very freshly baked and were beautifully light. Martin commented on the very fine contrast between their slightly crunchy crust and the very pleasing softness within - or as he philosophically put it - they were 'an armadillo rather than a Dime bar'. The option of lemon curd, as well as the traditional strawberry jam, was also a successful addition to the tea table.
The selection of cakes were especially pleasing: perfect Opera cakes, little subtly flavoured Mango layered sponges, fruit cake, a raspberry pannacotta, and, my personal favourite, fabulous miniature lemon meringue tartlets, with crisp pastry, smooth Italian meringue and a beautiful fresh lemon filing.
Olivia was not entirely enamoured of her chocolate brownie (her purist soul afflicted by the caramel drizzle and the addition of ice-cream), but fortunately Paul and Martin were able, manfully, to finish it for her.
Add to this, a good choice of sandwiches and a plentiful supply of tea, and The Randolph more than held its own very well in the provisions stakes.
Nicola, sadly, did bring shame on her family by forgetting to use her tea strainer, and having to do some reparatory fishing...
On the other hand, in her defence, the tea strainers were rather utilitarian stainless steel 1970s numbers, and not particularly pleasing. Another area for development...
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Built in 1864, named because of its proximity to the, then new, Randolph Gallery in the Ashmolean, The Randolph is one of Oxford's fine Gothic revival buildings. This had been a matter of some debate, as the City Council had wanted a Classical design to blend with the Regency styling of the rest of Beaumont Street. The Gothic design was therefore kept relatively simple and is similar to the Oxford University Museum and Oxford Union Building. It is not surprising to discover that its architect, William Wilkinson, also designed many houses in the north of the city, and the arched windows seem a very Oxford idiom.
Inside any restraint in the styling was dropped - Gothic doorways, painted wood work, designs on the carpet - if you like it (as I really do) it's quite fabulous. Even the hand dryers in the Ladies are in their own splendid Gothic recesses.
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Nineteenth Tea - Nineteenth Year
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A most enjoyable tea, with delightful company, in a setting that I would like to inhabit more often.
Nicola examines her options
Olivia ensures that none of the decorative icing sugar goes to waste
Martin delicately enjoys a scone/armadillo
Paul, less delicately, consumes a sandwich
Sarah peers, with trepidation, around a cake stand
To give The Randolph all the credit that it is due, we must also report that when the bill arrived they had undercharged to the tune of one tea. When Paul raised this with them, they insisted that this was the bill they had given us and therefore that was what we should pay - very gentlemanly - bravo.
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