Afternoon Tea At Pirlo’s

As you can probably guess, a restaurant that is dedicated to desserts is the ideal place to enjoy an afternoon tea. And when you then tie in cool surroundings and a chilled relaxed atmosphere, then the recommendation is complete. Pirlo’s in Birmingham is the place in question, and I enjoyed an afternoon tea there with my mom and sister just a few weeks ago and was seriously impressed.

Pirlo’s is one of Birmingham’s best kept secrets. Situated just behind Selfridges, you can reach it easily by walking through the Moor Street car park. On the edge of the city’s Digbeth area, Pirlo’s has a cool industrial feel, with roomy booths that are comfortable and more than capable of hosting larger groups. The afternoon tea is served daily from 12pm until 6pm, and needs at least 24 hours pre booking. I decided to try it after it was included in December’s Buckt box subscription and I thought it would be a nice girly occasion in the dull month that is January. I was not wrong.

The cost of the afternoon tea includes two cups of tea or coffee of your choice. As the venue is not licensed, you cannot add Prosecco to your order, but you can add a glass of non alcoholic fizz for a small supplement. Having a cup of tea or coffee is different from many afternoon teas where you are given a pot, but it means you can also have Lattes or Cappuccinos, and also ensures that your drink is piping hot.

The food is plentiful and flavoursome. Their is a good variety of sandwiches – egg mayonnaise, cheese and pickle, chicken tikka and Salmon were amongst the choices, and the sandwiches are a decent size – a quarter of a regular sarnie rather than the finger variety. The sandwiches tasted fresh and tasty, with nice soft bread and plentiful filling.

But the real test of an afternoon tea are the sweet treats. Pirlo’s has delicious macarons, mini Victoria Sponges, Carrot Cake and white chocolate covered strawberries. The strawberries were a definite high point, large and juicy and covered with thick chocolate – I could have easily eaten more of these, and in fact swapped my carrot cake for an extra strawberry (do they count as one of my five a day I wonder?). I was also a fan of the mini Victoria Sponge, my favourite cake in a cute miniature version was a real treat.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, were the scones. A good afternoon tea must have good scones,and Pirlos’s were large and were lovely and warm. There was a plentiful supply of jam and cream and the overall taste was delicious.