ANANTARA THE MARKER HOTEL LAUNCHES HIGH-END 'POETRY AND PLACES' AFTERNOON TEA

I'm sitting with the Afternoon Tea menu in Anantara The Marker Hotel which is heavy in my hands. It's encased in a leather folder and beautifully illustrated with Irish landscapes. There are pages and pages to devour while I sit in the lobby with the sun streaming through the glass.

Named 'Poetry & Places,' the Tea launched in March and is a high-end experience with a price tag to match. But it's a three-hour delight which is very labour intensive and two years in the making by Executive Head Chef Gareth Mullins. Staff are constantly at our table explaining the menu and bringing out different courses.

Alongside the artwork are illustrations of famous Irish poems you can read during your gastronomic visit which are connected to the food. For example, ‘Blackberry Picking’ by Seamus Heaney inspired the blackberry tart which is seasoned with Wicklow blackberry wine and topped with a clove meringue.

The poem, ‘Lilac’ by the contemporary poet, Martina Dalton, inspired the violet macaroon with Berriolette curd and dried flowers. 

The Afternoon Tea which is near the bar in the lobby starts with a Bollinger sorbet served in an upside-down Bollinger bottle something Mullins saw in the Lanesborough Hotel in London years ago and which he was only biding his time to do in Anantara especially since the hotel has such a strong partnership with the champagne.

Then there is your choice of 17 teas, including one for any jet-lagged guests.

The menu itself Mullins says is a three-hour experience where you can take in the ambience, learn about different pastries and have a connection with the place which is the ethos behind the Anantara Hotel group.

After my tea came the sandwiches, including Burren Organic Irish Oak Smoked Salmon with dill crème fraiche, served on traditional soda bread.

There’s a roast beef, horseradish and Achill Island Sea Salt sandwich, delicate cucumber and chive cream cheese sandwiches and corn-fed chicken, tarragon mayonnaise in a brioche bun.

'We wanted to pay tribute to the many great local and indigenous flavours found in Ireland Artisan producers all around the country are making great products in small batches and often by hand explains Mullins.

'We searched high and low for the very best artisans whose products now sing from our plates.  For example, we created a gorgeous verrine with a bavarois of sheep’s milk yoghurt from Mayo, it features heather honey, oat crumble and is finished with a smoked Achill Island Sea Salt.

'As a tribute to Arthur Guinness, we have created a chocolate and Guinness cake to look like a perfect pint of the ‘'black stuff’’ while the Opera Cake he says is inspired by the steep cliffs that are found along much of the west coast and is flavoured with chocolate, rye and dillisk.”

Not forgetting the buttermilk scones made in-house to go with your endless pots of tea and the Marker Battenberg and Fig Pudding Loaf. So many where on offer I had to bring them home in a to go box!

There are 12 different types of cakes on the menu, the top three tier pastries change each week to offer a new experience.

The newly launched afternoon tea in Anantara The Marker is served 7 days a week from 2 to 5pm in one sitting.

The Poetry & Places Afternoon Tea is 65 euro per person.

Guests can choose to add Bollinger bubbles to their afternoon if they so wish with a choice of Bollinger Champagnes on offer for €85 and with Rosé champagne it is €100. Just remember to go hungry and be in no rush!

Afternoon Tea can be booked here.