I like to spend special occasions at the table. I especially enjoy the British tradition of afternoon tea, with its combination of savouries and sweets. With a birthday to celebrate, we decided to give Aria restaurant at a go. It’s housed in one of the most conspicuous buildings on busy Broad Street, the Hyatt Regency Birmingham.

Atmosphere

The hotel is a large modern building with a glamorous interior. Enormous leafy trees and plants invade the tea room, which floods with the light coming in through the very high glass ceiling.

The ambience is very quiet and relaxing with background music and the chilling sound of a water feature. There is generous space between tables, which allows you to have a little bit of extra privacy to enjoy yourself and almost forget about the other diners.

Food

An afternoon tea tray laden of delicate sweets and savouries was served with our teas. Having previously read other reviews, I was expecting certain options that didn’t turn up. I realised that the hotel varies its afternoon tea menu from time to time.

The waiter asked for any special requirements and in my case I am not a fan of mayonnaise, so they were happy to make a few alternative sandwich options for me.

There was a nice selection of ‘sans crust’ finger sandwiches making up two-bite portions: cheese and cucumber, salmon and cheese, beef and gherkin, ham and mustard, egg and cress and (for me) tuna and tomato.
Two other alternative fillings I had were goat’s cheese and caramelized red onion, and carrot and hummus.

The sweets on the tray were homemade plain scones, apple cake, black forest cake and a modern twist of the classic strawberry cheesecake. Clotted cream, raspberry and strawberry jam was available to top up the scones.

Drink

We didn’t spend long looking at the tea and coffee menu, as we already knew what we wanted. However, the options to choose from include a variety of freshly-brewed, loose leaf teas and ground coffee.

I went for my usual citrusy Earl Grey tea meanwhile my partner opted for a classic Breakfast with milk. No complaints at all.

Pricing

Traditional afternoon tea is priced at £19.00 per person, £28.00 per person if you decide to go for the Champagne Afternoon Tea or £30.00 for the Rose Champagne Afternoon Tea.

Overall

The afternoon was perfect: a beautiful place, friendly and attentive staff, great service, superb food and a relaxing atmosphere. I would consider it the perfect way to celebrate a special occasion.

Always wanted to be first for breakfast at an hotel, guess that's a sad ambition but it took 65 years to achieve it 😂 So, staying at the Hyatt Regency here in Birmingham, and not for the first time. Breakfast staff were excellent, thank you. Main area of concern is the plate warmer. Nothing worse than a cold breakfast, food is hot, plate is cold, back to the table and.. well, you know. Combine that with a low ambient temperature and it's such a shame because the food quality is quite good, and there is plenty of choice. Absolutely love the smoothies If the plates had been reasonably warm it would have been an excellent breakfast, but it's a shame that a decent picture is ruined by a rubbish frame.