This morning I’ve decided to take advantage of the glorious weather outside. I’m headed to the Olympia Park. And as it happens, that’s also where the BMW Welt is, which is an enormous complex right next to the company’s inner city production line, HQ, and the BMW museum.

Location

By the time I’m done at the museum, I’m all sweaty and sticky. It’s surprisingly warm, even though they’re expecting it to cool down and rain tomorrow. A quick shower later, I exit the Sofitel Bayerpost at München Hauptbahnhof and make my way to Stachus and then past the glitzy shops on the fringe of Munich’s old town to the Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten. The hotel is located on a thoroughfare, surrounded by all the big fashion brands.

The Staff & Service

We arrive at the Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten at 15h30 sharp. The waiter responsible for the afternoon tea service is busy seating another party, so his colleague invites us to take a seat at the bar and informs us that our water will come to collect us shortly to take us into the Nymphenburg room where the afternoon tea is served.

Afternoon Tea in the Nymphenburg Room

The Nymphenburg room sits off to the side of the main lobby. It’s an elegantly designed room with space for just ten tables.

When we reach our table, there’s already a small welcome drink waiting for us – it’s a non-alcoholic cocktail made on the basis of Earl Grey tea, cucumber juice, cumin powder, and a few other spices.

For the savouries we start with a trio of rabbit terrine, salmon tartar, and quail egg in Iberico ham.

This is followed by ravioli filled with goat cheese and served with buttered spinach.

The scones are served on a two-tier étagère with the scones on top and condiments below. There are two plain scones and two with raisins. For the condiments there’s clotted cream, lemon curd, blueberry jam, and a mango and orange marmalade.

The sweets are nicely presented on a rectangular piece of glass that sits atop a wooden box filled with moss and pebbles. Starting in the bottom left corner and moving clockwise, we have the flowerpot made entirely out of chocolate and filled with mango cream and peanut crumble. This is a lovely piece, with the sharp fruitiness of the mango contrasting nicely with the salty peanuts.

Behind the flowerpot is what must be the most extraordinary piece of carrot cake I’ve ever had. It’s fluffy and light and has a subtle hint of nutmeg.

Next there’s a small tartlet of apple with yuzu and vanilla cream, and in the bottom right corner a choux filled with raspberry cream and fresh raspberries.

Conclusion

The afternoon tea at The Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten is a great experience and a nice way to spend an afternoon in Munich. The service is nicely paced and attentive. Throughout the meal our waiter makes sure to keep the tea replenished. And the Nymphenburg room itself is lovely. I have just two points of criticism. The first is the tea, which is by a brand called Ronnefeldt. Their teas are really not good. They have some rather odd combinations that tend to be a bit bland or just plain weird, which is why I stuck with a Darjeeling this time. The second point concerns the savouries. While I understand that the chef may want to put his or her signature on an afternoon tea, I don’t feel fully comfortable when they stray so far off the well-trodden path of classic finger sandwiches, especially not when they replace them with things like rabbit terrine. But perhaps I’m just too much of a traditionalist.

Once we’re done, we head across the street and into Munich’s old town for a digestive walk.