Afternoon Tea At Fairways At Chevin Golf Club, Duffield
Published On Sunday 29 Sep 2024 by Sticky Beak
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Well, Mummy Bird’s mind and body have made another turn around the sun, and to celebrate that fact we booked an Afternoon Tea at Fairways Restaurant at Chevin Golf Club in Duffield. The wheelchair was left behind in favour of the stroller - testament to Physio Asif’s exercises beginning to improve Mummy’s strength – so Mummy only needed our help with the two [very small] sets of steps.
Our table inside the conservatory had been decorated beautifully; a banner was hung in the window and colourful confetti strewn over the white cloth. When we’d all sat down, the lovely young man got us sorted with a cafetiere of coffee for His Nibs and Fledge, and a pot of tea for Mummy Bird and I.
Shortly afterwards, the first stand of our feast was brought out, along with plates of freshly made finger sandwiches. Already, our eyes were popping out on stalks at the sheer amount of food in front of us…and then came the other Traditional Afternoon Tea stand…followed by the pair of Savoury stands!! The Man Bird, Mummy and I have already sampled this version of Afternoon Tea (Fledge hasn’t), so we knew it was going to be delicious, but we’d all forgotten just how generous Chef Tom and his team are with their offering. Gluttonous though we are, we knew that the probability of bringing a doggy-bag home was pretty high!
When faced with such a multitude of morsels it’s hard to know where to begin, so we started at the logical point: finger sandwiches. At Fairways, the selection comprises Coronation Chicken, Egg and Cress, Smoked Salmon with Cucumber, Dill and Lemon Cream Cheese, and Feta, Rocket, Pesto and Sundried Tomato. Each filling was housed in fresh, springy bread (both white and wholemeal) and everything was wonderfully tasty. We commented that Tom couldn’t possibly have got any more filling in; there was an obscene amount in each finger. His Nibs and I both said that our favourite was the Coronation Chicken; this really was something rather special. There was a nice mix of textures, too: the Chicken and Egg varieties were comfortingly soft, whereas the Salmon and Feta ones had a crunchy element to savour.
The savoury ‘add-on’ is made up of Ploughman’s Pork Pie, Caramelised Onion Sausage Rolls, Scotch Egg, King prawn Vol-au-Vent, Goats’ Cheese individual Tartlets, Cheddar and Parmesan Scones with Sundried Tomato- and Pesto- Butters, Caramelised Onion Chutney, Pickle and Root Vegetable Crisps. Of particular note was the pastry – absolutely out-of-this-world: buttery, flaky and not at all soggy. The Vol-au-Vents were fashioned into teaspoons that were topped with herbed Crème Fraiche and a plump, juicy King Prawn, making them visually alluring.
Fledge and The Man wasted no time at all in scoffing the Scotch Egg halves on their stand, as this is one of their favourite treats. Myself and Mummy Bird honed in on Tom’s homemade Cheddar and Parmesan Scones, and I have to say that these were some of the nicest savoury Scones we’ve had. Texturally, they were at that perfect point where density is enough to provide a nice chew time without being doughy or clarty – hats off the Fairways kitchen team. If there was some mixed salad, you really could have this savoury stand as a main course all by itself, it’s that good.
Going back to the Traditional Afternoon Tea offering, we began to make our ways through the plethora of sweet delights – not an easy task when there was so many! I cut into the ‘Fairways’ logo’d, mini Belgian Chocolate Cheesecake, somewhat reluctantly as I didn’t want to sully its beauty; though not so reluctantly, thanks to my gluttony. Rewarded with that sumptuously rich Belgian Chocolate taste and its smooth silkiness, I smiled in contentment. The miniature Raspberry Cheesecake was the exact opposite of its small counterpart: zingy and tart, the fruits’ taste bounced all over our taste buds like Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (who was actually a Wallaby, did you know?!).
Mummy Bird adores Macarons; not only for their colour, but also for that combination of lightly crunchy outer shell and super-chewy inner. At Fairways we’d been treated to Chocolate, Coffee, Raspberry and pistachio versions, and each one was distinctly different rather than them being fairly similar. We all cooed over the exquisite Strawberry Mousse that Chef had actually done in the shape of a Strawberry, complete with Poppy Seed ‘seeds’, and the mesmerising Chocolate Mousse that was in a pretty rectangle. Slices of Lemon Drizzle- and Carrot- Cake were included on the stand but, as an extra treat for the Birthday Girl, the ladies of the kitchen team had written ‘Happy Birthday’ on a slate serving board and popped more slices of cake and buttery Shortbread rounds on it, and this was brought out for Mummy – what a lovely thought.
I do love a fruited Scone, and the ones at Fairways were a blooming good size and studded with lots of plump currants and sultanas. As well as the usual Strawberry Jam, there was a Blackcurrant one as well, full of the little dark fruity spheres, accompanied by two large pots of Clotted Cream. I will confess that by this point, none of us could muster up any space in our tummies for anything else, so they got packed up (along with enough other bits to feed an army!) for us to bring home.
It's perhaps as well that foods consumed on special occasions is calorie-free, else we’d all be panicking at the amount we’d just had; though I had prepared for this feast by not having eaten anything since the night before – go, me! We all said that the unlimited Tea and Coffee was to blame for us being light-weights, especially since we’d had full refills of the cafetiere and huge teapot.
Yet again, we’d had a wonderful family experience at Fairways Restaurant at Chevin Golf Club in Duffield – huge thanks to Hollie, Tom, Tilly and the rest of the club team. Our total bill for the four of us came to £89.90 as we’d had the Traditional Afternoon Tea Stand and Savoury add-on for all four of us. Price-wise, the Traditional Stand for Two (2 rounds of Sandwiches and Cakes) costs £37.95, the Traditional Stand and Savoury Add-On for Two (2 rounds of Sandwiches, Cakes and Savouries) costs £49.95, and you can also add even more (!) Sandwiches on for £5.95. If you fancy having alcoholic tipples with your Afternoon Tea, there is also a bottomless option that allows you to have unlimited [selected] drinks for 90 minutes; available for an extra £25 per person. A £10 deposit per person required for all of the above.
Sticking my neck out, I’m going to say that this is the joint best Afternoon Tea in the ‘Shire; everything is homemade, and you certainly can’t quibble at the quality or quantity of the food you get. Hot Wings very happily given here for the Afternoon Tea at Fairways. To book a table ring 01332 841864, and to find out about all the other amazing food on offer (breakfasts, lunch, dinners, tasting menus etc. visit www.chevingolf.co.uk – you don’t have to be a member of the Golf Club to dine at Fairways!! Excluding Bank Holidays, when the times may differ, Fairways is open Monday 10.30am-6pm, Tues-Fri 10am-8pm, Saturday 8am-8pm and Sunday 8am-6pm.
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