Review: Panky Doos

The date had finally arrived – Sunday 17th December 2017. We had heard so many great reports about afternoon tea in this venue it was at the top of our 'to visit' list. Rang up in August to book a date in September but was told that due to high demand, the first date available was 17th December! At last, with just over 4 months of eager anticipation, we were here, adorned in our Christmas Jumpers.

Based in Eglinton Street in Portrush and literally a 3 min walk from the train station, this is somewhere that if you have never been before you need to go and experience. Quirky, unique, delightful, pink, shabby/chic, vintage are just some of the words that immediately jump into your head when you walk through the doors.

The owner William McKittrick greeted us with a warm welcome and after settling in we started off our 2 hour extravaganza of fabulously indulgent food with a warming mug of non alcoholic mulled punch served with a little homemade iced gingerbread star and a chocolate heart.

What came next was mind blowing and came with an admission from William that so far nobody had ever finished what was set down in front of them. Was William setting us a challenge? Did we look like 4 lasses who weren't shy of a feed or two? Bring it on!

The table was beautifully set with an assortment of patterned china cups, saucers and side plates with festive napkins and crackers. First course was a little homemade sausage and cranberry roll. Then a 3 tiered cake stand came out filled to the brim with sandwiches and homemade scones. Where do we start? Scones perhaps at the top then work our way down? We had an allocation of 2 scones each – one raspberry and white chocolate, the other cranberry and orange served with portions of 'real' butter, jam and clotted cream. Deliciously fresh and moreish.

We then had a choice of 5 fabulous sandwiches, cut into cute triangles (with crusts removed) made with a mixture of fresh white and brown bread and spilling out at the seams. Fillings included prawn salad, pigs in blankets, ham salad, roast beef & mustard, and turkey, ham & stuffing. For review purposes, I assured myself that it was ok to sample one of each of the 5 so that I could carry out my duties thoroughly! 5 down and still going strong, I decided it was time to stop and leave some room for the sweet stuff.

At this stage, all of us could've called it a day and went home feeling more than satisfied, but we had waited 4 months for this – we weren't going to admit defeat now. Our eyes nearly popped out of our heads and we all gasped in amazement at the sight of what was set before us next. Another 3 tiered cake stand full of sensational, luxury desserts and as if that wasn't enough a WHOLE Black Forest Gateau! Folks, you really need to experience this at first hand to believe it.

This time we started on the bottom tier with an individual light fruity trifle each, beside it was a teeny bite size bannoffee – bottom tier demolished! As we were feeling extremely full and slightly under pressure at this stage, we decided to skip the middle tier (coconut and lime cupcakes) as at the start William had said whatever we didn't finish we could take home with us. The top tier reminded me of 4 glimmering 'meringue' Christmas trees, each with a biscuit base, fresh cream, strawberry and gold shimmer dusted over the whipped meringue.

Then for the 'piece de resistance', the Black Forest Gateau. Will we, won't we? Yes we did! All eyes were fixated on me as I sliced into it, making sure that everybody got an equal quarter of this delightful retro classic of light chocolate sponge, filled with a rich cherry filling and copious amounts of cream. This literally was the 'Icing on the Cake' for all of us! Wow Wow Wow!

Feeling full to bursting and each with a little goody bag of leftovers in our possession we were all happy chappies as we made our train journey home and looked forward to being couch potatoes in our PJs for the rest of the evening.

Some tips if you are planning a visit:
• Book well in advance;
• Go hungry;
• Wear stretchy clothes!

Panky Doos is also available for walk in breakfasts and lunches.

Panky Doos can be found at 29 Eglinton Street, Portrush. Find out more and keep up to date @Panky-Doos on Facebook.