To mark the return of Afternoon Tea Week, 11-17 August, here's a collection of the top spots in the capital to enjoy this treasured British tradition. Whether you're looking for tea with a view, a tipple, or inside a fancy hotel, these are the teas to treat yourself to.
For a seriously swanky afternoon tea in a suitably grand setting, you'll be hard pressed to find better than The Promenade at The Dorchester. The dining room underwent an extensive refurbishment last year and the results are spectacular: expect plush velvet sofas, gold accents and lush green plants springing from every corner.
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Award-winning pastry chef Michael Kwan has crafted an elegant afternoon tea, injecting classic light bites with his signature flair. Highlights from the menu include cucumber, lemon verbena cream and poppy seed finger sandwiches; mini tomato, basil and burrata tarts; and a show-stopping strawberry roulade with cream cheese Chantilly and strawberry compote. There's also an entirely vegan menu available, and an excellent selection of champagnes and English sparkling wines.
2. London by Lily Vanilli at Four Seasons Tower Bridge
(Image credit: Xenia PR)
10 Trinity Square, London EC3N 4AJ
If you're looking for a trendier take on the traditional afternoon tea, this special menu curated by Lily Vanilli bakery is the perfect choice. Hosted in the elegant Rotunda Bar & Cafe inside the Four Seasons London near Tower Bridge, the ambience allows for a luxurious yet playful experience. The offer runs from 2pm to 7pm Thursday to Sunday when, just as the clock strikes four, out come the giant cake decorations and the live musicians.
The famed east London bakery does a fabulous job of maintaining its fun, colourful character while honouring the classic components. The savoury section of the menu shines even though most people are there for the desserts. The most memorable dishes were the three-cheese scone with pickled cucumber and dill as well as the confit potatoes with smoked salmon and caviar. As for the desserts, they did not disappoint, with the Basque cheesecake and tiramisu tarts standing out.
If you opt for a cocktail pairing, you get to try five mini cocktails, which do a good job of amplifying the decadence and richness of the dishes. The Lily Royal, a white chocolate and raspberry champagne cocktail, will alone make your visit worth it.
The Japanese-inspired experience at The Prince Akatoki hotel in Marylebone is perhaps the most memorable on our list. Guests are transported to Japan with live music from Keiko Kitamura and a menu filled with tasty bite-sized morsels from brioche of seared tuna, and chicken katsu sando to matcha and pistachio cake. Of course, an afternoon tea wouldn't be complete without scones; the offering at The Prince Akatoki includes fluffy cranberry scones heaped with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam.
As you would expect, there is also an extensive array of teas available including top-grade organic matcha and heavily roasted hojicha. Or, opt for the sake pairing for a glass of sparkling Akashi-tai Junmai Ginjo Sparkling Sake on arrival.
The Lanesborough has teamed up with Netflix to make an afternoon tea inspired by the third season of "Bridgerton". Head pastry chef, Pierre Morvan Benezet, has crafted an impressive menu filled with sweet treats including The Social Butterfly, a pistachio and mandarin sharing cake inspired by Miss Penelope Featherington, and Colin's Travels, a dark chocolate and caramel sponge encased in a travel trunk.
The afternoon tea also comes with a Friends to Lovers cocktail: a refreshing take on a margarita made with 1800 Coconut tequila, cherries, a splash of cranberry juice and fresh lime, or you can opt for "tea with a twist" instead. Flavours include chocolate brownie black tea or Chinese green tea with a hint of rhubarb and vanilla.
Oblix East must win the award for serving the highest-altitude afternoon tea in the country – and perhaps with the best views as well. Situated on the 32nd floor of The Shard, you will sip cocktails and eat finger sandwiches while gazing for miles over London and beyond.
This is a modern twist on a traditional English classic. The humble egg mayo sandwich has been elevated into a truffle-infused, buttery brioche creation, and the prawn roll with avocado and celery is absolutely stuffed with delicious seafood. Diners are encouraged to ask for seconds but, of course, there is more to come.
You are given two types of scone, the classic and a cranberry version, both arriving warm under a towel. They are, of course, paired with raspberry preserve and clotted cream. Oblix's sweet course is the perfect full stop to the meal. Its own super-sized version of a Ferrero Rocher is stuffed with chocolate and nut flavours, which are perfectly contrasted with the sharp coconut, mango and passion fruit sponge. The jasmine, yuzu and pear choux is like summer on a plate.
There are varying types of drinks to choose from, including soft drinks, teas, coffees, wines, cocktails and champagne. The tea menu has a classic black tea that has been exclusively blended for Oblix with leaves from Malawi. But those wishing to indulge in something more alcoholic can enjoy bottomless glasses of deliciously dry Duval Leroy champagne, spicy Bloody Marys or bitter Aperol spritzes.
This boutique hotel is in Bloomsbury, London's spiritual home of literature and academia, an area that's seen plenty of intellectual conversations over the years. Presumably many of them have taken place over a cup of tea, but whatever your subject matter, have a gossip with L'oscar's delectable assortment of treats and tipples in the sumptuous surroundings of its baroque home.
Choose between the classic or champagne afternoon tea, both of which proudly showcase London's acclaimed Newby teas. You won't just get a list of the 10 blends they've curated, but a book containing vials of them for you to waft in their complex aromas. Finger sandwiches are luxurious twists on the classics, so a humble egg and cress is a rich and moreish egg mimosa with black truffle. Even so, the cucumber and chive with mascarpone is a reminder that the finest sandwiches are sometimes the simplest.
Crumbly mini scones, both fruited and plain, come with strawberry jam, clotted cream and a crowd-pleasing lemon curd. Those with a sweeter tooth will be in paradise with L'oscar's patisserie, whose colour, gloss and exquisite decoration will leave you reaching for your camera before making a dent with your cake fork. The banana and tonka bean tacos are the sort of treat that will satisfy both your sweetest desires and your Instagram needs.
With the return of Dippy the Dinosaur to the Natural History Museum back in 2022 and a new "Jurassic World"film gearing up for a 2025 release date, London's palaeontology fans have plenty to celebrate. And what better way than with a Jurassic-themed feast? Located just round the corner from Dippy's South Kensington home, The Ampersand Hotel is taking a culinary trip millions of years back in time with a dino-tastic afternoon tea.
Served in the hotel's Apero restaurant, the prehistoric blowout includes a "volcanic eruption" of mango and lime crémeux, with dry-ice rocks adding extra drama. Guests can test their excavation skills by finding chocolate "fossils" hidden under edible "soil", as well as digging into dinosaur egg nests and Jurassic mountain mousse.
Savouries include T-Rex cheese straws and mini hot dogs for the kids, and roast beef brioche for the grown-up carnivores, with vegetarian and gluten-free menus also available. Scone lovers of all ages should get their teeth into the white chocolate and cranberry versions being served with optional toppings of freeze-dried fruit and crunchy chocolate pearls. And to toast Dippy and his ancient pals, cocktails on offer include a gin-based Dino Sour that is liquid dynamite.
At Fortnum & Mason's flagship store on Piccadilly, the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon remains one of the most popular spots for afternoon tea in the capital. The low-ceilinged salon, a vision of Eau de Nil – the blue-green colour strongly associated with the brand – was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012 and certainly has a regal air to it.
More than 500 pots of tea are served every day at Fortnum & Mason and guests can choose from a range of menus: afternoon tea, savoury afternoon tea, high tea, vegetarian afternoon tea or gluten-free afternoon tea. To go with classic items such as finger sandwiches, pâtisserie, and scones, the drinks menu includes Fortnum's champagne, cocktails and sparkling tea.
What could be more quintessentially British than nibbling the nation's favourite biscuits in the birthplace of the afternoon tea? Located just off Regent Street, The Langham became the first hotel to serve afternoon tea to the public, in its elegant Palm Court, in 1865. Now, this fine tradition has a modern twist in the hotel's offering from executive pastry chef Andrew Gravett, who has put his own spin on classic British biscuits and bakes in a collaboration with Michel Roux Jr.
In the expert duo's hands, the menu features an innovative blackcurrant and hibiscus rice pudding, while a mille feuille is enlivened with tangy citrus and coconut. Chocolate lovers are well catered for, too, with the coffee and Jivara milk chocolate roll.
The equally top-notch savouries are more traditional, with finger sandwiches including cucumber, chicken and prawn, each on different breads, as well as two types of scone (plain and raisin). And a tea sommelier is on hand to pick the perfect brews to accompany this feast.
Theatre fans longing for a little drama are in for a treat if they head to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane for the Showstopping afternoon tea. This Regency-inspired affair is served beneath the glittering chandeliers and ornate ceilings of the Grand Saloon, in the only West End theatre where you can take afternoon tea.
The playful menu is divided into acts, introducing , or swaps traditional sandwiches for delights such as The Hero: sausage rolls with piccalilli, plus The Femme Fatale, hot smoked salmon on Melba toast. Traditionalists are catered for with superb scones accompanied by strawberry jam and clotted cream. But the real scene-stealers are the selection of sumptuous macarons, with a grand finale of Eton Mess Victoria sponge, plus a treat from Hill St chocolatiers.
Few places lend themselves to an afternoon of genteel refreshment like the wood-panelled Drawing Room at Brown's Hotel in Mayfair. Reputedly the inspiration for Agatha Christie's 1965 mystery "At Bertram's Hotel", Brown’s has been serving afternoon teas for well over a century – so it's no surprise they've got it down to a fine art.
The finger sandwiches – pickled cucumber, smoked salmon, beef pastrami, egg and cress, and prawn cocktail – are simply unbeatable, especially when paired with a selection from its lengthy tea menu (try the Cornish Tregothnan, the only tea grown in England). The parade of pastries is equally fine, including a medjool date and miso madeleine, and raspberry and rose macaron. An inventive vegan afternoon tea is also on offer, proving that Brown's isn't content to rest on its well-earned laurels.
Once one of London's grand railway hotels – it opened in 1899 as the Hotel Great Central – The Landmark London serves a "high palms high tea" in its Winter Garden, a high glass-roofed atrium at the heart of the hotel, in which tables are interspersed with improbably tall palm trees. A harpist provides serene musical accompaniment.
The sandwiches, sometimes a neglected part of the meal, are excellent – especially the poached chicken with herb mayonnaise, and soft white bread filled with lapsang souchong smoked salmon. Scones come with an adventurous choice of jams, alongside the traditional strawberry. Gooseberry and elderflower is a beguiling blend of the sweet and the sharp. The pastries, too, are a winning combination of the classic (a crisply perfect miniature strawberry tart) and the modern (a sweet, gooey salted caramel macaron). Innovation extends to the tea selection too, where a blend enriched with chunks of caramel sits alongside the bright, fresh infusions of Assam and Darjeeling.
If you're a seasoned afternoon tea pro looking to go beyond the classics, there's not a profiterole or a lemon drizzle in sight at Botanica, part of the 100 Queen's Gate hotel in South Kensington. The hotel underwent a multimillion-pound refurbishment in 2020 but retains much of its 1870s architecture, including the beautiful double-height atrium in which afternoon tea is served. Natural light pours in through the glass ceiling, falling on mirrors and pristine white shutters along the walls.
Highlights from the botanical-rich menu include a crisp and crumbly strawberry tartlet and a cannolo filled with ricotta, orange zest and chocolate. The tea is curated by Newby and features reliable choices such as English Breakfast as well as more exotic options such as masala chai and Botanica's Blend, an aromatic infusion of rosebuds.
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