Afternoon Tea in London
I’ve been lucky enough to mark milestone birthdays – and my best friend moving to Australia- with afternoon at some of the most sought-after and swanky locations in London, including The Shard, The Savoy and The Landmark.
Afternoon Tea at The Shard
For style, detail and theatrics nothing beats The Shard
I was blown away with the astonishing and imaginative detail of my Peter-Pan themed afternoon tea, which truly brought the classic story to life in front of my eyes. I felt like I was transported to Neverland. The menu is presented on a map and the food is delivered on a pirate ship with dry ice making it a theatrical masterpiece as you feel like the boat is sailing on the sea in front of you.
There are sandwiches, scones, sweet treats (including tarts, mousses and biscuits) and a savoury selection including a posh sausage roll and a smoked salmon tart. Everything is named to fit in with the Peter Pan theme so the barbecue sandwiches are called ‘Lost Boys Campfire’, the smoked salmon tart is ‘Neverland Lagoon’, one of the sweet treats – decorated with gold fairy dust- is aptly named Tinker Bell.
The best thing is – the food tasted just as good as it looked. The scones, presented in a treasure chest!) were the biggest I have seen and so soft and flavoursome. There were copious amounts of coconut clotted cream and jam. I loved the ‘baked pig’ sausage roll and the tarts and the mouses. Even the sandwiches were perfect.
I loved all the details particularly the ‘lost boys rules’ – no talking to pirates, believe in fairies, never grow up and think happy thoughts.
And of course you get unbeatable floor to ceiling views of London thrown in for free! Well this fabulous afternoon tea has left me with nothing but happy thoughts – and I’m desperate to go again!
Starts from £68 per person
When my friend suggested afternoon tea at The Savoy I jumped at the chance. I felt like a film star as I was escorted to my table in the infamous surroundings. The savoy’s afternoon combines the classic flavours used by their chefs 130 years ago with a modern twist.
There were four afternoon tea menus on offer: traditional, high tea (includes an additional hot savoury course such as risotto), vegetarian or plant-based – I went for the standard traditional afternoon tea.
The savoury element of the traditional menu consisted of smoked salmon, coronation chicken, honey roast ham and smoked cheddar sandwiches, brioche with burford brown egg and truffle mayonnaise and parsnip and carrot cake. I have a sweet tooth so I was delighted with a selection of signature scones, apple pie, chai cake, raspberry and fig cake and a chocolate and buckwheat petit gateau. My favourites were the parsnip and carrot cake and the brioche. The apple pie tart stood out with a beautiful lime green topping and bits of gold leaf on a biscuity base.
But what really stood out for me is the vast selecton of teas offered by The Savoy – more than 30 types in fact! There is green tea, flowering tea, herbal tea, oolong tea, white tea, black tea…you name it! I tried three of the teas – Chai Tea, Earl Grey and English Breakfast. We had unlimited sandwiches and as many cups of tea as we wanted as we had two very attentive waitresses who didn’t miss a beat and kept us topped up. I opted for extra brioche as it was so good!
There is something very special about dining at such an iconic venue and I couldn’t fault the food or service. That said, it didn’t have the wow factor of the Peter Pan afternoon tea at the Shard, for me. There as an also a specified time slot of 90 minutes – but luckily they didn’t enforce that so my friend and I had lots of time to natter.
Starts from £90 per person
The Landmark Hotel, in Marylebone, has won awards for its afternoon tea – and I’m not surprised. I went here with friends for my milestone birthday and it was the perfect place to celebrate. The winter garden with its eight-story glass- roofed atrium and beautiful tall palm trees is elegant and sophisticated - a truly magnificent setting. I loved the grandeur – and the tranquil ambiance.
The menu boasted a selection of sandwiches (smoked salmon with horseradish cream, egg mayonnaise, poached chicken or cucumber), blueberry and lemon scones and sweet treats including pavlova, a milk chocolate mousse, apricot tartlet and pistachio and raspberry choux.
The sandwiches were flavoursome and moreish – my favourite was the egg mayonnaise – but the best part were the decadent desserts. The pavlova was exceptional, the chocolate mousse melt-in-the-mouth.
The service was brilliant, staff were attentive and friendly, giving great tea recommendations and continuing to offer us more of the delicious finger sandwiches – I only just had room left for the desserts! We were able to try a selection of teas – again I went with chai and English breakfast.
Starts from £75 per person
All three afternoon teas were luxuriant and indulgent and I felt welcomed and at ease at all the venues – though for price and imaginative flair The Shard stands out for me. How wonderful to be so spoilt with choice – I only wish I had another milestone birthday on the horizon! Just writing this is making me hungry!
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By Kate Skelton
