From Mary Poppins delights to sweet American treats, London's best new afternoon teas

John O'Ceallaigh

Updated 3 May 2019 at 9:07 am

A Midsummer Night's Dream afternoon tea at The Swan

The world’s afternoon tea capital, London is home to offerings that vary from conventional to delightfully madcap. With so much variety, choosing the perfect afternoon tea can be complicated - which is why our regularly updated guide to London’s best, limited to just 10 options, has been a much-trusted guide for Londoners and visitors alike for years. However, with so many new menus launching in the city every month, there are plenty of additional options for those on the lookout for something different. Read on for our writers’ reviews of some of the more intriguing teas to launch in London recently.

Afternoon tea at Petersham Nurseries in Covent Garden

The Petersham Covent Garden’s Afternoon Tea

Perhaps you’ve already popped in to The Petersham in Covent Garden to pick up pastries from the deli or to lust over homewares in the shop. Now it’s afternoon tea – served in the tree-lined (and highly Instagrammable) Floral Court – that’s set to lure us all in.

The Petersham offers an Italian take on the English classic (in homage to its owners, the Boglione family). Dainty savoury treats include focaccia with mozzarella, broad beans and chilli and toasted sourdough with Taleggio, a soft cheese from Lombardy; there was nary an egg mayonnaise sandwich in sight.

The Italian connection extends to the sweet selection where standouts are a moreish Amalfi lemon and vanilla choux bun and a rhubarb mascarpone cheesecake, presented on a magnificent hand-blown Florentine cake stand that is decorated with a posy of flowers (which you can buy to take home).

Fluffy scones, accompanied with clotted cream and Petersham preserves, and rivers of refreshing teas – there’s a list as long as an encyclopedia – are served on the side. If that sounds a tad tame, add a glass of prosecco or a rose petal/ blood orange bellini for an extra £10. Warm bombolini (Italian doughnuts) complete the line-up should you, somehow, still have room.

As you’d expect of The Petersham, service is flawless – and friendly – making this a welcome addition to London’s afternoon tea scene

Review by Kaye Holland

Top treat: If I had to choose just one, it would be the hazelnut chocolate delice – so sensational that even the calorie conscious won’t be able to resist hoovering it up.
Address: Petersham Nurseries, Floral Court, Covent Garden, WC2E 8JD
Days and times: Thursday to Sunday, from 3pm to 4:30pm.
Cost: £45 per person or £55 per person including a glass of prosecco or a Petersham bellini.

Beck at Brown’s AperiTeaVo

Typically guests taking tea at Brown’s Hotel visit its low-lit wood-panelled restaurant for its traditional offering or relatively healthy Tea-tox menu. But now a new AperiTEAvo, an indulgent ‘tea-pairing experience’ is also being served at Beck at Brown’s in collaboration with tea company Lalani & Co. Instead of the typical sandwiches and scones, visitors will try single-batch teas - teas made with a single crop in a specific season; like wines, batches can vary in quality year by year - alongside cocktails infused with the same tea and complementary small plates.

A glass of nitro matcha green tea was a refreshing start. Perhaps more palatable to first-time matcha drinkers was the accompanying cocktail – the green tea was mixed with Drouin Calvados, an apple and pear brandy, and dry vermouth. These were served with either a pretty dish of rock-oyster with matcha jelly and beetroot cream (presented on a bed of ice) or, for veggies, asparagus tart.

Next was a Himalayan Imperial Black Autumn 2017 tea, a potent Imperial Side Car (Cognac Frapin was infused with the tea, and mixed with bitter, Cointreau and lemon juice) and tacos topped with mozzarella and super-fresh tomato. The best of the three teas, a Kyoto Oolong 2017, rounded off the evening and was served with an Old Fashioned and moreish morel-mushroom tacos.

AperiTEAvo is perfect for tea aficionados who’d like to refine their palate and learn more about single-batch brews. The food, while minimal, was delicious – although the sweet-toothed might crave an after-tea dessert.

Review by Emma Featherstone

Top treat: The Old Fashioned. Whisky was replaced by 1270 Cognac Frapin infused with Kyoto Oolong 2017 – the result was rich and smooth, an improvement on the classic.
Address: Albemarle Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 4BP, England
Days and times: Monday to Friday 3pm to 6pm
Cost: £45 per person for the alcoholic option, £30 for the non-alcoholic option
Read the full hotel review: Brown's Hotel: review

A Journey through St James's afternoon tea, at The Stafford

The Stafford’s A Journey Through St James’s Afternoon Tea

In the centre of the city but tucked out of the way and easy to miss, The Stafford hotel’s new afternoon tea concept heralds the many discreet and prestigious premises surrounding it in St James’s. But first guests need to conform with tradition.

Starting things off are a selection of generously filled sandwiches, including a rich truffled-egg and watercress brioche bun, and a wedge of sausage roll (or cheese-stuffed arancini for vegetarians), followed by plain and raisin scones with whipped clotted cream and strawberry jam, and bonus cheese scones with soft cheese and chives.

It’s through the sweet selection that the kitchen team’s creativity - and this latest concept - shines, however. Nearby institution Lock & Co is the world’s oldest hat shop, so here a white-chocolate and lime jelly top hat pays tribute. Beside it, a dinner jacket-shaped biscuit is an almond shortbread nod to Henry Poole & Co tailors.

Shoemakers Foster & Son get a white-chocolate shoe horn and polish tin filled with fruit trifle and creme Chantilly - lovely to look at but fairly flavourless and indistinct as far as taste was concerned, unfortunately. A fat chocolate and hazelnut cigar didn’t quite hit the right note either, but no doubt the team at James J. Fox will appreciate this expression of affection. Overall, I found it an endearing homage to the many distinct retailers who quietly pursue top quality in quiet, out-of-the-way pockets of our city.

Review by John O’Ceallaigh

Top treat: when scones are done right they’re hard to beat. The Stafford’s were excellent - and we were delighted to try fluffy, crumbly Westcombe Cheddar scones alongside the plain and raisin staples.
Address: The Stafford London, 16-18 St James’s Place, London SW1A 1NJ
Days and times: daily, from midday to 7pm
Cost: £45 per person, or £58 with a glass of champagne.
Read the full hotel review: The Stafford: review

The Swan’s Midsummer Night's Dream Afternoon Tea

The Swan bar and restaurant is located beside the renowned Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and its latest afternoon tea draws inspiration from one of the writer’s most beloved plays: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Those links aren’t obvious in the savoury course: a mini mushroom and leek quiche and three flavoursome sandwiches (creamy egg mayonnaise and cress; salmon and citrus cream; a succulent poached chicken and mustard), all served warm (although the bread was too dry).

The menu’s literary links are more pronounced when it comes to scones and sweets: mulberry scones provide a reference to the mulberry tree where two ill-fated lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe, meet. Later a tart rhubarb and custard chouquette came with a white chocolate emblem of the play’s comic character, called Bottom.

To drink, the Love Potion cocktail is a concoction of Bombay Sapphire gin, honey and prosecco, which turns purple when blackberry puree is added like a love potion, mimicking a scene from the play where a flower struck by Cupid’s bow turns purple. If you’re lucky enough to get a window seat, it’s best enjoyed while looking out towards the exceptional views of the river and St Paul’s.

Review by Grace Howarth

Top treat: The rich violet macarons link to the nodding violets in Oberon's speech when describing a bank in the forest and is a tasty treat.
Address: 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, London, SE1 9DT
Days and times: Monday to Sunday from 12pm to 3pm
Cost: £28.50 per person, or £35 with a cocktail

Belmond Cadogan Hotel’s Afternoon Tea

Taking tea at the Belmond Cadogan Hotel feels like an experience of how the superrich lives: liveried waiters in white gloves; fellow diners wearing Hermès scarves or serious bling; and lots (and lots) of shaved truffle. But in many ways, the food itself is delightfully simple and humble, thanks to treats made using chef Adam Handling’s family recipe and delicate, pillowy scones that hit the spot.

Instead of a three-tiered cake stand, the food is presented on a three-pronged platter in the shape of a branch, in reference to a massive tree in the nearby Cadogan Place Gardens. The full-bodied Earl Grey or the fruity Oriental Sencha (great with sweets) are highly recommended tea choices.

The whole experience is described as a ‘journey’, with a truffle egg custard serving as the prelude, and a refreshing mango yoghurt and sorbet the ‘palate cleanser’ between sweet and savoury courses. Savouries are an excellent assortment of sausage rolls, cod croquettes and cheese and truffle choux. You’ll immediately request seconds. The only disappointment are the underseasoned sandwiches (I was sad to see the coronation chicken sarnie – possibly my favourite – substituted by a bland duck egg and curry mayonnaise version).

Desserts are a mix of traditional Handling family favourites – the lemon drizzle and Battenberg cakes are stellar, dense but not too sugary – and molecular gastronomy creations, in the form of a passionfruit curd tart (with notes of coconut and honey) and a cremeux shaped like an apple. Afternoon tea usually leaves me too full and lethargic, but I walked away from this one feeling sated and buoyant, as though I’ve had just the right amount of food – and the perfect dose of pomp and circumstance to go with it.

Review by Venus Wong

Top treat: The salt cod croquettes, with a perfectly fried batter encasing savoury, meaty bites of fish, are incredible little explosions of flavour – reminiscent of pastéis de bacalhau, a traditional Portuguese snack
Address: 75 Sloane Street, Chelsea, London SW1X 9SG, England
Days and times: Daily, 1.30-5.30pm
Cost: £70 per person, with champagne at an additional cost (£14-£45 per glass)
Read the full hotel review: Belmond Cadogan Hotel: review

You can toast the legacy of Christian Dior during afternoon tea at The Franklin

The Franklin & La Fête’s Culinary Fashion Experience

Inspired by the Dior Designer of Dreams exhibition at the V&A, the current afternoon tea on offer at nearby hotel The Franklin not only provides an opportunity to enjoy a culinary experience inspired by the seminal fashion brand’s enduring legacy, but a sneaky chance for fans of the brand to secure tickets to the sold-out show.

First: the tea. Pretty as can be - its pretty palatte of pale pinks and the spread of petals left on the tabletop contribute heavily to its Instagrammability, always handy when it comes to free marketing - the service was designed by luxury events planners La Fête and references key moments in Dior’s storied life.

While our first waiter couldn’t explain what those links actually were, our menus did. A moreish eclair, filled with gooey cheese and heady truffle, was inspired by Dior’s self-penned cookbook (who knew?); a pink macaron was a nod to his pastel-coloured childhood home in Normandy.

Fittingly, the tea is a classy affair - save a soggy, bland mushroom fan it was hard to fault the delicacies on offer. From a sophisticated take on a cheese-and-ham toastie to a peanut sponge and chocolate cream that was enhanced with a spritz of Calvados from a dainty perfume bottle, I was impressed by the creativity and considered presentation. But traditionalists will be affronted: scones with dollops of cream and jam are a complete no-show.

I missed them, and I initially missed having tea with my afternoon tea. After downing my introductory cocktails I was left for ages without a cup. Friendly though the staff were, our attendees were just a bit too absent.

Still hopefully that will improve with time - I visited shortly after it launched - and die-hard Dior fans who missed out on exhibition tickets the first time round will be especially pleased with the offering. The hotel has a stockpile of tickets in reserve, which guests can purchase with their teas for an additional £15.

Review by John O'Ceallaigh

Top treat: I ordered the signature cocktail for research purposes rather than with any great expectations. The mix of vodka, triple sec, creme de violette, lemon juice, blackberries and more sounded overpowering, but was delicately balanced and surprisingly tasty.
Address: 24 Egerton Gardens, SW3 2DB
Days and times: Monday to Sunday, from 2.30pm to 5.30pm
Cost: from £40 without exhibition tickets
Read the full hotel review: The Franklin: hotel review

Fortnum & Mason’s Royal Exchange afternoon tea

Fortnum & Mason’s flagship Piccadilly address serves one of London’s best afternoon teas - unsurprisingly, however, securing a reservation can be problematic. Alleviating the pressure, an approximation of the original experience now awaits at the Royal Exchange in London’s financial district, where a new F&M-operated bar and restaurant has opened in the building’s covered courtyard.

The setting makes an immediate impact and is an impressive place in which to take tea - there is so much rich architectural detail to admire here that I was quite happy my companion turned up 20 minutes late. As for the tea service, it incorporates many of the same sandwiches and treats served at the original outpost.

Fans of classic takes on this traditional meal will find all the staples here - (Burford Brown) egg mayonnaise and coronation chicken sandwiches; scones with jam, cream and nicely gooey lemon curd all feature. Three dainty sweet options come after.

Those familiar with the original F&M tea will find it doesn’t quite reach the same standards overall, however (although, to be fair, starting prices here are £17.50 cheaper). That’s partially due to the demands of such a momentous setting: with the City deserted on the Saturday I visited, the grand hall was empty and devoid of atmosphere. Notably, too, our waitress wasn’t fully familiar with the concise menu and the tables are a touch too small for couples to enjoy the tea comfortably. There are discussions in place about a change to the furniture and live musical performances during peak times; if implemented, those alterations should elevate the experience considerably.