My favourite London afternoon tea locations
The best afternoon tea date.
As most of you lovely readers know, the time has nearly come for me to leave this amazing city, so I thought I’d take a moment here to share what have been my absolute favourite afternoon tea places.
High End:
Pret-a-Portea at the Berkeley Hotel. I have never blogged about this as I visited with my sister years ago, at least a year before I started this blog but I’ll be honest – it actually set the bar for afternoon tea. The quality was amazing, the sheer creativity put into it just as good and the service top-notch. My only bug bear is that it’s so popular that it’s almost impossible to get a booking if you don’t book exactly three months ahead (hence I’ve never got back there to blog about it). Years on from visiting I’m still hearing great things about the Berkeley from others so I’m certain it would be worth another visit, maybe I’ll take BLC one day.
The fabulous Pret-a-Portea
Claridges I only wrote about Claridges last week so I won’t harp on here too much but if you only ever have one afternoon tea in your life then make it Claridges. Their standards for everything are unbeaten as far as I’m concerned.
Royal Opera House Oh my gosh, I loved afternoon tea at the Royal Opera House so much that I don’t hesitate to recommend it to friends over and over again. The setting is truly gorgeous. I LOVE the design of the decor and menus but the food, oh the food, just exquisite. The Royal Opera House afternoon tea really ticked all the boxes for both friend R and I.
Tea cocktails and champagne at the Royal Opera House
The Goring Hotel You want traditional afternoon tea? Then this wonderful establishment will treat you like Royalty while they serve you the most quintessentially English afternoon tea you will find. Think comfortable furniture and somewhere your mum would love. My review can be found here.
Afternoon tea perfection at the Goring
Quirky:
The Biscuiteers Again, I only blogged about the Biscuiteers super recently so won’t harp on again here but this place is just so cute! A great little break from the crowds of Portabello Market just one street over.
The adorable Biscuiteers in Notting Hill
Mari Vanna Another afternoon tea I don’t hesitate to recommend. Everyone I’ve sent there has raved about this wonderful little Russian dose of quirky fabulousness. I highly recommend Mari Vanna’s cherry jam by the way…
Mari Vanna afternoon tea
Good value:
Bills - Bills has been a regular standby for me. They’re reliable, a great excuse to spend a few hours catching up with a friend and in a way that won’t break the bank. Ed says similar things about Paul Bakery so it’ll be interesting to see if others follow suit with good value afternoon teas like this.
Afternoon tea at Bills – only a tenner!
There are so many hotels and restaurants now serving afternoon tea that there’s no way I could have covered them all. I’ve come to find that afternoon tea can actually be quite subjective. For example – you tend to either love or hate the Ritz and the same applies to Bea’s of Bloomsbury. But these are the ones that really shone for me. I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the world (I’m looking at you LA and Wellington!) has to offer.
