Restaurants

No frills | Mid range | High end

No-frills afternoon teas
Bea’s of Bloomsbury
One thing’s for sure, Bea and her battalion of staff know how to wield a palette knife – as the impeccably decorated cakes in the window are testament to. Inside, however, it’s the small delights – red velvet cupcakes, ‘Belgian Blondies’ (white chocolate brownies), tarts and cookies, all made in-house – will appeal to anyone with a sweet tooth. As for the tea, there has been some serious thought put into it, with varieties sourced from esteemed supplier Jing Teas. There aren’t many places to perch in this tiny café, but visit off-peak and you’ll be rewarded.
Bea’s of Bloomsbury, 44 Theobald Rd, WC1X 8NW (7242 8330/www.beasofbloomsbury.com). Holborn or Chancery Lane tube. Tea and cakes: around £7 per person.

Bob Bob Ricard
This retro-styled brasserie – all polished brass, buttoned green leather and booth seating – is just the place to hide away for a discreet nibble and chat, not least because it serves tea and cakes all day. The choices for afternoon tea include the expected scones, clotted cream and jams, the usual finger sandwiches, and cakes including a very dense Victoria sandwich – all fine, though not outstanding. Help is on hand for the very thirsty, though. In case of emergencies, every table has a buzzer you press to ‘order champagne’.
Bob Bob Ricard, 1 Upper St James St, W1F 9DF (3145 1000/www.bobbobricard.com). Piccadilly Circus tube. Afternoon tea:
around £10 per person; served 7am-midnight daily. Feature continues

Chaiwalla
To break from tradition, all you need to do is head down to Neil Sanyal’s Indian tea bar and wrap your hands around a warming clay cup of masala chai. A little piece of Calcutta in Hampstead, Chaiwalla’s down-to-earth bonhomie is a welcome antidote to a stressful week in the capital. For a proper Indian afternoon tea experience, plump for the excellent ‘all day chai snacks’; our favourites include the crisp samosas (baked, not deep-fried, and with fillings ranging from potato and peas to paneer or lamb) and ‘Indian’ cucumber sandwiches slathered with garlic spread and sprinkled with freshly ground coriander seeds. Plus, you can keep the clay cups as a memento.
Chaiwalla, 4a-5a Perrins Court, NW3 1QS (7435 2151). Hampstead tube. Tea and snacks: around £8 per person.

Louis Pâtisserie
This Hungarian old-timer inhabits a fond place in our hearts. It could be its faded charm, in the guise of the sepia-toned, wood-panelled, leather-benched tearoom at the back; the lack of gimmicks; or the loyal band of regulars spanning all ages and persuasions that keep the scenery interesting. It could be all of the above, but most of all we commend the Louis Pâtisserie for its consistently fabulous range of creamy confections – marzipan moon, chestnut slice, strawberry cheesecake – that go down so well with pots of tea.
Louis Pâtisserie, 32 Heath St, NW3 6TE (7435 9908). Hampstead tube. Tea and cakes: around £8 per person.

Maison Bertaux
A café in Soho that doesn’t do espresso? It’s tea they serve here, or maybe a café crème if you ask nicely. Maison Bertaux was established in 1871 by French communards, and retains its relaxed yet radical chic to this day. It doesn’t serve afternoon tea as such – that would be too English – but instead has a huge window display of fruit pastries and special occasion cakes. We highly recommend the lemon tarts and wonderfully light choux pastries with fresh cream and berries, but really, everything is worth a try. A rare treasure in the commercial heart of Soho.
Maison Bertaux, 28 Greek St, W1D 5DQ (7437 6007). Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus or Tottenham Court Rd tube. Tea and cakes: around £10 per person.

Mudchute Kitchen

Mudchute Kitchen
It’s impossible not to be charmed by the cheerful rusticity of the Mudchute Kitchen. Utilitarian laminated tablecloths in bright colours and piles of toys are a nod to the younger clientele, but the food has a broad appeal no matter what your age. The cream teas are sensational and are served with perfect scones every time which, like the tempting piles of cakes that line the countertop, are own-made. Tots will be satisfied with jammy scones or fairy cakes, while more mature diners might plump for the light lemon and poppy seed sponge, or a coffee and cardamom cake with thick frosting and a shower of sparkling pomegranate seeds. Tea, in pots, is good and strong, and for a twist, their own-brewed chai latte is properly rich and aromatic
with spices.
Mudchute Kitchen, Mudchute Park & Farm, Pier St, Isle of Dogs, E14 3HP (7515 5901/www.mudchutekitchen.org). Mudchute DLR. Tea and cakes: around £7 per person.

Orange Pekoe
Marianna Hadjigeorgiou’s Barnes tearoom is known far and wide for its cosy, villagey charm and homespun appeal – and, naturally, the excellent teas, cakes and savouries. It is, therefore, small wonder that Orange Pekoe won the Time Out Eating & Drinking Award for Best Tearoom in 2008. Conscientiously, customers’ needs are well catered for – Orange Pekoe does at least one gluten-free cake and wheat-free sandwiches. Highlights are a zingy cucumber and mint sandwich, a Battenberg-esque raspberry sponge and passionfruit cake, all of which are made in-house. A unique feature of the afternoon tea here is that customers can enjoy all the teas for the same price; all the better to try the rarer and more expensive teas. An ideal place to spend a quiet afternoon.
Orange Pekoe, 3 White Hart Lane, SW13 0PX (8876 6070/www.orangepekoeteas.com). Barnes Bridge rail or 209 bus. Afternoon tea: £16.95 per person; served 2-5pm daily.

The Orangery
This elegant and commanding room is favoured by locals as well as tourists – it has all the sleekness and polish of great hotel teas (check out the magnificent Corinthian pillars), but the buzz and atmosphere seem more conducive to casual afternoon eating and gossip-led chinwagging. And you can be as low-key or as extravagant as you like when it comes to tea – we’ve enjoyed the simple Orangery tea (£12.50; highly recommended) of cream cheese and cucumber sandwich, scone and the signature Orangery cake (full of refreshing zest and tart frosting) in the past. There’s also the Debutantes’ version (£13.65), a tea set resplendent with nostalgia-inducing vol-au-vents, cheese on cocktail sticks and warm, flakey sausage rolls. Or for a splurge, there’s the pinkies-up Champagne tea (£17.95) where you can dot fresh berries on your scones instead of bog-standard jam.
The Orangery, Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX (7376 0239/www.hrp.org.uk/kensingtonpalace). High St Kensingon tube. Afternoon tea: from £12.50 per person; served 3-6pm daily.

The Tea Rooms
Pastry chef Isabelle Allfrey has carved out a small corner of Stoke Newington to showcase her British tea-time treats alongside a modest collection of retro tea china and glassware. Cakes and dainties are available all week, but the traditional afternoon tea is reserved for weekends only. We were overwhelmed by a cake stand laden with cakes and pastries (including, but not limited to, carrot cake, bakewell tart, Victoria sponge and Dundee cake), freshly-baked scones with seedy own-made jam and proper finger sandwiches. The tea selection is small but of high quality, with Sri Lankan Labookellie estate tea among the more interesting varieties.
The Tea Rooms, 155 Stoke Newington Church St, N16 0UH (7923 1970). Stoke Newington rail or 73, 393 bus. Afternoon tea: served 2-5pm Sat, Sun; £10 per person.

No frills | Mid range | High end

Mid-range afternoon teas
The Botanist
Sloane Square’s chic set drop by in the afternoon to relish the sanctuary that is Tom and Ed Martin’s beautiful botany-inspired dining room. Teatime treats are wonderfully classic, and slightly childish, with crumpets and waffles to sate the tired shopper. But it’s the full-blown Botanist Afternoon Tea that takes the cake. Delightfully dainty finger sandwiches are untainted with newfangled ingredients, opting for simplicity in the form of familiar cucumber, egg and cress or cheese and pickle. English jams and Devonshire clotted cream are inoffensive and neatly served, much like everything else. It isn’t terribly exciting, but golly is it a pleasant place to be, watching the beautiful people stroll by outside.
The Botanist, 7 Sloane Square, SW1W 8EE (7730 0077/www.thebotanistsloanesquare.com). Sloane Square tube. Afternoon tea: from £15 per person; served 3.30-6pm Mon-Sat.

High Road Brasserie
If you want buzz, this branch of Soho House has it in spades. It’s often full of young west London families and trendies,
and the staff do a wonderful job at front of house – as they should, in a space as attractive as this one, all dark wood furniture and comfortable banquettes, heels clattering on the iconic patchwork floor tiles. The afternoon tea, at a tenner per person, is a steal, with creamy confections such as Victoria sponge, éclairs and meringues making cameos in an otherwise traditional set-up.
High Road Brasserie, 162-166 Chiswick High Rd, W4 1PR (8742 7474/www.highroadhouse.co.uk). Turnham Green tube. Afternoon tea: £10 per person; served 3-6pm Mon-Fri; 4-6pm Sat, Sun.

Peyton & Byrne cupcakes

National Dining Rooms
This most British of institutions, The National Dining Rooms, is a temple to fine British food. Naturally, afternoon tea here is a well-guarded tradition. Presented without frippery – the grandeur is taken care of by the room – are warm buttermilk scones, Peyton & Byrne jams and lashings of thick clotted cream. Cakes and pastries are divine; our favourites are the millionaire’s shortbread, raspberry teacakes and the fabulously retro fig rolls. For a more understated tea, a similar spread (from a neat £5.50) can be enjoyed in the National Café – though the loud clatter and chatter does break the spell a bit. Peyton’s other restaurant, The Wallace, also does a decent afternoon tea with a French slant.
The National Dining Rooms, Sainsbury Wing, The National Gallery, WC2N 5DN (7747 2525/www.thenationaldiningrooms.co.uk). Charing Cross tube/rail. Afternoon tea: from £14.50 per person; served 3-5pm daily.

Nicole's
The basement of Nicole Farhi’s Bond Street boutique is every size-zero fashionista’s dirty little secret. For in this modern space (adorned with arty black-and-white photography) you’ll find the chic clientele enjoying the ‘Miniature tea set’ (£16.50). On our visit, this included bite-sized macaroons in pretty colours, dainty orange madeleines, cherry muffins and blinis with smoked salmon and tiny open sandwiches that are on the right side of moreish. There’s also the offer of a ‘Saintly tea’ with gluten-free, 97 per cent fat-free chocolate cake and goji berries, paired with Puer tea (£6.95). Nicole’s sister branch on Westbourne Grove, 202 Café, doesn’t do a set tea but is an equally precious place to sit down with a decent cuppa and cakes.
Nicole’s, 158 New Bond St, W1S 2UE (7499 8408/www.nicolefarhi.com). Afternoon tea: £16.50 per person; served 3.30-5.30pm Mon-Fri; 4-5.30pm Sat.

St Pancras Grand
The food here is staunchly British in every way, so we would have been aghast if there was no afternoon tea to greet the weary traveller fresh off the Eurostar. The opulent surroundings yet personable service create the right blend of elegance without snootiness, so sit back in the soft leather banquettes, enclosed by engraved glass partitions, and indulge in the very English tradition of tea, cakes and scones. It might not be an extravagant or groundbreaking afternoon tea, and there is little choice about what you can have, but we think the surroundings make up for it.
St Pancras Grand, Upper Concourse, St Pancras International station, Euston Rd, NW1 1QP (7870 9900). King’s Cross St Pancras tube/rail. Afternoon tea from £17.50 per person; served 3-5.30pm daily.

The Wallace
A glorious location indeed, light-filled and airy thanks to its position in a Georgian townhouse conservatory (the main building of which houses the impressive Wallace Collection of fine art). Twee garden furniture (iron-wrought chairs plumped up with fluffy red cushions) and elegant sculptures fill the room. The glass atrium provides all of the perks of being outdoors without being exposed to the elements, making it all the better to sit down and enjoy a French-style afternoon tea complete with cakes and tarts, fromage frais and own-made pâtés.
The Wallace, The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1U 3BN (7563 9505/ www.thewallacerestaurant.com). Baker St or Bond St tube. Afternoon tea from £21.50; cream tea £6.50; served 2.30-4.30pm daily.

The Wolseley

The Wolseley
This genteel institution takes its inspiration from the grand cafés of the Continent – from the Florentine marble floors to the Corinthian pillars which were built to be the framework of a car salesroom. Good linen and silverware are the norm, as is impeccable service. Head to the cute café off to the side, where despite a more casual atmosphere, the tea service is as polished as that in the main dining room. Enjoy lavish stacks of finger sandwiches, scones and pastries accompanied by hot, properly brewed pots of tea.The Wolseley’s own special afternoon tea blend can be bought to take home to recreate the experience.
The Wolseley, 160 Piccadilly, W1J 9EB (7499 6996/www.thewolseley.com). Piccadilly Circus. Afternoon tea: from £19.75 per person; cream tea £9.75 per person; served 3.30-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 3.30-5.30pm Sat.

Yauatcha
It’s fitting that a place renowned for three things – the tea list, the dim sum and the pastries – would offer an afternoon menu combining all three. True, there is a choice of a standard afternoon tea set with cakes and savouries, but we rate the Oriental Afternoon Tea menu, which offers the best bites of both East and West. The bottom tier offers moreish dim sum, such as Yauatcha’s famed barbecued venison encased in golden puff pastry, a small but fluffy char siu (barbecued pork) bun and a wedge of moreish sesame prawn toast. Work your way up, enjoying warm, fluffy scones (imbued with coconut and green tea – an inspired deviation), then a selection of fashionable dainties – blue tea gateau, say – and end with oriental-inspired chocolate truffles and palate-cleansing exotic fruits (lychee, dragonfruit). The commendable tea list is a joy to peruse. Our only quibble is the dozy, inattentive service, which has been consistently poor since the tea room opened.
Yauatcha, 15 Broadwick St, W1F 0DL (7494 8888). Leicester Square, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus or Tottenham Court Rd tube. Afternoon tea: from £22.50 per person; served 12.30-6pm daily.

No frills | Mid range | High end

High-end afternoon teas

Brumus © Rob Greig

Brumus
This is the newest and grandest hotel of the very British but stylish Firmdale Hotels group. You can take tea in the blood-red Brumus restaurant, or a much brighter hotel reception area (called the Conservatory). The afternoon teas are excellent, ranging from a choice of cream teas (£9 per head) through to a luxe champagne tea (£25 per head). Our Haymarket tea (£17 per head) included a cake stand filled with savouries – scones, plus finger sandwiches of crab and avocado, and the more usual egg and watercress, smoked salmon etc. The top tier was clotted cream and some sublime dense jams and preserves. But the middle tier was prettiest: cupcakes, fresh fruit tarts, and a lamington (an Aussie sponge cake). The tea was good quality too, with unlimited top-ups. We didn’t need to book ahead, and weren’t turfed out after two hours. At such a price, this is one of the most flexible and enjoyable afternoon teas in the West End.
Brumus, Haymarket Hotel, 1 Suffolk Place, SW1Y 4BP (7470 4000). Piccadilly Circus tube. Afternoon tea: from £17 per person; served 3-5pm daily.

Caramel Room at The Berkeley
The elegant Caramel Room might err on the side of bland, but then the space serves as the metaphorical catwalk for The Berkeley’s famed Prêt-a-Portea. The confections and cakes are all inspired by the latest fashion designs (on our visit, the autumn-winter ’08 collection; the spring-summer ’09 creations will debut from May), from a lime green Louboutin heel biscuit to a light fromage blanc with d raspberry meringues emulating Alexander McQueen’s ethereal chiffon dress, all balanced on dashing Paul Smith crockery. On the savoury side, miniature canapés, tasting spoons and little skewers offer bursts of flavour – chilli prawns, smoked salmon and pea purée tarts, say, or a tiny roulade of juicy chicken and prosciutto. Attentive staff won’t falter when you ask slyly for seconds – in fact, they practically lavished extra sandwiches, cakes and canapés upon us. All in all, the service is positively un-diva like.
Caramel Room at The Berkeley, Wilton Place, SW1X 7RL (7235 6000/www.the-berkeley.co.uk). Hyde Park Corner or Knightsbridge tube. Afternoon tea: from £35 per person; served 1-6pm daily.

Espelette at The Connaught
Our first visit to Hélène Darroze’s ‘informal’ bistro at The Connaught was a shade underwhelming. Still, we couldn’t help but notice that the cream-coloured, light-filled room would be perfect for afternoon tea – an inviting display of cakes, tarts and fruity things in beautiful glasses said as much. So at Espelette, it’s best to turn up for the ‘Chic and Shock’ tea (slightly cringeworthy, given the haughty sophistication of The Connaught) for a fabulously rendered selection of classic teatime treats with minute twists (the ‘shock’ factor?). Finger sandwiches are prettily assembled, with impressive ingredients – Bellota ham with confit tomatoes, smoked salmon with a light yet punchy wasabi cream – while desserts are sublime. Observe the rice crispy cake with chocolate chantilly cream, or the zingy cucumber, lime and mint jelly shot in a tiny glass. A refreshing departure from normal afternoon teas, though you will have to fork out £35 (add £10 for a glass of Laurent Perrier champagne) for the privilege. Naturally.
Espelette, The Connaught, Carlos Place, W1K 2AL (3147 7100/www.the-connaught.co.uk). Bond St tube. Afternoon tea: from £35 per person; served 3-5.15pm Mon-Fri; 2-5.15pm Sat, Sun.

The Lanesborough
The Lanesborough is well-known among tea connoisseurs – not only does it employ Britain’s first ever tea ‘sommelier’, Karl Kessab, but its conscientious selection of nearly two dozen tea varieties are all carefully sourced at auction. So expect a perfect brew – and if you’re unsure, Kessab is the man to ask. Unusually, teas are served in the Russian samovar – an elegant silver vessel traditionally used to heat water, whose function then turned to being used to make tea in England from the late eighteenth century onwards. Foodwise, there’s no extra froufrou – perfectly acceptable sandwiches and scones, and adorable toasted teacakes. Pleasingly, this is also one of the few places to do gluten-free and dairy-free afternoon teas (requiring booking 12 hours in advance). The plush room with banquettes you just sink into, the thick napkins and attentive service complete the experience.
The Lanesborough, 1 Lanesborough Place, SW1X 7TA (7259 5599/www.lanesborough.com). Hyde Park Corner tube. Afternoon tea: from £33 per person; served 3.30-6pm daily.

Rough Luxe © Rob Greig

Rough Luxe
You have to take the rough with the smooth at this new hotel opposite King’s Cross station. The rough: the service is a bit amateurish, you need to book and then (re)confirm, and the tea room is really just a poky basement – good if you’re the only people taking tea, but awkwardly intimate if not. The smooth: they really lay on a spread for £30 per head, as well they should. Everything is baked to order, and there’s lots of it. Our bounty included: muffins, chocolate pots, shortbread, an entire Victoria sponge, jam tarts, scones with cream and strawberries… oh, and few token savouries (ie finger sandwiches) plus endless refills of good tea. It helps if you have a sweet tooth; we nearly had to be stretchered off the premises with hyperglycaemia, and even then had only polished off around a quarter of the spread provided. If only we’d known earlier: the manager let us take a huge doggy bag of goodies away with us. Booking essential.
Rough Luxe Hotel, 1 Birkenhead St, WC1H 8BA (7837 5338/www.roughluxe.co.uk). King’s Cross tube/rail. Afternoon tea: £30 per person; served 3.30-5.30pm Mon-Sat.

No frills | Mid range | High end