The newest afternoon tea menus to launch in London — including those inspired by spies, Shakespeare, and London itself. Book yourself in for a special occasion… or just because you deserve a treat.
Tea at the Tower at the Park Tower Knightsbridge
Inspired by the Park Tower Knightsbridge itself, Tea at the Tower centres around the Chocolate Tower, a sweet imitation of the hotel building, flanked by graceful choux pastry swans, a nod to its location close to Hyde Park and the Serpentine.
Also on the menu:
Lemon poached smoked salmon and cucumber sandwiches
Beetroot wrap with coronation chicken and sweet relish mayonnaise
Egg mayonnaise with cress, served on mini croissants
Mini wagyu beef bun with crispy shallots
Truffle and wild mushroom vol au vent
Matcha shortbread cookies with chocolate caramel teapots.
Tea at the Tower, from £49 per person. Available 1 April-30 September.
Easter afternoon tea at Radisson Blu South Kensington
A seasonal afternoon tea is available for a short period at the Radisson Blu in South Kensington. Expect traditional finger sandwiches (smoked salmon and lemon butter, roast beef with horseradish mayo), raisin and plain scones served with rose petal and strawberry preserve and clotted cream, and a cake selection including a milk chocolate and mango dome, a vanilla cupcake, and a chocolate nest with mini chocolate eggs.
Easter afternoon tea, from £36 per person. Available weekends, 5-20 April.
Easter afternoon tea at The Delaunay
For one week only, European-style grand cafe the Delaunay serves an Easter afternoon tea, with a menu including a chick macaron with passionfruit and coconut, a pistachio financier with candied mini eggs, ruby carrot cake, and a spring Mozart cake.
Easter afternoon tea, from £36.50 per person. Available 14-20 April.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream afternoon tea at Kona
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind”… or in the case of the A Midsummer Night’s Dream afternoon tea, the stomach. Kona at 51 Buckingham Gate excels at themed afternoon teas (we’ve highly recommended Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland in the past) and now it’s tackling Shakespeare.
Launching on the Bard’s birthday, the menu is served in an enchanted forest setting, and split across five acts, mirroring the play it’s based on. Menu items include:
Thyme roasted chicken and apricot mayo sandwich
Orange-zested ricotta and cucumber sandwich on beetroot bread
A dark chocolate heart with tropical notes, mirroring love’s twists
A deep tart of berries, evoking love’s eternal sorrow
A medley of scones, “where flavours shift like lovers in the night”
The Elixir of Enchantment, a green tea with notes of mulberry, cranberries and lingonberries.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream afternoon tea. Available from 23 April.
Secrets & Spies afternoon tea at the OWO
It’s incredibly apt that Raffles London at The OWO, which has taken over the former War Office building, is launching a Secrets & Spies afternoon tea, to celebrate the building’s own history. A lot of thought has been put into the sandwiches, scones and cakes, including a Time to Spy cake designed to resemble a spy pocket watch dubbed “the watch that won the war” by Churchill.
Other desserts are named after famous Special Operations Executive female spies, including Christine Granville (strawberry, vanilla and ginger), Virginia Hall Goillot (chocolate and coffee shortbread), Odette Sansom (elderflower, raspberry and yoghurt) and Vera May Atkins (maple, pear and pecan).
Secrets & Spies afternoon tea. Available from 28 April.
The Biltmore Mayfair Spring Afternoon Tea
Spring has sprung at the Biltmore Mayfair, where cakes including The Tale of a Lily (wild rhubarb crémeux with key lime and jasmine mousse) and Spring Buzz (honey blossom mousse, apricot and lavender atop a vanilla sablé) are on the afternoon tea menu. Savoury items include cucumber and mint, coronation chicken and smoked salmon sandwiches, mini cottage pies and a crab and avocado mousse topped with tobiko caviar.
The Biltmore Mayfair Spring Afternoon Tea, from £80 per person. Available now until 22 June.
Afternoon tea at Seventy Five at Liberty
Department store Liberty has a brand new restaurant, Seventy Five at Liberty, located on the second floor and serving breakfast and lunch, as well as afternoon tea. The menu for that changes seasonally, but at time of launch includes:
A wild mushroom and truffle vol-au-vent
Cucumber and dill cream cheese sandwich
Lemon tart with Italian meringue and lime zest
Rhubarb and white chocolate macaron
Dark chocolate crémeux cake
Buttermilk fruit and plain scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream.
Afternoon tea at Seventy Five at Liberty, from £50 per person. Ongoing.
Topsy Turvy Tea at Mr Fogg’s Pawnbrokers
Soho cocktail bar Mr Fogg’s Pawnbrokers gives afternoon tea a tipsy makeover, serving three cocktails and a shot of prosecco alongside a bite-sized selection of canapé-style sandwiches, scones and macarons, paired to match the spirits of each drink. It comes with a warning: “This is a drinks-led experience — all food servings include two bite-sized pieces per portion”. Hic.
Topsy Turvy Tea, from £40 per person. Available every Saturday.
Crown & Saber afternoon tea at Intercontinental London Park Lane
Wellington Lounge at InterContinental London Park Lane has launched a Royal Champagne Afternoon Tea, celebrating its history as Queen Elizabeth II’s childhood home.
The Crown & Saber Afternoon Tea offers free-flowing Veuve Clicquot (fancy!) presented tableside from a champagne trolley, the sommelier expertly opening each bottle with a stroke of a saber, for theatrical flourish. As for the food menu, it includes:
Smoked salmon with Exmoor caviar and cream cheese served on turmeric bread
Beef with asparagus and horseradish cream on tomato bread
Classic scones served with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry preserve
Imperial citrus drizzle cake
Chocolate biscuit cake, filled with a rich chocolate cream and topped with a velvety dark chocolate ganache.
Crown & Saber afternoon tea, from £74 per person. Available daily.
London Calling afternoon tea at Haymarket Hotel
If there’s one thing we love more than afternoon tea, it’s a London-themed afternoon tea. That’s what the Haymarket Hotel is offering, in the form of its London Calling menu, inspired by sights you can see within a half hour walk from the hotel. That includes:
A dark chocolate and orange Big Ben;
Cinnamon and cream cheese London Eye
Trafalgar Square Victoria sponge
The Guards blackberry macaron.
All served with sandwiches and scones. You’ll also receive an illustrated printed map, which contains a QR code linking to a self-guided tour, designed with Blue Badge Guide Katie Wignall of Look Up London.
London Calling afternoon tea, from £50 per person. Available daily.
