The hottest, freshest and quirkiest new afternoon teas in London this month including bee-inspired bites, and a Devil Wears Prada inspired-menu. Read on, then get booking to be one of the first to try these new menus — some aren't around for long.
A Blooming British Afternoon Tea at Royal Lancaster London
Luxury hotel Royal Lancaster London — the first central London hotel to install beehives on its roof, back in 2009 — has teamed up with the Natural History Museum for A Blooming British Afternoon Tea.
The sweet and savoury delicacies on the menu were inspired by British flowers and pollinators, and the NHM's work to protect the natural world. Make your way to the hotel's Hyde Cafe for a feast of sandwiches, warm baked scones and sweet treats including Daisy & the Bee (vanilla sponge with lemon curd and gooseberry marmalade) and the Bee Hive (a honey cake served with honey and crème fraiche). It's all served on a charming stand, which is hung alongside your table — and they're so beautifully presented that when we visited, customers from other tables were coming over for a closer look and to take photos.
The bee theme is cleverly referenced throughout the restaurant's decor, from bee cushions to honeycomb lighting on the ceiling.
There's also the option to start your day at the Natural History Museum, then make your way to the hotel via a 30-minute walk through Hyde Park, following a specially-created map.
A Blooming British Afternoon Tea at Royal Lancaster London. From £55 per adult/£30 per child, available daily.
The Devil Wears Prada afternoon tea at The Coral Room
Gird your loins! The Devil Wears Prada comes to the London stage this month, in the form of a new musical at the Dominion Theatre.
The Coral Room at the Bloomsbury Hotel is getting in on the haute couture action with a Devil Wears Prada-themed food and drink menu, including cocktails and a new afternoon tea.
The Runway Afternoon Tea — named after the fashion magazine which notorious editor Miranda Priestley oversees — is sprinkled liberally with nods to the book/film/musical, all incorporated rather cleverly.
The savoury starter section includes comfort food in the form of Nate's Grilled Cheese, and a luxurious truffled egg mayonnaise on pain de mie. That's followed by buttermilk and sultana scones, but it's the sweet section that steals the limelight, including:
- A No Foam Skimmed Latte with an Extra Shot (a hazelnut opera cake with coffee and caramel)
- Gird Your Loins (a rich and indulgent chocolate cake)
- It’s Not Just Blue, It's Cerulean (a Greek yoghurt mousse with blueberry, because yes, it does make a difference)
- A Single Cube of Cheese (New York cheesecake with Papua New Guinean vanilla).
Sounds so fabulous, even Priestley herself would struggle to find fault with it.
The Devil Wears Prada afternoon tea. From £48 per person, available now.
Historic afternoon tea at Great Scotland Yard Hotel
Previously home to the police headquarters, Great Scotland Yard Hotel has an afternoon tea menu inspired by the building's history.
Each part of the menu represents a different chapters of the building’s past, from Sir Robert Peel’s 'bobbies' to the modern day police force. For example, the 1829 is an egg truffle mayo sandwich with chives, stamped with the year the building was founded, served on a glass-topped table featuring evidence from various robberies.
The Great Scotland Yard dream key choux is an apple crumble choux, served with an original Sherlock Holmes-style magnifying glass, while the Writer's Ink Pot, made of dark chocolate and orange battenberg, is inspired by the authors and poets who had links to the building throughout the years.
Historic afternoon tea at Great Scotland Yard Hotel. From £65 per person, available now.
Afternoon tea at The Delaunay
All-day brasserie The Delaunay now serves afternoon tea every Saturday and Sunday, in a setting inspired by the Grand Cafes of continental Europe. The afternoon tea menu is traditional with a Viennese twist, presented on a three-tier stand.
Begin with finger sandwiches including smoked salmon, coronation chicken, pickle & cheddar, and egg mayonnaise & mustard cress. The pastries are all handmade delicacies in the form of a pistachio financier, sachertorte, lemon tart and traditional Austrian Käse-Sahne-Torte (cheesecake) alongside scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.
Afternoon tea at The Delaunay. From £34.50 per person, available every Saturday and Sunday.
The Boodles Tea at The Biltmore, Mayfair
Luxury jeweller Boodles has teamed up with The Biltmore Mayfair for an afternoon tea inspired by its jewellery pieces, in a colour palette mirroring that of Boodles' famous pink diamonds.
Highlights from the sandwich menu include crab tartlets with crushed avocado, kaffir lime, yuzu gel and pickled mustard seeds; tomato tartare, burrata, crispy basil and black olive tapenade tartlet; and Hereford roast beef, onion chutney, grain mustard mayo, micro rocket and brioche onion bread. That's followed by warm scones, but really, it's the cakes and pastries which take the spotlight here.
The Apple & Vanilla Pearls is inspired by the Boodles Luna Pearl Rose Gold pendant, with white chocolate ganache, apple compote, white chocolate pearls and vanilla sable. The Pear & White Chocolate Heart — white chocolate mousse and caramelised pears, set on a vanilla sable — signifies the romantic aspects of Boodles' designs, and the Chocolate Explosion cake (Guanaja chocolate mousse, hazelnut praline, crystallised chocolate, and brownie cake) mirrors the layered complexity of a statement piece of jewellery.
The Boodles Tea. From £80 per person, available now, through until 2025.
Tea of Treasures at MiMi Mei Fair
Chinese restaurant MiMi Mei Fair has entered the afternoon tea arena with its Tea of Treasures menu, designed to celebrate Chinese heritage and indulgence.
It's inspired by restaurant founder Samyukta Nair's memories of tea at Shanghai's legendary Mid-Lake Pavilion as well as intimate afternoons over tea with her grandmother and her Osler crystal tea set in India.
Wagyu puffs with garlic and pepper, duck bao with hoisin sauce, prawn spring rolls, and mushroom puffs with porcini and radish are served on gold rimmed crystal tiered stands. That's followed by is a shortcrust pastry filled with a trio of chocolate mousse, pineapple upside down cake, and crystal jars filled with homemade sesame mantou for dipping in condensed milk — all presented on red and gold scalloped linen.
Jasmine Chung Hao; Imperial Earl Grey; Tales of the Orient; Dragon Well Lung Jing and Mint After Dark are among the teas on offer, or upgrade to a glass of Louis Roederer champagne.
Tea of Treasures at MiMi Mei Fair. From £45 per person, available now.
Book ahead: Rare Afternoon Tea at Claridge's
Here's a little something for afternoon tea fans with deep pockets. On 10 November, Claridge's hosts a Rare High Tea, raising money for Rare Charity.
TV presenter Alexander Armstrong and Rare Tea Company founder Henrietta Lovell host the event, with renowned chefs Santiago Lastra, Thomasina Miers, Richard Hart, Ravneet Gill and Claridge's own pastry chef, Thibault Hauchard all involved in whipping up the special menu. Tickets are available either via a raffle, or priced at £5,000 for a table of 12. Steep, but for a good cause: The charity funds education in tea communities in some of the most marginalised areas in the world’s poorest countries, giving ambitious young people the opportunity to uplift themselves, their households and their communities.
