When It’s “Afternoon Tea Week” in England

There is nothing quite as alluring to the woman known as the “Tea Lady” as the words, “Afternoon Tea Week in England.”  Yes, sweet words indeed to these ears!  Our week in London couldn’t have been timed any better for that reason alone. Fortuitously a couple of Tea venues were booked in advance of our arrival and we have hopes of sneaking in at least one more before the week ends.

Our first Afternoon Tea date, in Fortnum & Mason’s elegant Jubilee Tea Salon, turned out to be an excellent choice. Having arrived a tad early for our reservation, we passed the few minutes enjoying the music coming from the piano in the lobby and then were called at the appointed time. We were ushered into a large, very bright room, with plentiful seating, each table formally set with Fortnum & Mason’s signature china. Our waiter was cordial and, though his heavily accented English was a bit of a challenge to understand, his assistance was helpful as we settled in to make our selections.

Tea is served © 2018 englandforallreasons.com

Champagne was offered, which we sipped while perusing the menus.  Choosing from their extensive and appealing varieties from the tea menu was difficult but, in the end, I chose the “Jubilee Blend”— a blend of teas from India, Ceylon and China that was created to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.  Jake’s choice was from the “rare” tea list, the “Tregothnan Blend”—a First Flush Darjeeling from the Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall.

Very soon a lovely, traditional Afternoon Tea triple-tiered server was delivered with the promise of refills if we desired.  Perfectly-uniform finger sandwiches made up the savory selections for our first course; they included Coronation Chicken, Smoked Salmon, Cucumber, Egg Salad and Ham.

Scones, lovely, soft and delicious. © 2018 englandforallreasons.com

Already feeling quite satisfied, we moved on to the scones course.  Many of you know I am super picky about scones and these did not disappoint; they were warm, delicious, perfectly tender scones in plain and dried fruit varieties, served with a choice of Lemon Curd, Strawberry Jam and Clotted Cream.  For our finale, the third course of sweets was a treat for the eyes and the palate, though I was surprised that we were not offered two of each variety so we both could have had a taste. The selections included a Passion Fruit with Coconut Tart, Strawberry Mousse Tart, a Chocolate Hazelnut cake bite, White Peach and mint Cheesecake bite and a Rose Choubun tart with cream (my favorite).  I am sure if we had asked they would have brought more but, in the end, we were quite satisfied without asking for refills.

An array of sweets © 2018 englandforallreasons.com

It had been quite a few years since we visited Fortnum & Mason for Afternoon Tea as our last experience was a bit of a disappointment, especially regarding the scones.  This experience more than made up for it and we can recommend it without hesitation.  Our rating would be four out of five stars.

The allotted time for the Afternoon Tea is 1.5 hours which was plenty of time to enjoy without feeling rushed.  The price for the Traditional Afternoon Tea (as of August, 2018) is £49 per person plus £13pp for the Champagne. (UPDATE: In 2024, the price for afternoon tea is £80 per person, champagne is an extra £17.50, check the menu at the link given above.) The Rare tea selections are also an added cost. A Jacket and tie are not required for men but Jake felt wearing a nice shirt and jacket was appropriate for the venue and occasion. We did notice there were a number of tourists who were grossly under-dressed in shorts and t-shirts.