This is the time of year when the frazzled shopper needs a haven: somewhere away from the noise and the people, to recharge and relax. I give you the festive tea — afternoon tea, but with a seasonal twist.
Think turkey, cranberry sauce or truffles in the sandwiches (not necessarily together), and inviting little cakes — maybe with gold leaf or shaped like baubles — to follow. What could be more gladsome than to see tiers of sandwiches, scones and patisserie coming towards you, and in the background, a pianist rippling through It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas?
Outside, it’s a bunfight; indoors, all is calm, all is bright.
Seasonal tea has never been so elaborate and frankly, never so expensive. Time was you could get a perfectly lovely tea for about £30; now, you’re lucky to get away with under £50 a head and this runs to £100 a head in the grander establishments. Then there’s the glass of Champagne. which can raise the price further. On the bright side, any decent establishment will offer to replenish your plate, so my advice is to arrive with a hearty appetite and take advantage of seconds, knowing whatever you can’t finish, you can take away. All the selections will cater for vegetarians, and most offer a gluten-free option.
Here are six of the most inviting places for a festive tea, all handily situated for Christmas shopping.
Nick Rochowski
This is heavenly. Minutes away from busy Victoria station and with Buckingham Palace at the end of the street, but a haven of calm and cheerful service awaits inside. There’s a bright fire in the bar; in the conservatory you can look out at Christmas lights in the garden. The egg-yolk china positively glows and the teas, which is very good, comes in lovely silver teapots. There’s a little festive amuse bouche – chestnut tart – to start, excellent sandwiches, with all the favourites, and pretty patisseries including a dinky mince pie and a dear little parfait in red with a Santa belt. Oh and a little glass of mulled wine. If you time it right, you can move seamlessly from afternoon tea into an evening in the bar. Yes please!
£120, with a glass of champagne, Beeston Place, SW1W 0JW, thegoring.com
Brown’s Hotel
There are few places more festively cheerful and cosy than Brown’s, where the pianist plays Ain’t Misbehaving while you pull the dinky little cracker on your plate, which actually snaps. The tea menu is splendid – I very much liked the one subtly flavoured with whisky – and various Champagnes are offered to pair with it. Sandwiches and little handmade cakes have lovely seasonal twists. There is, moreover, a little slice of Christmas cake to follow and the piece de resistance is the 9-square Battenberg, which is delicious (mine only runs to four). Oh and you can have a little glass of mulled wine.
Charming and attentive service.
The Diamond Jubilee tea salon at Fortnum and Mason
David Loftus
This place, as they say, needs no introduction, being on the fourth floor of a store which is quite astonishingly frenetic on the ground. Escape upstairs then to this oasis of calm with linen tablecloths, fine china and an excellent selection of leaf teas. There is a spacious parlour on both sides of the entrance and, if you get a good window seat, there’s a nice view of Piccadilly. There’s nowhere quite like Fortnums for a Christmassy atmosphere. There are four different tea menus — classic, savoury, vegetarian and high tea. The High tea, if you fancy lobster omelette or a little venison wellington among other things, is very good. The classic has a fine selection of seasonal sandwiches, scones and a fun pâtisserie layer, including a dear little rose eclair, as well as a slice of Christmas sponge. I liked the Savoury Tea too and was much taken by the combination of cheese scones with cranberry cream cheese and onion jam, with dinky savoury tartlets and pastries.
Because it’s so terrifically busy, we have here the unusual phenomenon of afternoon tea served in the morning from 11.30am, which should involve a rebranding. Service is friendy and attentive. Afterwards, refreshed and replenished, you are all ready for the maelstrom on the ground floor.
Peninsula
This relatively new addition to London’s grand hotels serves afternoon tea in the lobby where you can see and be seen; the feel is Thirties, with the pianist tucked up in the gallery. There are dainty savouries before the sandwich course (itself very prettily presented), including smoked salmon, ham and Norfolk Bronze turkey. The very nicest element of the menu was the mint-infused strawberry jam for the scones, which was best of all the preserves I tried. The Christmas Bauble cake is a sweet touch, too. Prices, happily, have dropped from last year, and a vegetarian -friendly menu is available too.
Press handout
The Savoy has a grand presence, but there’s quite a social mix for afternoon tea. It’s a busy, bustling atmosphere, especially at weekends. The seasonal selection (you can pay extra for a high tea with a mini main course) gives a festive twist to the usual favourites, but it’s the patisserie layer that rings the season in, with a little oblong mousse wearing a Santa jacket and a snowball of shortbread and cream surmounted with a snowflake. The tea selection is excellent and the service, attentive. It’s a good place to people-watch; near me a party ordered a pink fizz with a huge bubble on top, which popped to release a cloud of dry ice. Fascinating.
If you’re shopping around Sloane Square, put this newish cafe on Duke of York Square on your radar. It’s finely situated, practically overlooking the Saatchi gallery, and you can make your way from Peter Jones to this oasis in five minutes. The great thing about this place, open throughout the day, is that one of the partners is a pastry chef and the excellent patisserie is done in house. The Silver Winter Afternoon Tea menu begins with an egg finger sandwich and a rich little cream cheese and salmon choux bun and goes on to scones and three very good little cakes, including a zingy lime meringue tart. If you’re still hungry after that, a very moreish Christmas cake made with olive oil sponge covered with cream cheese icing comes as extra. Tea (bags) from Mariage Frères. Service is friendly, though it can get very busy.