Royal Afternoon Tea in London

There are a few things when moving to London that I was really excited about and that list included red phone booths and afternoon tea.    What I came to realize, is afternoon tea as an everyday occurrences is nearly identical to an afternoon coffee in New York but once in a while sitting down for a proper, old school tea is lovely.  Thus, when my family was in town in early July for Wimbledon I booked us a table for Royal Afternoon Tea at InterContinental Park Lane. 

I had been to this tea before with a friend so I knew it was something my parents and grandmother would love.  For a flat price you are seated in the cozy Wellington Lounge, complete with a live piano player, and are treated to what the menu describes as a A twist on the English Classic [taking]  inspiration from ingredients across the Commonwealth countries visited by Her Majesty The Queen over the last 70 years.”

You start with a glass of Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut Champagne and then choose your tea for the savory part of the menu.  When the tea is serve the tiers of sandwiches come out, inspired by Canada, Scotland, England, New Zealand, and Jamaica.   My favorite was the Scottish salmon, cucumber, cream cheese, basil bread and the Poached chicken, apple, tarragon, beetroot bread – so tasty!  Then it is an interlude of scones, both raisin and plain, served with homemade Devon clotted cream and strawberry preserve which was to die for.  

As if that was not enough food, you get to choose a different tea for the dessert round of Royal Afternoon Tea (though four of the five us just kept with our original orders) and then the dessert trays arrived – or as the Brits call it, the pudding.  There were five options, again, from all of the Commonwealth countries, and I particularly liked the Bronte’s pistachio roll sponge with pomegranate confit and the Cold guava cheesecake with lime.  So tasty, take a look: 

It was a very enjoyable afternoon and even better than the first time that I went as it was my Dad’s birthday and the piano player sang him happy birthday!  (And you may recognize the outfit, I featured it a few weeks ago on Fashion Friday here).  My only regret was that we could not also have the High Coffee  too, especially as it was paired with chocolate – but a great reason to go back!

Would you go to Royal Afternoon Tea?