Five of the finest afternoon teas in London

There is surely little else that can bring more joy (or perhaps rage?) to a Brit's heart than debating the age-old jam or cream first conundrum. And we have just the setting: five of London's best afternoon tea parlours — from the classic to the fashionably-forward.

Afternoon tea at Theatre Royal Drury Lane

London’s most famous theatre — fresh from recent renovation works — was always going to be served with a side of theatrical flair. 

Designed by popular East London bakery Lily Vanilli and served in the theatre’s Grand Saloon, proceedings start with a glass of Taittinger Brut Reserve and Exmoor Royal Beluski caviar blinis. 

The tea itself includes a generous array of savoury bites — including puff pastry sausage rolls and lapsang-souchong-glazed salmon — and warm scones.

Until Sunday, August 14, tea sittings will be accompanied by a live harpist.

From £99 per person

Afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason

Fortnums serve their afternoon tea inside the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon — opened rather aptly by Her Majesty The Queen, in 2012 — and in The Fortnum’s Bar and Restaurant, inside The Royal Exchange. 

The former has a fascinating history: originally an apartment for the Fortnum family, later, in the 1920s and 30s, the store’s interior decorating department. 

Flawlessly-prepared finger sandwiches — think Cotswold Legbar egg mayonnaise and Suffolk cured ham with English mustard — come with scones, still warm from the oven. Delicate pastries change with the seasons. 

The best bit? You can take a bit of Fortnums home with you. Everything from the china to the loose-leaf tea is available to purchase. 

From £70 per person

Prêt-à-Portea at The Berkeley

For cakes worthy of a catwalk look no further than The Berkeley, whose Prêt-à-Portea wouldn’t look out of place splashed across the pages of Vogue.

The menu changes according to the runway show seasons (Spring Summer 2022; Autumn Winter 2022 and so on), inspired by the creations of some of fashion’s most exciting design houses. Oscar de la Renta’s striking orange gown reimagined in apricot bavarois; Gucci’s pink silk tuxedo in bourbon vanilla mousse and Emmanuel sponge.

Canapés, sandwiches and a selection of teas come as standard.

From £75 per person 

Afternoon Tea at Ham Yard Hotel

There’s as much emphasis on the savoury part of afternoon tea here, as there is on the sweet section.

Don’t miss the interesting sandwich flavours — courgette and pepper hummus, and chicken with mango chutney and coriander — and delicate ricotta, pea and mint tartlets. And instead of the more traditional fruit scone, a seaweed flavoured one with lobster crème fraîche.

From £40 per person

Afternoon Tea at Dalloway Terrace

Had Virginia Woolf still been around, one imagines that Dalloway Terrace is where she’d come for afternoon tea.

Part of The Bloomsbury Hotel, Dalloway Terrace, semi open to the elements, changes with the seasons — papered in layer-upon-layer of bronze leaves one day, and oversized Amalfi lemons the next.

Its traditional afternoon tea is something of a steal. Only £40 per person, with £1 from every tea sold donated to CALM ( Campaign Against Living Miserably).

As well as cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches on spinach bread, there’s a delectable pear and ginger cheesecake and a strawberry and black pepper parfait with balsamic glaze.

From £40 per person