“Would you like to have an adventure now, or shall we have our tea first?”
Y'all know that I am a big fan of this quote and how wonderful is it that on certain occasions you can have both at the same time! When in London you certainly can't miss a full on afternoon tea ceremony and there is no better place for that. As I absolutely needed to go, it just so happened that it was my friend's birthday a couple of weeks earlier and what's a better birthday gift than an afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason?
British Tea Culture
Drinking tea is definitely a constant part of British Culture and therefore you can have it in all forms and variations. Besides the highly celebrated and often posh afternoon teas, there's sometimes really no need to fuss around and you can have it to go as well.
While in the beginning of British Tea Culture the leaves were imported mainly from China, the East India Company established THE center for European tea trade in Great Britain. Nowadays, the British mainly drink black tea or earl grey tea. Often the tea is mixed with milk, while the question about which comes first seems to be a question of royal matter: Milk-in-first (Mif) or Tea-in-first (Tif) seems to be the question.
What is Afternoon Tea?
Afternoon tea isn't simply a tea enjoyed during the afternoon (got you). It's an entire tea-related ritual, which was introduced in the early 1940. Back in the day it was a welcome mini meal in between (which, of course, I can totally understand). Consequently, you get a delicious choice of sandwiches (cut into handy "fingers"), scones, sweet pastries or cakes.
Afternoon tea was also a social even though if you were an ambitious lady who wanted to climb up in society. Today though most people enjoy it as an occasional indulgance.
Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason
After some extensive research (I wanted my friend to have the best birthday afternoon tea experience after all), I decided to book a table at Fortnum & Mason. Their Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon (you already feel royal reading it, don't you?) is centrally located on 181 Piccadilly Street, where you can also their huge store.
One Afternoon Tea menu is at around £50, depending on your choice of drinks. After you've ordered your choice of tea, you're served with a delicious selection of sandwiches, scones and cakes. The best thing - you get free refills for everything! Everything was so delicious! We wanted to order seconds of everything but honestly were so full at some point, we actually couldn't (another good thing: you can take leftovers home, yay!).
Of course the whole ambiente is really nice, too! The interior looks super cute, the staff is really friendly and they even have a pianist playing the piano. Our overall favourites were the Fortnum's Smoked Salmon Finger Sandwich, the Coronation Chicken Finger Sandwich and of course the Lemon Curd! You can't really expect anything else than outstanding if even the HM the Queen enjoys a classic Fortnum & Mason Afternoon Tea.
My tips
My tips for you guys - definitely reserve a table in advance (you can do that via their website) and save a lot a lot a lot of money so you can spend the rest of your fortune downstairs in their magical shopping halls. Don't eat much on the day you're going and maybe eat A LOT the days before to expand your stomach so you can order seconds of everything! Definitely also bring your Instagram game because this place looks gorgeous.
Did you ever enjoy British afternoon tea? Do you have any other recommendations for tea salons? Share your thoughts and experience!
Kate recommends: A copy of Peter Pan by JM Barrie, cause duh!