Floral interiors, tiered towers topped with freshly baked treats, free-flowing champagne — read on for this year’s best, brightest and most affordable afternoon teas for the occasion.
Spoiling your mum on Mother’s Day is practically a given. And in a city with as rich and varied a tea scene as London’s, it’s no surprise that the options range from grand and opulent to trendy and quirky.
Whether you prefer the more traditional route or something a little more inventive, here are the best and most affordable options in London.
Let Us Eat Cake afternoon tea at The Kensington
The former dauphine of France may never actually have said “let them eat cake”, but it’s certainly a delightfully whimsical sentiment to be reminded of from time to time.
Inspired by this whimsy, and the V&A South Ken’s Marie Antoinette Style exhibition, The Kensington’s afternoon tea is elegant and whimsical, favouring delicate pastel-hued pastries that are as decorative as they are delicious. The menu, which takes its physical form as an ornate fan (not out of place in the hands of a lady-in-waiting at Versailles) is decidedly refined: Le Gâteau du Jardin (a strawberry genoise sponge with vanilla chantilly and fresh strawberries), Le Brisé de la Dauphine (delicate lemon shortbread) and pureed avocado, sundried tomatoes and crumbled feta on a pink brioche roll.
Plus, if you book for a pre Mother’s Day treat on Friday 13 or Saturday 14 March, artist in residence Niki Groom will produce a live drawing of you enjoying your delicacies in truly royal fashion, just as would be expected in court.
Price: £59 per person including a selection of rare teas, £73 per person with The Queen’s Coupe cocktail or a glass of Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve.
Elizabeth Scarlett at Dalloway Terrace
Fresh floral backdrops make Dalloway Terrace a charming setting for any celebration, and this year a partnership with Elizabeth Scarlett and Pomelle Apéritif add an extra-special touch. Sitting amid organic English wildflower motifs, you’ll enjoy sweets such as Earl Grey cake, rhubarb and hibiscus profiteroles, passion fruit and mango tarts, raspberry and rose mousse, and orange blossom madeleine.
Savouries include smoked salmon pinwheels, harissa chicken mayonnaise sandwiches and marinated cucumber and cream cheese slices. And of course, no afternoon tea would be complete without scones. Here, they’ll be freshly made with vanilla and sultana buttermilk and served with rhubarb and Campari jam and Cornish clotted cream.
As an extra treat, Elizabeth Scarlett will be gifting a signature product with every afternoon tea purchased on Mother’s Day.
Price: £55pp, £70pp with a Pomelle Apéritif cocktail.
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Mercer Roof Terrace’s Crown Afternoon Tea
If you think your mum should be made to feel like a queen this Mother’s Day, boutique hotel Vintry & Mercer’s Crown Afternoon Tea experience has been inspired by British royalty. Savoury options — each named after a royal palace — include Balmoral (a truffled egg mayonnaise brioche bun), Windsor (a mini Yorkshire pudding with roast beef, horseradish and gravy) and the traditional Kensington (a finger sandwich of smoked salmon and herb cream cheese).
Plain and raisin buttermilk scones with Cornish clotted cream offer the traditional afternoon tea staple, with Earl Grey jelly and strawberry jam as topper. And a playful pastry selection includes the likes of the Chocolate Sceptre (made with dark chocolate and salted caramel), the glazed Sovereign’s Orb filled with delicious raspberry and orange blossom mousse and genoise sponge, the Strawberry Victoria cake and the Apple & (Penny) Blackberry Stamp.
Guests can enjoy the afternoon tea alongside a delicious Royal Teapot cocktail or a glass of Charles Heidsieck champagne.
Price: £49.50pp, from £64.50pp with champagne
InfiniTEA at Conrad London St James
Five-star hotel Conrad London St James proffers afternoon tea as it should be — served on Wedgwood bone china and accompanied by bottomless Bollinger. This experience begins with finger sandwiches served on Wild Strawberry Wedgwood — cucumber and mint, coronation chicken and everything in between. For the patisserie course, indulge in a silky dark chocolate mousse infused with Earl Grey, pink gin and lemon verbena tarts, and an orange and raspberry Victoria sponge. Lest we forget, the scones. At InfiniTEA you’ll be spoilt for choice with flavours: Jersey butter, raisin, dark chocolate stracciatella, and blueberry lemon, paired with Cornish clotted cream, The Orchard’s homemade lemon curd and strawberry jam.
Price: £62pp for the InfiniTEA Afternoon Tea, £77pp for InfiniTEA Sommelier Experience Afternoon Tea, £97pp for InfiniTEA Bottomless Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut NV Afternoon Tea.
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London Marriott Hotel County Hall’s signature afternoon tea with a view
From your seat at London Marriott Hotel County Hall on London’s South Bank, you can gaze out at the London Eye and over the river to the Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben) while enjoying afternoon tea in the hotel’s historic 20th-century library. Sit at tables separated by walls of over 3,000 classic literary works beneath antique curtains and cornices, enjoying finger sandwiches such as The Library Tea cured salmon with caper butter on beetroot bread. After this, feast on a selection of pastries, including scones, the Elizabeth Tower cake with white chocolate, and a summer berry tart with citrus and blueberry crumble.
Price: £70pp
The Magic Faraway Tree afternoon tea at Grosvenor House Hotel
With the upcoming release of The Magic Faraway Tree, you can watch the story unfold through pastries in afternoon tea form at JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, crafted by head pastry chef Anthony Hurst and served in the Park Lane hotel’s iconic Park Room. You’ll sample five pastries that capture the story’s magical lands, from Silky’s fairy magic to a sweet surprise from the Land of Dreams.
You’ll also enjoy a selection of delicate open and finger sandwiches, followed by raisin buttermilk scones with Cornish clotted cream and your choice of classic British preserves: strawberry, rose petal, rhubarb and ginger, gooseberry. Plus, an assortment of cakes such as chocolate and orange sponge, and forest-moss crumble. Wash all these down with English sparkling wine granita and a glass of ‘R’ de Ruinart Brut champagne. Get 10% off here.
Price: £88pp
Read more: 21 thoughtful and sweet Mother’s Day messages to write in her card
Botanica afternoon tea at 100 Queen’s Gate Hotel
Contemporary flavours marry traditional tea under the sloped dome of Botanica restaurant’s Victorian atrium. Here at 100 Queen’s Gate Hotel’s afternoon tea, you’ll taste savoury and sweet treats galore. To begin, bread, of course, but with a twist — be it charcoal-infused with creamy chives and smoked salmon or savoury tomato with spiced Mediterranean chicken. For the classic touch, enjoy freshly baked plain or sultana scones with clotted cream and various preserves. Next on the tier, a crisp chocolate layered French croustillant awaits, followed by Oriental Delight — rose dacquoise, orange blossom, rose water, mascarpone mousse and pistachio praline.
Pair the experience with Newby teas, a glass of Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée or a tea-based cocktail or mocktail such as the Robin — tequila, rooibos orange tea infusion, cranberry, orange, lemon, home-made tea syrup and bitter foam.
Price: £40pp, £50pp with cocktail or mocktail, £52pp with champagne.
Feature image: The Magic Faraway Tree Afternoon Tea – Claude Okamoto
