Fans of afternoon tea can get slightly
overwhelmed in London – from the grandeur of The Ritz to the contemporary gateaux
at Sketch, there’s just too many to choose from; and that’s not even taking
into account the pop up teas, themed teas and one off events, like the couture teas
that you can indulge in during London Fashion Week (if you’ve never eaten a Louboutin
made of cake you haven’t lived).
When a friend suggested the Mad Hatter’s
Afternoon tea at the Sanderson Hotel I realised this was new territory - a
literary theme - and booked it immediately. If you haven’t been to the Sanderson, the first striking
thing about it is that from the outside it looks like an office block – off-putting. Inside, however, there’s the kind of modern
art that people stop and take pictures of
- a Dali-esque sofa of plump red lips, a retro hanging ball bubble
chair, custom designed Philippe Starck furniture – and a reception desk
complete with loomy ‘visual installations’ that you try not to stare at in case
the staff think you’re a tourist.
From the reception desk I was directed to the outdoor courtyard, where
tea was to be served around a Japanese water feature on the kind of sleek garden
furniture you won’t find at Argos.
Tea here is served all day (11.30 – 5.30pm)
and costs a relatively purse friendly £35, including a glass of champagne or a
cocktail (compare that to £52 at The Langham). We of course took up the offer of booze – woman cannot live
on Earl Grey alone – and my tea companion had a glass of very respectable fizz,
whilst I sank a ‘Vivid Hour’ (Earl Grey infused Absolut, raspberry vodka &
framboise liqueur shaken with fresh raspberries and grapefruit). The cocktail was strong and fruity and
delivered just the right level of tipsiness.
The tea took a while to come (it wasn’t
that busy so this was a little annoying), but when it arrived on a cake stand
of wobbly, vintage plates, it certainly looked worth the wait. We were briefed on the various tiers -
the bottom layer, rainbow coloured finger sandwiches, one each of smoked salmon
and cream cheese on green spinach bread, egg mayo on brown bread, ham and
mustard on yellow bread (saffron) and cucumber and black pepper on a red
beetroot bread. A little stingy on
the portions perhaps, and for some reason one of the groups of sandwiches came
on a separate plate, but tasty fillings and no dry slices thankfully.
From there it was on to some fairly
unremarkable scones with a TINY portion of clotted cream (I ordered another
immediately obvs) and some rather lumpy strawberry jam. However, the piece de resistance of
this tea has to be the sweet stuff.
The ‘Queen of Hearts’ strawberries and cream mousse encased in heart
shaped dyed red white chocolate was gorgeous; the Chocolate Opera Rabbit’s
Clock, a mix of layers of chocolate and coffee sponge, was perfectly
bittersweet; and Heston Blumenthal like touches, such as exploding lollipops
and sweets that turn your mouth hot on one side and cold on the other, provided
an element of adventure you don’t often get at teatime.
Service wise, we were left to enjoy our tea
in peace, which was lovely, but we also had some trouble getting refills of tea
and that extra clotted cream – none of which would have bothered us that much
had they not charged a hefty and above average service charge. As usual in these places where the
chair I’m sitting on cost more than my outfit I find it hard to make a fuss,
and we’d enjoyed the atmosphere so much in the end I didn’t bother. You can get refills of all the plates
here, just like any other tea establishments, but they’re not that forthcoming
in terms of offering it so you’ve got to be shameless (especially as you may
feel a little judged…).
In conclusion then, the tea itself was
great value and the setting perfect if you prefer contemporary teatime style to
old school pomp. Just don’t turn
up in fancy dress or they might throw you back down the rabbit hole…
The Sanderson Hotel
50 Berners Street
London
W1T 3NG
020 7300 1400
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