London's best venues for afternoon tea

Perfect for relaxed client meetings or City lunches, Tower 42's PAUL is currently serving up afternoon tea with a festive twist. The tea comprises freshly-baked briochettes with jam and whipped cream; two buchettes (one chocolate, one raspberry); and a six finger sandwich selection made with freshly-baked bread and including flavours such as ‘Dinde de Noël’. That's Christmas turkey, if you didn't pass your French GCSEs. Mange tout.

£35 with a glass of Cremant Brut, £40 with a glass of Champagne Camille Saves and £45 with a glass of Veuve Clicquot. For more info visit paul-uk.com

If you’re prudish, try not to choke on your giant fluffy scone as you glance at the walls of Sketch’s famed David Shrigley gallery – they’re lined with 239 cheeky works by the artist. This is afternoon tea with a tongue-in-cheek, kitsch design-led difference: walk through the doors of this Conduit Street restaurant and you’ll find yourself enveloped in pink; the powdery hue graces the ceilings, walls and squishy velvet seats of designer India Mahdavi’s eclectic interior. We embraced the pink by kicking things off with a glass of Billecart-Salmon Rosé champagne, before diving into treats including a caviar-adorned quail’s egg sandwich, delicate green tea macaroons and a mini croque monsieur carefully wrapped in a paper parcel, and oozing with buttery comté cheese. Tea is served in Shrigley’s inscribed crockery, which instructs you to ‘forget about it’ or tells you ‘it’s not ok’. Nutty, but this is Sketch and we like it.

£41pp, sketch.london

‘Drink me’ reads the label on the tiny potion bottle at the Sanderson’s Alice in Wonderland themed tea. Drunk through a straw, the vial contains a layered sensation of passion fruit, coconut and banana. Flavoured leaf tea is brought over in dinky glass bottles that you’re invited to sniff and choose from; strawberries and cream rhubarb and apple pie. From the moment we sit down in the Sanderson's leafy courtyard, the journey down the rabbit hole begins: menus are hidden inside vintage books, a pink musical box is opened to reveal a mound of sugar cubes complete with a twirling fairy that dances to ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, Discover menus hidden inside vintage books, teapots adorned with kings and carousels and ticking sandwiches rest on ticking clocks. The snacks are equally inventive; standouts include red velvet ladybird cake and coffee-flavoured pocket-watch macaroons. Gimmicky – yes, but the magic and inventiveness of this tea more than makes up for that.

£48pp, morganshotelgroup.com

Bang in the middle of of bustling Southbank is the iconic OXO Tower, one of London’s true landmarks, and stepping out from the lift into the pristine restaurant with its perfect skyline views can’t help but elicit a sense of occasion. If you’re hungry, this one’s for you: the OXO Tower’s new afternoon tea features a hefty selection of British savouries – a delicious mini Yorkshire pudding filled topped with beef and horseradish cream and delicate Dorset crab choux buns were our favourites – plus you’ll get homemade scones and a trio of real-sized desserts to finish (truffle, tart, and trifle, for alliteration fans). Delicious, belt-stretching stuff. 

£35pp or £45 with champagne, oxotower.co.uk

The booze-inclined need look no further than St Ermin’s hotel afternoon tea, which serves up unlimited champers in the quiet cosiness of its Tea Lounge or its pretty Caxon Terrace in summer. If the room starts to spin, award-winning chef Adam Handling’s perfectly-presented selection of sandwiches, zingy desserts and fluffy warm scones will help you back on the way to sobriety.

£45pp with unlimited champagne, sterminshotel.co.uk

Just behind Regent Street is Sanctum Soho, a hotel which revolves around rock star glamour and glitz. The man tea, served as you relax on gold leather clad banquettes, is an indulgent array of poached oysters with Bloody Mary relish, beef sliders, mini lamb hot pots and roast beef with Yorkshire puds. Top everything off with generous servings of three different types of Jack Daniels’ whisky, which is served in lavish silver tankards, before waddling (after copious amounts of snacking, a more dignified stride will be a struggle) towards the hotel’s plush 5th floor roof terrace to enjoy a complimentary cigar.

£50pp, sanctumsoho.com

The Savoy’s Thames Foyer, with its imposing glass dome that fills the room with natural light, has always been the place to see and be seen, and it’s where the hotel’s afternoon tea is served. Bite-sized delights on offer include chicken and mango chutney sandwiches, homemade scones with clotted cream and jam and lemon curd, and a divine vanilla filled eclair with lavender icing, courtesy of The Savoy’s Executive Pastry Chef, Ludwig Hely. As you munch away, coupe de champagne in hand, you’ll be serenaded by the sounds of the resident pianist. Pinky out, please – afternoon tea doesn’t get much swankier. 

£52.50pp, fairmont.com

Afternoon tea is given a cool, fuss-free London edge at vintage-themed Marble Arch hotel Arch London, which celebrates London’s thriving, multicultural street food scene. There’ll be no caviar-topped treats or artfully constructed millefeuilles served on fine china plates here, instead the food is laid out on two wooden sharing boards – one savoury, one sweet – and is laden with mouth-watering morsels of smoked chicken; chilli, avocado and mango tortillas; scotch eggs; and lemon and mango rice pudding with toasted coconut. You can also plump for an eclectic selection of cocktails – our favourite is the dangerously drinkable Indian Clouds – a jasmine-tea infused gin martini made with butterscotch schnapps, pink grapefruit and lime.

£38 with champagne or afternoon tea cocktail, thearchlondon.com

Enjoy a fresh take on the traditional British afternoon tea in this 1920s-style space. Tasty finger sandwiches and homemade butter scones with strawberry jam and Devon clotted cream are understandably popular, with a choice of teas served throughout. Betty Blythe also offers a fun Alice in Wonderland-inspired menu, complete with ‘Eat Me’ treats and bottomless teapots. Perfect for glam hen dos, Great Gatsby-themed birthdays and other girly get-togethers, this charming venue even provides a dress-up box of vintage accessories so you can enjoy your tea party in style!

Afternoon tea £22.50 pp, private hire from £23 pp. tagvenue.com

Michelin-starred Basque restaurant Ametsa with Arzak Instruction at The Halkin’s boutique hotel COMO offers a fine dining Spanish twist on afternoon tea. The new menu at the Belgravia haunt, created by Spanish Michelin-starred chef Sergi Sanz, has done away with British finger sandwiches and replaced them with beautifully presented tapas style savouries and sweets. Standout dishes include spider crab tempura, pillow pork croquettes and an impeccable Catalan cream with cinnamon. Food is served with a choice of Jing Teas. And a chilled glass of Spanish cava, obvs. 

£30pp, comohotels.com

It’s hard to focus on your food when you’re sitting in the magnificent Art Deco surroundings of the 19th century Paul Hamlyn Hall, with its arching ceilings and vast glass windows. The delights on your plate are equally worthy of your attention, however: a seasonal Nutcracker-themed tea featuring rum and vanilla drum cake, complete with drumstick, dark walnut chocolate bonbon and a sumptuous new take on Gateau Opéra made with white chocolate and Perigord truffle. Young afternoon tea-goers will be entertained by popping candy Christmas tree cupcakes candy cane meringues. 

£42.50pp for adults and £18.75 for children, roh.org.uk