Tuesday 13 December 2016

Afternoon Tea at Christmas: The Cavendish Hotel, London


Located in London’s central hub of afternoon tea activity, close to The Ritz and Fortum and Mason, The Cavendish London is in good company. It’s also situated along one of the city’s iconic tailoring streets and has taken inspiration from these historic roots for its new “Jermyn Street Afternoon Tea” menu laced with hints of festive flavour. We went along last week to try it for ourselves.


The Petrichor restaurant where tea is served, is a laid back and quiet spot. Starting with a glass of champagne and a huge plate of sandwiches filled with some real winter comfort food fillings and flavours, The Cavendish has done away with the traditional tea stand in favour of serving savoury and sweet separately. As expected, the smoked salmon on lemon and rye bread was delicious but our favourites had to be the seasonal turkey and cranberry, and maple roast ham and cheese toastie (Note: Caroline liked this one so much, she stole mine!).


The sweet portion of the menu is presented in a unique sewing box setting, in keeping with the tailoring theme, which unfolds to fill the entire width of the table. To start there are two mini scones each (one plain, one fruit), the perfect size and served warm along with a good dollop of clotted cream and strawberry jam. 


The pretty pastry selection followed a similarly wintry vibe with a banoffee caramel tart, mini mince pie, dark chocolate and cranberry brownie, chocolate and orange slice and vanilla panacotta with winterberry compote. A good mix of both rich chocolate and fruity flavours and plenty to leave you feeling full. The mini mince pie was a welcome festive touch but the winner for us had to be the chocolate and orange slice filled with cream and topped with tangy orange pieces. 

Tea-wise we went for an extremely non-adventurous Breakfast blend and a coffee on this occasion but there were different tea options should you want to try something a little more interesting!


Overall this is a really nice tea and for £29 pp (£35pp with champagne) it’s much cheaper compared to other tea venues in the area, which is a big plus! Perhaps the side that let it down was the environment, it wasn’t a particularly busy afternoon and whilst we understand that it’s difficult to create an atmosphere with few bodies in the room, the restaurant itself isn’t particularly special and for a tea that prides itself on delivering a themed afternoon tea experience, it’s subtleties are drowned out a little by the room itself which lacks any character. The food is delicious but there is so much competition in the area, I believe more attention to detail in the venue itself to create more of a relaxed afternoon tea lounge experience, would really give this tea the boost it deserves.

For more information and to book visit: http://www.thecavendish-london.co.uk/

* Prices correct at time of writing

Whilst we were provided with a complementary afternoon tea for review, all thoughts and opinions are our own!


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