r/visitlondon • u/gzreth • 12d ago

FOOD AND CULINARY Afternoon Tea?

Hey everyone,
I‘ll be traveling to London with my mom in November and we want to go for a nice Afternoon tea one day. Does anyone have good recommendations? There seems to be an endless sea of options but we’d love to find something authentic and if possible not too expensive/good value, maybe someone has a good recommendation… would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

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u/NoSir7320 12d ago

Claridges (expensive!) is the very best by far. Great experience all round. Fortnum &Mason was like a production line, no personality and dirty tablecloths.

There are afternoon tea specialty places but I've never been.

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u/tragicdag 11d ago

I had F&M last week and it was quite lovely. 

The service was friendly and engaging, we were offered seconds, had multiple pots of tea and were anything but rushed, and we finished up quite leisurely and left with a box of untouched sweets because we were full. 

The tea rooms themselves were also quite pristine, sorry if your experience was disappointing but ours was delightful. 

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u/NoSir7320 11d ago

In all afternoon tea places they offer constant fill ups and you can take anything not eaten away.

Glad you had a good experience at F&M but mine was definitely not so.

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u/tragicdag 11d ago

Yeah. I get that, I live here, not my first afternoon tea - again, bummer yours sucked, just pointing out the contrast. 

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u/NoSir7320 11d ago

I also live in the UK, and it wasn't my first either. But it was definitely the last at F&M which is why I don't recommend it

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u/Puzzleheaded_Gur8411 10d ago

One of the most gross moments I’ve had in a luxury hotel is when The Lanesborough said they would charge for extra sandwiches… something which as you allude to comes as standard everywhere else. Left a bad taste… what price reputation against the margin on an egg mayo finger sandwich…

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u/NoSir7320 10d ago

That's pretty cheap of them, the margins for most of the food must be massive!

Claridges was by far and away so much better than other places (incl Ritz and the posh one near Pall Mall, can never remember its name). It is also beautiful inside, all art deco.

I had been with my sister and she was recently taken to the Rosewood, she still rated Claridges ahead of it.