London - Traditional Afternoon Tea

Places for delicious tea and cakes can be found all over the city

Jun 7, 2007

London tea rooms are where you will find the traditional afternoon tea. You don't have to frequent the famous places, there are great little places in Soho and Mayfair.

Fortnum & Mason and the Ritz Hotel London are famous for afternoon tea, but London has dozens of tearooms tucked away in corners of the known only to the cognoscenti - all catering to the ‘sweet tooth’ of the British. Don’t just wander into any old place that advertises ‘Afternoon Teas’ - you may end up with plastic cakes and day-old scones.

London Tea Rooms

Choose your tearoom as carefully as you might choose a restaurant for dinner and you won’t be disappointed. You’ll be well rewarded with delectable delicacies as good as those to be found in any Parisian patisserie.

Here are some of the best - but not necessarily the biggest -places.The real afternoon tea connoisseur, leaves behind the well trodden paths to the Ritz, Waldorf, and Fortnum’s, and heads for one of the numerous small, often family owned, teashops that abound in London. These are the places frequented by locals and here you get the goods without the high cost ‘packaging’ of the better known tourist venues.

London Tea Rooms - The Best Places

Some of the best of these unpretentious, yet comfortable, little tea rooms are located in Soho, London’s equivalent of the Quartier Latin or Greenwich Village. One is Patisserie Valerie, in Old Compton Street, has been here since the early l900’s. Always busy, with a cheerful young clientele, the atmosphere is informal and the cakes and pastries superb. You can buy wonderful truffles, made with the very best Belgium (Callebaut) chocolate. . Tea is served in china pots and you order whatever pastries take your fancy.

Just around the corner from ‘Valerie’ is Maison Bertaux. This tiny tearoom/patisserie could easily be overlooked as it is tucked away in one of the quieter corners of Soho, at 28 Greek Street. The small tearoom serves about forty different cakes - all produced by four pastry chefs who beaver away in the basement, and all delicious. Well worth a visit.

Richoux have been in the patisserie business since l908 and have three outlets. One is in the heart of Mayfair at 41a South Audley Street. The owner calls this ‘the watering hole of Mayfair’ and it is a popular place with the somewhat high-tone clientele who live in this extremely expensive area of London. Situated where it is, with exclusive hotels nearby, Richoux is known to many famous people who drop in for tea and cakes when staying in the area. A large range of pastries is offered, as well as very good ice cream.

Maison Sagne is located at l05 Marylebone High Street, it is only a seven or eight minute walk from Oxford Street. This is a truly continental patisserie, with a Viennese flavour, where the atmosphere hasn’t changed since it was opened in 1921. The service is solicitous, in the old-fashioned way, which contributes to the general air of calm, and it’s not hard to imagine Sherlock Holmes sitting in a corner surveying the scene, having just popped over from his rooms in nearby Baker Street. They make good hot chocolate and delicious Danish pastries. For tea, along with the plain and fancy cakes, there’s a large selection of fresh breads.

So these are just a few of London’s really nice tearooms. Forget the cholesterol and enjoy!

The copyright of the article London - Traditional Afternoon Tea in Historical Travel is owned by Cathy Smith. Permission to republish London - Traditional Afternoon Tea in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.