With the days getting shorter and London’s foliage transforming into a gazillion shades of gold, ochre and crimson, autumn is a great time of year to explore the capital’s botanically inspired afternoon teas. Whether you’re a modernist or traditionalist, are looking to sip endless cups of exotic teas from far-flung shores or prefer to pair your finger food with something a little more, well, alcoholic, this autumn’s offering is sure to have something to suit the vibe. Craving a kitchen garden’s bounty? Dainty sandwiches on white? Just want an excuse to sit in a greenhouse and eat cream cakes all day? These are the afternoon teas to make a beeline for.
Blooming British Afternoon Tea, Royal Lancaster London, Hyde Park
If you’ve ever wondered how eating cream cakes and saving the world might go hand in hand, Royal Lancaster London’s Blooming British Afternoon Tea is for you. Created in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, this new pollinator-friendly offering has been designed to help support a future where both people and planet thrive. Guests coming straight from the museum can follow a specially created map through Hyde Park (jumping in piles of crunchy autumn leaves, optional), arriving at the hotel’s park-ensconced Hyde Café in 30 minutes. Refuel on a selection of sandwiches, warm, freshly baked scones and sweets with whimsical names such as “Daisy and the Bee”, all accompanied by bespoke teas from Camellia’s Tea House. “Bees, wasps, butterflies and moths provide essential ecosystem services,” says Maxine Lister, head of licensing at the Natural History Museum. “They pollinate the plants and flowers around us and ensure we have rich biodiversity across the UK.” Anyone for another eclair?
Lancaster Tce; W2 2TY; royallancaster.com
Kew Gardens Afternoon Tea, The Grove, Hertfordshire
Set in bucolic Hertfordshire countryside, yet less than an hour from central London, The Grove is home to the sprawling Jemima’s Kitchen Garden, which produces not only fruit and veg for the five-star country pile’s cafés, restaurants and bars, but also hops for its beer and honey to grace its legendary breakfast buffet. This autumn, The Grove’s elegant Lounges are once again playing host to an autumn-themed afternoon tea crafted in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with every ingredient that goes into the flora and fauna-inspired spread either hand-packed from Jemima’s or sourced from a network of sustainable and trusted UK suppliers. The menu includes the likes of Grants rope-hung smoked salmon with sea buckthorn and dill crème fraiche – the sea buckthorn foraged on the English south coast; dill grown on-site – and a blackberry and plum mille feuille boasting caramelised puff pastry, a yuzu-, lime- and orange-infused cream, and a glut of late-summer blackberries and plums. What’s even sweeter is that 10 per cent of the cost of each booking will be donated to Kew, which is committed to understanding and protecting plants and fungi, preserving the wellbeing of people and combatting biodiversity loss and climate change.
Chandler’s Cross, Watford WD3 4TG; thegrove.co.uk
The 7 best afternoon teas in London this autumn
Blooming British Afternoon Tea, Royal Lancaster London, Hyde Park
Best for citizen scientists
If you’ve ever wondered how eating cream cakes and saving the world might go hand in hand, Royal Lancaster London’s Blooming British Afternoon Tea is for you. Created in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, this new pollinator-friendly offering has been designed to help support a future where both people and planet thrive. Guests coming straight from the museum can follow a specially created map through Hyde Park (jumping in piles of crunchy autumn leaves, optional), arriving at the hotel’s park-ensconced Hyde Café in 30 minutes. Refuel on a selection of sandwiches, warm, freshly baked scones and sweets with whimsical names such as “Daisy and the Bee”, all accompanied by bespoke teas from Camellia’s Tea House. “Bees, wasps, butterflies and moths provide essential ecosystem services,” says Maxine Lister, head of licensing at the Natural History Museum. “They pollinate the plants and flowers around us and ensure we have rich biodiversity across the UK.” Anyone for another eclair?
Lancaster Tce; W2 2TY; royallancaster.com
Kew Gardens Afternoon Tea, The Grove, Hertfordshire
Best for jam fans
Set in bucolic Hertfordshire countryside, yet less than an hour from central London, The Grove is home to the sprawling Jemima’s Kitchen Garden, which produces not only fruit and veg for the five-star country pile’s cafés, restaurants and bars, but also hops for its beer and honey to grace its legendary breakfast buffet. This autumn, The Grove’s elegant Lounges are once again playing host to an autumn-themed afternoon tea crafted in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with every ingredient that goes into the flora and fauna-inspired spread either hand-packed from Jemima’s or sourced from a network of sustainable and trusted UK suppliers. The menu includes the likes of Grants rope-hung smoked salmon with sea buckthorn and dill crème fraiche – the sea buckthorn foraged on the English south coast; dill grown on-site – and a blackberry and plum mille feuille boasting caramelised puff pastry, a yuzu-, lime- and orange-infused cream, and a glut of late-summer blackberries and plums. What’s even sweeter is that 10 per cent of the cost of each booking will be donated to Kew, which is committed to understanding and protecting plants and fungi, preserving the wellbeing of people and combatting biodiversity loss and climate change.
Chandler’s Cross, Watford WD3 4TG; thegrove.co.uk
Petersham Nurseries offers a contemporary twist on traditional autumn country flavours
Garden Afternoon Tea, Petersham Nurseries, Richmond
The traditional flavours of the autumn country garden are given a contemporary twist by the team at Petersham Nurseries’ Teahouse in leafy Richmond. Brimming with delicacies inspired by the natural world that reflect the “romance and character” of the 2004-opened venue, the Garden Afternoon Tea comes accompanied by your choice of loose-leaf tea (£60pp) or with a 2022 Prosecco Millesimato (£70pp). Either way, you can look forward to menu highlights such as roasted tomato and black olive tapenade tart, and sun-dried tomato and cheddar scones with nasturtium butter, alongside sweet confections including a best-in-class apricot and almond frangipane and a decadent ruby chocolate and raspberry choux. Finish with a stroll around Petersham’s gorgeous greenhouses – but don’t blame us if you leave with a barrowful of salvaged stonework and vintage homeware on your way out, fired up on Earl Grey and puff pastry to transform your own balcony or patch of London lawn.
Off Church Ln, Petersham Rd, Richmond TW10 7AB; petershamnurseries.com
Garden Afternoon Tea, Petersham Nurseries, Richmond
Best for foragers of all stripes
The traditional flavours of the autumn country garden are given a contemporary twist by the team at Petersham Nurseries’ Teahouse in leafy Richmond. Brimming with delicacies inspired by the natural world that reflect the “romance and character” of the 2004-opened venue, the Garden Afternoon Tea comes accompanied by your choice of loose-leaf tea (£60pp) or with a 2022 Prosecco Millesimato (£70pp). Either way, you can look forward to menu highlights such as roasted tomato and black olive tapenade tart, and sun-dried tomato and cheddar scones with nasturtium butter, alongside sweet confections including a best-in-class apricot and almond frangipane and a decadent ruby chocolate and raspberry choux. Finish with a stroll around Petersham’s gorgeous greenhouses – but don’t blame us if you leave with a barrowful of salvaged stonework and vintage homeware on your way out, fired up on Earl Grey and puff pastry to transform your own balcony or patch of London lawn.
Off Church Ln, Petersham Rd, Richmond TW10 7AB; petershamnurseries.com
Cakes at Kit Kemp’s Number Sixteen Kensington hotel are as fancy as the addresses’ interiors
Afternoon Tea at the Orangery, Number Sixteen, South Kensington
The glorious, garden-facing, Kit Kemp-designed drawing rooms of mid-Victorian townhouse hotel Number Sixteen are a good place to let your worries slip away over a steaming cup of Tall Trees. Just one of an impressive selection of tea blends, the nuanced brew has bold notes of oranges and bergamot and mellow traces of coriander, rooibos and cloves. Surrounded by tactile textiles in gelato-like shades of pistachio, strawberry and crema, and chaperoned by the hand-painted puppets that oversee the honesty bar, you’ll be served your body-weight in bite-sized sandwiches – cured ham and piccalilli, perhaps, or goat’s cheese and sundried tomato – along with smoked salmon blinis and swoon-worthy sweet nibbles such as matcha and mango sponge, raspberry and dark chocolate tartlet, and lemon and white chocolate macaron. Plus, of course, scones served with clotted cream and an assortment of preserves. Still thirsty? Debate the “cream or jam first” question over a glass of Sussex-produced 2019 Rathfinny Rosé.
16 Summer Pl, SW7 3EG; firmdalehotels.com
Afternoon Tea at the Orangery, Number Sixteen, South Kensington
Best for traditionalists
The glorious, garden-facing, Kit Kemp-designed drawing rooms of mid-Victorian townhouse hotel Number Sixteen are a good place to let your worries slip away over a steaming cup of Tall Trees. Just one of an impressive selection of tea blends, the nuanced brew has bold notes of oranges and bergamot and mellow traces of coriander, rooibos and cloves. Surrounded by tactile textiles in gelato-like shades of pistachio, strawberry and crema, and chaperoned by the hand-painted puppets that oversee the honesty bar, you’ll be served your body-weight in bite-sized sandwiches – cured ham and piccalilli, perhaps, or goat’s cheese and sundried tomato – along with smoked salmon blinis and swoon-worthy sweet nibbles such as matcha and mango sponge, raspberry and dark chocolate tartlet, and lemon and white chocolate macaron. Plus, of course, scones served with clotted cream and an assortment of preserves. Still thirsty? Debate the “cream or jam first” question over a glass of Sussex-produced 2019 Rathfinny Rosé.
16 Summer Pl, SW7 3EG; firmdalehotels.com
Summer florals all year round at Dalloway Terrace, The Bloomsbury Hotel
Dalloway Terrace Champagne Afternoon Tea, The Bloomsbury Hotel, Bloomsbury
Make like Virginia Woolf on the heated patio of the Bloomsbury Hotel’s secret-garden restaurant Dalloway Terrace, where, cosied up under a blanket, you can while away the afternoon with a book and a glass of Heidsieck Brut Reserve champagne in hand. Sustenance comes in the form of free-range egg mayo and watercress sandwiches on pain de mie, Irish cheddar scones served with sundried tomato butter, and a punchy harissa and apricot chicken variation served on turmeric bread that would surely have caused raised eyebrows among the Bloomsbury set. The salted caramel madeleines, meanwhile, are so good that, had they been around back when Woolf was at work, they’d surely have ended up in one of her novels. Finish with a round of vanilla and sultana buttermilk scones: arriving with homemade strawberry and prosecco conserve, they are well worth discreetly having to undo a button to accommodate.
16-22 Great Russell St, WC1B 3NN; dallowayterrace.com
Dalloway Terrace Champagne Afternoon Tea, The Bloomsbury Hotel, Bloomsbury
Best for bookworms
Make like Virginia Woolf on the heated patio of the Bloomsbury Hotel’s secret-garden restaurant Dalloway Terrace, where, cosied up under a blanket, you can while away the afternoon with a book and a glass of Heidsieck Brut Reserve champagne in hand. Sustenance comes in the form of free-range egg mayo and watercress sandwiches on pain de mie, Irish cheddar scones served with sundried tomato butter, and a punchy harissa and apricot chicken variation served on turmeric bread that would surely have caused raised eyebrows among the Bloomsbury set. The salted caramel madeleines, meanwhile, are so good that, had they been around back when Woolf was at work, they’d surely have ended up in one of her novels. Finish with a round of vanilla and sultana buttermilk scones: arriving with homemade strawberry and prosecco conserve, they are well worth discreetly having to undo a button to accommodate.
16-22 Great Russell St, WC1B 3NN; dallowayterrace.com
London’s Pan Pacific hotel serves Asian-inspired afternoon teas at its Liverpool Street location | Credit: Jodi Hinds
The Orchid Lounge Afternoon Tea, Pan Pacific London, Bishopsgate
Afternoon tea comes southeast Asian-style at The Orchid Lounge in Liverpool Street’s slick Pan Pacific London, where British tradition meets Singaporean sass in all the right ways. Served Thursday to Monday, the Straits Kitchen-curated afternoon tea menu marries sun-kissed flavours – mango, coconut and pink peppercorn dacquoise; strawberry and jasmine choux; nectarine, thyme, and olive oil cake – with all the comforts of a classic British tea, and the accompanying fine blends on offer span New Zealand oolong to Kashmiri saffron. Not just in it for the sugar rush? Savoury options include a delicately crafted sushi roll with avocado and salmon, and a tofu bao bursting with pickled ginger and sriracha.
80 Houndsditch, EC3A 7AB; panpacific.com
The Orchid Lounge Afternoon Tea, Pan Pacific London, Bishopsgate
Best for sunseekers
Afternoon tea comes southeast Asian-style at The Orchid Lounge in Liverpool Street’s slick Pan Pacific London, where British tradition meets Singaporean sass in all the right ways. Served Thursday to Monday, the Straits Kitchen-curated afternoon tea menu marries sun-kissed flavours – mango, coconut and pink peppercorn dacquoise; strawberry and jasmine choux; nectarine, thyme, and olive oil cake – with all the comforts of a classic British tea, and the accompanying fine blends on offer span New Zealand oolong to Kashmiri saffron. Not just in it for the sugar rush? Savoury options include a delicately crafted sushi roll with avocado and salmon, and a tofu bao bursting with pickled ginger and sriracha.
80 Houndsditch, EC3A 7AB; panpacific.com
Seasonal autumn flavours showcased at Peggy Porschen, Belgravia | Credit: Paul Plews
Autumn Afternoon Tea, Peggy Porschen, Belgravia
Peggy Porschen’s peony-pink café in Belgravia invites you to upgrade your grid game this autumn with an afternoon tea as photogenic as it is delicious. The new menu showcases the best of the season’s natural larder – think spiced pumpkin, caramelised toffee apple, and fat blackberries – in creations so pretty that it would feel rude not to take a snap before devouring them. Love Halloween? You’ll enjoy the options that nod to the season’s spookiness without sacrificing the aesthetic (there’s not a drop of fake blood in evidence). You can also expect dainty finger sandwiches and light, fluffy scones slathered in clotted cream and jam, paired with expertly curated tea infusions or a bottle of fizz.
116 Ebury Street, SW1W 9QQ; peggyporschen.com
Autumn Afternoon Tea, Peggy Porschen, Belgravia
Best for those in search of la vie en rose
Peggy Porschen’s peony-pink café in Belgravia invites you to upgrade your grid game this autumn with an afternoon tea as photogenic as it is delicious. The new menu showcases the best of the season’s natural larder – think spiced pumpkin, caramelised toffee apple, and fat blackberries – in creations so pretty that it would feel rude not to take a snap before devouring them. Love Halloween? You’ll enjoy the options that nod to the season’s spookiness without sacrificing the aesthetic (there’s not a drop of fake blood in evidence). You can also expect dainty finger sandwiches and light, fluffy scones slathered in clotted cream and jam, paired with expertly curated tea infusions or a bottle of fizz.
116 Ebury Street, SW1W 9QQ; peggyporschen.com