Westminster, Afternoon Tea Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: On the site of the original Metropolitan Police HQ, this 100-seater hotel (owned by an Indian entrepreneur and operated by Hyatt) opened in December 2019. The comfortable, ground-floor lounge – with Raj-inspired decor – serves a contemporary take on afternoon tea, with added spice; there are spicy chai options and tea-based cocktails too.

Traditional, peaceful hotel brasserie, hidden away in a cute warren of St James’s streets, which has successfully upped its profile in recent years. It provides a “very good standard of food and wine that’s not expensive for the quality”. The only recurrent gripe is service that can be a tad “erratic”. Top Tip – “reasonably priced set menu”.

2022 Review: “The set menu is good value” at the National Theatre’s most salubrious in-house dining option, so it’s “always reliable” as a pre-show pit-stop. But critics would welcome a bit more ambition, saying the current effort is “a wasted opportunity” given the site and its captive audience. Top Tip: “the waiters are always a good source of play reviews”.

“Ignore The Ritz around the corner, for afternoon tea this is the place to go” according to fans of this St James’s bastion: “the scones are soft and freshly baked”, “the sandwiches and cakes are divine”, and the “famous Dukes ‘James Bond’ martini is an optional extra”.

“Delicious sarnies and pastries keep on coming” at this elegant chamber, just down the road from its rival The Ritz, to which it is a close second in votes as offering London’s top afternoon tea. There is a huge selection of brews, plus “excellent homemade ice creams and sorbets” and “yummy savoury snacks as well”. “Take a friend from overseas and pretend you come here all the time!”

“Gorgeous finger sandwiches, very pretty patisserie” and “fantastic staff” are all par for the course at an upscale afternoon tea, but it’s “the opulent surroundings that make it special” in this “beautiful room” – the architecturally dazzling, rococo former Grill Room from 1865, now named after its most famous denizen and a must-visit for gastronomic history buffs.

“One of the prettiest restaurants in London – charmingly tucked away in Floral Court, Covent Garden” – this is the in-town offshoot of the famous Richmond plant nursery, and in fact houses two establishments – “La Goccia is the better of the two” (see also). There’s “a lovely atmosphere in this light and bright room – it’s the sort of place you might take your rich aunt to for lunch”. The food, though, is “not especially memorable” and “weirdly expensive for average fare”.

“Reports of the death of The Wolseley are greatly exaggerated”. After a well-publicised boardroom battle in 2022 ousted its original co-founders, even though its long-term fans are “annoyed at the ousting of Christopher Corbin & Jeremy King”, there is “no evidence on the floor of any impact”: “it’s as good as it ever was (and just as full!”). This Continental-style Grand Café, near The Ritz (originally built as a car showroom, for which it is named) is celebrating its 20th year, and remains a hub of metropolitan living. The “impressive” and “always bustling” space is “one of the best dining rooms in London” and “if you want to wow a client or a foreigner, then bring them here”: it remains London’s No. 1 for business entertaining in our annual diners’ poll. Its “great menu of classics” is executed to a “solid and reliable” if “lacklustre” standard, but you “go for the overall package and peerless people watching, not the food”. The exception is “the most civilised breakfast anywhere on the planet” which is also our diners’ poll’s No. 1 choice in this category. The “varied menu, with something – and more – for everyone”, helps “elevate the occasion to a special level”; and it is also “a power scene” amongst business-types. Top Tip – afternoon tea is also “always impressive with its elegance and high standards”.

“Is there a better way to spend the afternoon?”, query fans of the “beautiful” foyer of this famous hotel – “a wonderful room with the piano playing and where the sandwiches just keep coming!” Supporters say “nothing can compare to the high level of cakes” and that service is “above par” too. Ratings are capped, though, by one or two more cautious reports, from those who “were expecting more of the tea” (too weak) and/or the victuals. When it comes to the music, there’s also some debate – “I hated the Disney tunes being played on the piano, although admittedly I was tempted to stand and join in when it moved on to Les Mis!”

“A truly iconic experience all round” – this “world famous”, gilt chamber is “renowned for its elegant and sophisticated atmosphere” and provides “exactly what everybody expects from an Afternoon Tea”, for which it remains London’s No.1 choice: “a great treat for your mum on her birthday, with super sandwiches (loads of ’em – they don’t scrimp here) and lots of tea options and other yummy bites”; “pricey and extravagant but worth it!”.

“A quiet oasis on the fringe of messy Soho” – this hotel comes complete with a cute and rather unexpected courtyard and makes a “great setting” for a “comfortable and reasonably priced afternoon tea”. The food at other times is “comforting but not exciting”, although the set menu offers “good value for pre-theatre dining”.

2023 Review: “With window views of the back of Buckingham Palace and its comings and goings amidst refills of tea”, this plush lounge can make a good stop-off for an afternoon treat. Feedback is limited, but praises “a lovely stack of sandwiches, pretty cakes and scones with fresh flavours”. More substantial meals are available in the hotel’s very comfortable and traditional dining room (The English Grill), complete with oil paintings and leather banquettes.

A “Covent Garden staple” for 33 years, this “bustling French bistro with packed tables but speedy service” serves “good-value, reliably cooked traditional Gallic fare” that belies its somewhat touristy looks. Top Tip – “a wide-ranging menu and the set menus and special deals add to its appeal; and it’s a good choice for families with children”.

Very often recommended as an “expensive but reliable” venue for a “perfect business lunch”, this “decorous”, family-run hotel near Buck House (where the Middletons stayed before Kate & Will’s big day) has won renown as a “very classy”, traditionally British affair, where “everything is done perfectly”. Post-Covid, however, its dining room’s performance seems to have been on the slide and the downward trend noted last year continued in this year’s poll amidst gripes that it was “not as good as previously”, serving “bland food” and with “too many high expectations dashed”. Top Tip – “a quintessential English afternoon tea” in the lounges here is still a popular event.

“One of the few remaining eccentric Soho sites left” – this “long-established fixture” was founded in 1871 by an exile from Paris. “Individual, exceptional and entertaining”, “the food still makes it a destination” – “including wonderful cakes better than any chain”. It is, though, “very busy, clearly on the ’to-do’ list of many tourists”.