Afternoon tea at the Athenaeum Hotel, Mayfair

Food: 5/5

Service: 5/5

Ambience: 5/5

At a glance: generous, friendly, special

I have been to the Athenaeum for tea before, in 2009, and I remember being very impressed. So, it was some trepidation that I decided to return – always worrying that in the intervening two years they would somehow have lowered their standards. Happily not so!

One of the things I love best about the Athenaeum is that they staff are attentive, but not pushy. You can stroll into the foyer and take a seat without being asked why you are there, and everyone greets you with a genuine smile.

We took the Honey Tea, which at £39 is the deluxe package – I would recommend it over the standard tea if you like honey, alcohol and chocolate, but otherwise the Evergreen Tea is splendid.

The first step, of course, was to choose the tea. I had Margaret Hope Darjeeling which had a beautiful, floral, honeyed flavour and complemented the rest of the goodies perfectly. 

Next, came the “honey sandwiches”. The tea comes with honey roasted ham sandwiches and seeded rolls filled with goat’s cheese and onion caramelised in honey. However, they very kindly substituted half the ham ones for chicken because my friend doesn’t eat pork. She pronounced them the best chicken sandwiches she has ever had!

The finger sandwiches were generous in size and the seeded rolls substantial, but after the honey sandwiches, they bring you a platter of the standard afternoon tea sandwiches (cucumber, egg and cress, ham and two kinds of salmon) to choose from. The cucumber sandwiches were particularly impressive as they were served on pesto bread – a delicious combination which I shall consider when making my own afternoon teas. 

The sandwiches were followed by hot crumpets and warm scones (plain, but flavoured with orange blossom) served with bowls of jam, honey and clotted cream as well as butter. My only criticism would be that the jam was rather runny and slid of the scones, but otherwise it was all lovely – the crumpets were toasted to perfection, hot and crispy.

At this point, I was quite satisfied and what we’d had already qualified as a substantial tea. But. Next came the cakes! We were brought a glass of honey-infused Champagne each and a large platter of cakes. I was worried the bubbly would be oversweet, but it was merely floral, with a taste and odour of rose petal. The cakes were magnificent: chocolate millefeuille, honey cake, elderflower jelly, lavender macarons, chocolate and honeycomb marquis, honey cheesecake. I managed to try the millefeuille, jelly and macaron and then our waitress came back and offered to pack up our leftovers, which was very welcome.

I would definitely rank the Athenaeum as one of my top two afternoon tea experiences. It’s perfect for a group of friends or a low-key “occasion” treat as the atmosphere is relaxed, but the food is traditional, generous and served expertly. You can also call in advance for a birthday plate and they will pipe a message in chocolate.  I recommend going for one of the later sittings (after 4.30) as they allow you to linger as long as you please.