Experiencing the Traditional English Afternoon Tea

Posted on 21. Mar, 2012 by in Destinations, Press Trips, United Kingdom

One of the items in my ever-growing bucket list was to have a taste of the famous English afternoon tea for myself. Even after living in London for a year and visiting several times, I never actually got the opportunity to try it. So needless to say that when Radisson Edwardian Hotels offered me a complimentary “Stupendous Afternoon Tea“, I was beyond myself!

Dial Restaurant & Bar

I arrived at the Mercer Street Hotel just in time for my traditional English tea - 3PM. The Dial restaurant is absolutely beautiful and very much in my palette, with accents of green, yellow and purple. For some reason, I always associated afternoon tea with extremely girly decor and a flower overload - I was glad to see that it was just my silly mind, and that tea can be done tastefully in a refreshing, modern environment.

I was immediately greeted with a glass of champagne, which was totally unexpected but very much welcome. I kind of felt like English royalty - and I may or may not have imagined myself on a girls-only afternoon date with Kate.

As soon as I was finished with my silly thoughts and champagne (which may be related), I was served what I thought could only happen in dreams - three lovely plates of pure goodness. Scones, jams, cupcakes, sandwiches and even a mini chocolate fondue. I was in absolute heaven. Only then did I understand why it was called the Stupendous afternoon tea…

Beware. I am not responsible for the behavior of your taste buds after viewing the following photos.

Scones, jam and clotted cream

Blueberry cupcake

Delightful sandwiches

The complete menu goes as follows:

Sanwiches
Cheddar cheese
Cucumber
Egg mayonnaise
Honey ham sandwiches

Cakes
Ludicrously lovely lemon loaf cake
Raspberry slice
Bang bang brownie
Assorted flavoured extremely enormous cupcakes

Treats
Fantastic fondue
Traditional scones with Devonshire clotted cream and jam
Tremendously terrific trifle

These scones were the absolute best scones I have ever had in my entire life. The trifle had absolutely nothing to do with Rachel’s recipe and I discovered that I am actually a huge fan of cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches.

I tell you, it was an hour filled with absolute happiness and that finished with yes, a food baby, but also a feeling of accomplishment - I finally experienced the famous English afternoon tea and it was wonderful!

Disclaimer: I was offered a complimentary Stupendous Afternoon Tea by the Radisson Edwardian Hotels. All opinions, as always, are my own.

Have you ever had afternoon tea? What’s your favorite treat?

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13 Responses to “Experiencing the Traditional English Afternoon Tea”

  1. Laurence

    21. Mar, 2012

    I love scones. They are the best part of an afternoon tea experience :D

    Reply to this comment

  2. Laura

    21. Mar, 2012

    Oh, that blueberry cupcake looks so delicious!

    Reply to this comment

  3. The Time-Crunched Traveler (Ellen)

    22. Mar, 2012

    Yum! This all looks delicious, and relaxing as well. I’ve always wanted to have strawberries and cream at Wimbledon! That’s #1 on my British bucket list. :)

    Reply to this comment

  4. Katherina

    22. Mar, 2012

    This looks delicious! I’ve had afternoon tea in a really nice place next to the Ritz in London (I just can’t remember the name quite yet!).. I love the concept! but you better not be on a diet :)
    Are you still in London these days?

    Reply to this comment

  5. Natalie

    22. Mar, 2012

    I could eat all that lot and guzzle the champagne as well. Like the photos of the food. It is hard to take good photos of food but you did well.

    Reply to this comment

  6. Italian Notes

    22. Mar, 2012

    Who needs dinner, if you can have English tea?

    Reply to this comment

  7. FrancyR

    22. Mar, 2012

    I’ve just came back from my getaway in London and I’m really fond of English food. I’ve never expected to fall in love with English food in particular with its cakes! I love scones with butter and jam…and tea of course!!

    Reply to this comment

  8. Wanderplex

    22. Mar, 2012

    Oh this looks like such a lovely way to spend an afternoon! I’ve always wanted to do a high tea but never got to it. I know there are places outside of England that offer it, but somehow it doesn’t seem like it’d be the same!

    Reply to this comment

  9. Christine

    22. Mar, 2012

    I love high tea! This looks to die for! Yum :)

    Reply to this comment

  10. Arianne

    23. Mar, 2012

    I think aside from the glorious breakfasts, afternoon tea is the only great thing about the English cuisine. I really have a problem with pepper pasties but the scones and pastries make up for it!

    Reply to this comment

  11. Lesley Peterson

    23. Mar, 2012

    LOVE London, afternoon tea and that last photo - inspired!

    Reply to this comment

  12. Annette | Bucket List Journey

    24. Mar, 2012

    I’m so excited to be in London next week and already have an Afternoon Tea scheduled! I hope they have some cupcakes too ;)

    Reply to this comment

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