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Sanderson Hotel
Add: 50 Berners Street London, W1T 3NG
Tel: 020 7300 1400
Hours: [afternoon tea] 11am – 5:30pm
Website: www.sandersonlondon.com
Price: [afternoon tea] £35 [champagne afternoon tea] £45
Visited on: Dec 2012
People tell me that having high tea at a fancy hotel (read: Ritz-Carlton) in London is an absolute must, but I wasn’t so enthusiastic about this type of classic three-tiered affairs since I’ve already tried quite a few in some very prestigious five-star establishments. I was pretty set on skipping afternoon tea in London until I read about Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea at Sanderson Hotel: “We invite you to tumble down the rabbit hole and enjoy the wonderful world of Afternoon Tea in our beautiful Courtyard Garden…with menus hidden inside vintage books, napkins wrapped with riddles, teapots adorned with kings and queens…”
Curious, very curious.
So I made a booking for tea at Sanderson Hotel (£35/person, or £45 with champagne) to experience its Alice in Wonderland set up. Indeed, the napkins came wrapped with riddles.
And menus were hidden inside vintage books.
Teapots, adorned with kings and queens.
4 choices of tea available.
A glass of champagne for an extra £10.
And the food? Starting with the savories, we’ve got smoked cumbrian ham with wholegrain mustard on sun-dried tomato bread, cucumber and chive cream cheese on spinach bread, cold smoked salmon and lemon butter on dark rye bread, egg mayonnaise with watercress and smoked sea salt on lemon bread; the sweets, ‘Tick Tock’ traditional Victoria sponge, melting mango cheesecake, three teas jelly & foam served in a chocolate, carrot meringue served on a bed of pea shoots, and “strawberries and cream” homemade marshmallow mushrooms; and of course, scones served with herb butter, fruit preserves, and clotted cream.
Passionfruit-flavored ‘Drink Me’ potion. Cute and delicious.
Even the sugar box contains a little surprise.
Yes it sings!
I enjoyed Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea at Sanderson Hotel not for the finger foods and desserts, but for the whimsical setup and atmosphere. It’s far from being classic, but for those looking for something different and fun, it’s a lovely lovely choice.
