Afternoon tea is one of the things that brought me to
Britain in the first place. It conjures up images of old fashioned cafes in
Midsummer Murders looking villages where Agatha Christie lookalikes nibble on their cucumber sandwiches, sipping Earl Grey from flowery tea cups while discussing the latest stitching patterns in Sewing World Magazine. I spent a fortune during my three years at university in
Exeter in the old ladies
favourite cafe 'Tea on the Green' overlooking the Exeter Cathedral, not very rock n roll for a student I know!
I am very pleased to report my findings that apparently another girl called Anna came up with the brilliant tradition of afternoon tea! During the early nineteenth century Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford is said to have complained of "having that sinking feeling" during the late afternoon. Her solution was to have a pot of tea made for her along with some cakes. Her friends were invited to join her and this afternoon tea drinking proved so popular that other social hostesses copied her idea and before long all of fashionable society stopped to have tea and sandwiches in the middle of the afternoon.
I have tried numerous afternoon teas in the classic locations in
London and the latest on the list is Soho Hotel's afternoon tea and cinema offering. After no breakfast (my trick to getting through an entire afternoon tea tray of cakes and sandwiches) I arrive at the cool and trendy Soho Hotel in Richmond Mews right in the centre of
Soho.
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| Soho Hotel afternoon tea. Photo by Dave Lorch |
At first all four of us are oddly placed in a long row along a table in the drawing room but we quickly swap to a round table in the main restaurant which is much buzzier. The tea list is impressive but I stick to my
favourite Earl Grey today and let the others try weird and wonderful flowering Jasmine teas.
The traditional tea menu offers the following:
Cakes:
Banana and walnut cake
Fruit tartlet
Macaroon
Chocolate éclair
Fruit and plain scones
Clotted cream and preserves
Sandwiches:
Cheddar cheese and chutney
Smoked salmon
Cucumber
Coronation chicken
The sandwiches were all very nice although the bread was a little dry. The scones came with a choice of strawberry or raspberry jam and were just delicious. My
favourites were the fruit tartlets and although the macaroons were a little bit too big and had a lot of
marzipan in between the meringue they were still absolutely fine.
Far too many cups of tea later it was time to go downstairs to the cinema screening room. With a free carton of popcorn in one hand it was a great experience to watch a film (The Fighter) in a proper cinema with a great screen.
