High tea
 

I will be visiting London this spring and would like to experience the most authentic and satisfying ritual of afternoon tea the city has to offer. I'd appreciate any recommendations with pertinent information. Thank you.

It's not called "high tea", it's called, as you say in the body of your text "afternoon tea".

It has been discussed here at length. Might I suggest a search?

You say "authentic". Londoners never take afternoon tea habitually so it isn't all that authentic. It's not something one sits down to daily, if ever.

For the surroundings and service alone I'd recommend Claridge's. I can't see how you could go wrong in taking tea there. Also, others like The Ritz. However, that is far stuffier.

I can't persuade you to splash out on a "special" dinner instead of tea? You really do get something more memorable.

topping responses for tmk649

Claridges is without question the best place to take afternoon tea. You could book for later in the day (5.30) and after a leisurely 'taking of tea' (and lots of sandwiches and little cakes!) go to Claridge's beautiful Art Deco bar for a glass - or two -- of champagne.
Booking is essential, whatever time of day you want to take tea. And yes..it is ok to ask for more tea, scones, sandwiches, cakes!
I have had afternoon tea here many times: the service, the food, the ambiance are all superb. Enjoy!

I really don't see the crime. The Dorchester offers both a Traditional Afternoon tea as well as a High Tea...

There are three tea services: Traditional Afternoon and Champagne Tea that includes a glass of pink champagne. High Tea is served slightly later and is the perfect pre theatre meal

The Dorchester

Winner of the Tea Council’s award for the Best Afternoon Tea in London for 2000 and 2002, this hotel has been a byword for style and comfort for over 70 years. Of the 3,000 meals served daily at the Dorchester none receives more care and attention than its fabled Afternoon Tea.

Tea is taken in the famous Promenade, and your party will be made to feel truly privileged by the opulent setting and polished service. There are three tea services: Traditional Afternoon and Champagne Tea that includes a glass of pink champagne. High Tea is served slightly later and is the perfect pre theatre meal, among the mouthwatering savouries are perfectly scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. Booking is essential at this exclusive location.

Address: 53 Park Lane, W1A 2HJ
Tea: 14:30 – 18:30
Cost: afternoon tea £23.50, high tea £32.50
Reservations: 020 7629 8888
Travel: Marble Arch Tube

I thought that Sheila's suggestion to search on the topic was very sensible.

If you had been on this forum a bit longer, you would know that she goes out of her way to offer advice and help to people who ask sensible questions about Scotland.

Her topping message is the first waspish remark I have ever seen from her and IMHO it was quite justified

Unfortunately, I can't think of anywhere that does "nursery tea", though that might be more appropriate.

Oh, my goodness, Patrick, you may have a winner there.

There is actually a place that does school dinners at http://www.schooldinners.com/

You could have a restaurant where everyone has to turn up in sailor suits and frilly dresses and be made to eat up their bread and butter before they are allowed cake.

Wow! Sheila is right up there with my "top 10" (or less!) of extremely helpful posters, especially about anything Scotland/England oriented. She goes out of her way to provide a wealth of information and experience, and seems to do it with a cyber-smile instead of patronizing sigh.

I can't believe that her helpful suggetion was turned into a negative.

If you ask for advice, ignore any you don't want, but don't insult the posters who tried to answer the question.

(And, no, I have nothing helpful to offer on the thread. I've never "taken tea" in London. I'm just writing because I'm appalled at the slap at Sheila.)

Gayle

>You could have a restaurant where everyone has to turn up in sailor suits and frilly dresses and be made to eat up their bread and butter before they are allowed cake.
<

Unfortunately (or not), you have to spend umpteen years as a local councillor or other worthy before you get asked to a garden party at the Palace....

I second starsville recommendation of the Dorchester. I had their afternoon tea with champagne, and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Highly recommended!!!

Does anyone of my fellow Brits take this afternoon tea?
I don't know anyone who does or who ever did, is this some kind of Victorian practice that we never followed?
What do you get for £23 they are having a laugh.Aren't they?

Muck

Mucky, I think it's something to do with if you were brought up in Manchester or Cardiff, you were unlikely to ever have afternoon tea. On the other hand if you were brought up amid the dreaming spires....The one and only time I have had afternoon tea was when an American friend wanted to go to the Ritz. This was in the 70s and it was a rip-off then.

I doubt that anyone else on here has had quite as hidebound “traditional” and upbringing as me. I had a fag for goodness sake – beat that! Frankly unless you are Harry Potter or Tom Brown you’re not going to be able to. It’s what makes me such an iconoclast now you know.

Even with this background I have never “taken tea” high or otherwise. And £23 for tea.? I know what tea costs. It doesn’t cost £23.

I have had cream teas while on holiday and that never cost more than a fiver

A pony for tea? You’re having a steffi.

I can never remember having afternoon tea.
I have Yorkshire and Scottish relations and so have had high tea quite often.

I've had cream tea in Dorset on holiday.
It does seem to be a tourist thing.

Let's face it, most people are busy earning a crust at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

About the only place where I've consistently seen mostly Brits having an expensive afternoon tea has been at the Wolseley. Primarily media and advertising types arranging deals (I'm usually there alone and the tables are close together, so yeah, I eavesdrop), planning events, etc. Perhaps because of the non-ruffly decor of the Wolseley, I've actually seen more men than women doing this.
Perhaps that's an emerging category: the "business tea." The only other place where I've seen men cutting deals over tea has been at the Four Seasons in Philly. I used to take people there for interviews from time to time.

Fags, Winchester..........You're not Mark Oaten is disguise are you :-)

"Afternoon tea" was something for the relatively leisured classes - a way for the person who stayed at home to keep house (oh all right, women)

(a) to fill the gap between the morning's domestic occupations (and lunch) and getting ready for formal dinner in the evening

(b) to entertain on their own without inviting censure and without being out late at night

(c) to entertain relatively cheaply and without all the formality and hooha of giving a dinner as the Victorians and Edwardians practised it.

Most of these actually could also apply to people who didn't have domestic help and had 'dinner' in the middle of the day and 'tea' on the table for the old man the minute he got home (or else).

In the days before TV (and well within my childhood experience), it also tended to be a favoured vehicle for family visiting on a Sunday afternoon, with a degree of competitive baking. I'd surprised if that weren't true across most classes and most parts of the country until well into the 1950s.

It had the advantage that if you were invited for tea, you knew you'd be leaving by 6pm (earlier, of course, if certain incidents in the family's past came up in conversation: as the late Al Read used to say "There was enough said at our Edie's wedding").

Right so my understanding is correct.

TOURISTS YOUR GETTING RIPPED OFF AFTERNOON TEA IS NOT WHAT WE BRITISH DO..OK is that loud enough?

Muck