Enjoy A Very British Afternoon Tea In London With The Radisson

What is afternoon tea?

In the early 1840s, British women felt pangs of hunger between lunch and dinner time and the only way to alleviate such hunger was to develop a meal in between, which is now known as “afternoon tea”. However, at that time, this meal was only available for the upper class and for women who had climbed the echelons of society, due to the costs of having another meal in the day. Today, afternoon tea can be enjoyed by almost anyone to celebrate a special event or an occasion.

Many tea houses, restaurants and hotels across London offer a traditional or a modern take on the British afternoon tea. However, from my experience, traditional afternoon tea is always a winner because you know exactly what you should be receiving and the high standard of quality that is expected. One of my favourite places in which to experience traditional afternoon tea is at the Radisson Hotels in London.

Darling, you must Scoff & Banter

The Radisson has a number of hotels across London, including in Leicester Square, Bloomsbury, Oxford Circus and Covent Garden. I recently visited the Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel in Covent Garden. It is the perfect location for shopping and visiting the theatre because of its proximity to chic shops and shows.

Afternoon tea at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel is served in its restaurant called Scoff & Banter, and its name captures the whole point of afternoon tea quite well. Scoff & Banter offers two types of afternoon tea: Traditional Afternoon Tea, and Matilda The Musical Afternoon Tea for adults and children. You should highlight, at the point of booking, whether you have any dietary requirements such as whether you are a vegetarian, a vegan or have any allergies.

However, even if you fail to specify your choice in advance or your dietary requirements, the management of this four-star hotel will try and accommodate you as much as possible, which I feel is highly commendable.

Scoff & Banter welcomes everyone from everywhere

With a desire to dine out and very little interest in cooking in my kitchen, I like to try afternoon tea in different tea houses, restaurants and hotels with my family and friends. I love the various items on offer in an afternoon tea experience as well as the fact that you can relax and talk to your fellow diners.

Many establishments that offer afternoon tea expect you and your fellow diners to be in formal attire and well, without it, you would feel rather uncomfortable in their dining room. Scoff & Banter is nothing of the sort. If you feel like dressing up in a beautiful silver glittery dress (as the diner next to me was) or in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt (as I was), you can. The dining room at Scoff & Banter consists of smart wooden tables, very comfortable booths and chairs which are covered in a soft purple velvet material. The ambience and decor are suitable for a special occasion as well as a leisurely catch-up venue with your friends and family members. You will feel welcome in whatever outfit you wear and wherever you sit in the dining room.

You will see tourists, locals, men, women and children having an absolutely smashing time. Not only will you be able to re-charge your soul, but you will also be able to use the multiple plug points under your seat to recharge your electronic devices including your phone, which you will need to use to take photographs and save the fantastic memories that you’re making at Scoff & Banter.

The memories that I made at Scoff & Banter were not only with my fellow diners; they were with the staff that were working at this fantastic venue. I have experienced afternoon tea at Scoff & Banter as well as lunch, dinner and drinks with so many different people over the last 2 years. However, the reason that I keep returning is the staff that work there. When visiting a four-star establishment, you expect good service; however, Scoff & Banter offers something even more. It offers you service with a special touch.

The staff that work there are so personable and friendly and by far, the most emotionally intelligent staff that I have experienced in any dining establishment. They are so human, kind and caring. If you return to Scoff & Banter, which I am sure you will, you will note that they remember the little things. Having returned to Scoff & Banter on many occasions in the last twelve months, I can confidently attest that the service is simply splendid, warm and human with a big heart.

Components of afternoon tea

Afternoon tea consists of a variety of tea accompanied by a three-tier stand which includes sandwiches, scones and clotted cream and finally sweet treats.

Examples of the types of tea that are usually on offer include Green, Black, White, Assam, Camomile, Darjeeling, Jasmine, Earl Grey and Peppermint. The tea served can either be leaf tea or teabags. Leaf tea is also known as “loose tea” and usually includes full tea leaves, and consequently, the flavour of the tea is stronger. This is in contrast to teabags, where the leaves used have been significantly processed and broken and therefore, the strength and aroma of the tea are not as robust as leaf tea.

Afternoon tea should be enjoyed in the following order: first the sandwiches on the bottom tier, second the scones and clotted cream on the middle tier, and finally the sweet treats on the top tier. The three tier stand at Scoff & Banter is strong and sturdy for the ample and appetising items that you will receive.

A wide variety of tea

Some establishments that offer afternoon tea only allow customers to select one flavour of tea for which they are permitted either one or multiple pots of such tea. However, others, such as Scoff & Banter, provide customers with the option to select an unlimited amount of tea and of different flavours. Whenever you go for afternoon tea, you should clarify this in advance to make sure you get the best value for your money!

At Scoff & Banter, you will be provided with a tea menu which includes the following types of tea: English Breakfast, Assam, Earl Grey, Berries Delight, Chamomile, Darjeeling, Green Sencha, Jasmine Blossom, Peppermint, Rooibos Orange, Ceylon and Lapsang.

These types of tea, however, are teabags and not loose tea so the flavour, quality and strength may not be the strongest. However, you will also be given the option of enquiring about the flowering tea for which you are also allowed to choose from. The flowering tea menu is a delight to look at because it includes real flowers and leaves in their natural form, before being used for tea (in comparison to the regular cardboard menu on which the teabag teas are listed!).

I tried the Peppermint and Rooibos Orange tea as well as one of the flowering teas. The flowering tea was fascinating because I was able to see the flower actually open up in the boiling water which made the experience quite memorable. This was something that I had not experienced in any other establishments across Europe offering afternoon tea.

Fine sandwiches with fresh, tasty fillings

Excellent afternoon tea sandwiches should have no crusts, be finely cut, include a variety of fresh fillings and the proportion of the filling to the bread should be slightly in excess.

As a vegetarian, I was offered the alternative fillings of tomato and cheese; cream cheese and cucumber; avocado and tomato and; egg and watercress. All items were provided on finely cut white bread and were generously filled with fresh and excellent quality produce. The vegetable fillings were from Watts farm, which is a family-run business with over 50 years’ experience in providing produce to suppliers such as Scoff & Banter. How much more British can your afternoon tea experience be? You sample authentic British produce presented in an elegant form.

Get cosy with those warm, soft scones

Excellent afternoon tea scones should be freshly baked, arrive warm on the middle tier and should be soft but firm enough not to crumble when you slice them horizontally. Clotted cream should accompany the scones and this should be softly whipped. Additional preserves are sometimes provided and, if so, should have distinctive flavours so that they can be appreciated and compared when spread on the scones. Some tea houses and hotels offer different types of scones, such as those with orange flavour and/or raisins.

The middle tier of my three-tier stand included fruit scones which were warm and soft and were accompanied by finely whipped cream and two preserves which were strawberry and raspberry in flavour. The scones included raisins and were absolutely delicious. They were light and fluffy inside and melted in my mouth.

Sweet treats that will leave you satisfied

Excellent afternoon tea sweet treats are a variety of small and delicate desserts that consist of different flavours and textures.

When I experienced afternoon tea at Christmas time at Scoff & Banter, the top tier of my three-tier stand included a yule log, a mince pie, a mini Victoria sponge and Elderflower and Prosecco jelly shots. When I visited on a non-festive occasion, I enjoyed the delectable dark chocolate cake, raspberry cake, Victoria sponge and Elderflower and Prosecco jelly shots.

These sweet treats were not exactly small or delicate and were rather quite dense. However, each item had a significant amount of flavour and the contrasting textures of each piece provided for a more delicious and mouth-watering experience. The yule log and Victoria sponge were rather large and were certainly memorable and filling. You definitely won’t be left hungry after this afternoon tea.

As I had munched so many sandwiches and scones, I wasn’t sure that I would make it through all of the deserts so the wonderful waitress offered to make me a takeaway goodie bag, which was lovely!