Afternoon Tea at The Corintha, London

Well if you haven’t guessed from the title what this post is about then you need to read it again. If you follow me on Instagram and Facebook, you will know that Jonny and I were in London over the weekend, (depending on when you are reading this March 8th-March 10th, 2019), which was my Christmas present from Jonny.

I absolutely love London, there is no hiding it. To me, it has everything, sights, shops, restaurants, cafes, bars….oh the list goes on. When I opened my present I was over the moon, who wouldn’t want to go to London and to The Corintha as well? I’ll just drop in we weren’t staying in the Corintha, lets face it we haven’t made our millions just yet.

My slight obsession with the Corintha began after watching the show on BBC one about it, “The Hotel for the Super Rich and Famous”, (I did look iplayer to see if it was still there but unfortunately I couldn’t find it, if I ever do you lot will be the first to know). It was a 2 part documentary, (don’t worry, it’s not boring), with a behind the scenes look at what goes on and how they created their afternoon tea, hence why I wanted to go. At one point during the show they had mentioned the meeting they were having regarding afternoon tea was the 21st meeting….yes 21st.

The novelty of having afternoon tea in London definitely played a part in the whole experience for myself. Traditional afternoon tea was £55 per person with champagne version being £65 per person…of course we went for the champagne.

Once we arrived and checked in, where they took our coats, we were seated and menu’s provided. The hostess explained how their version of afternoon tea ran and said all we were required to do was select our tea. This in itself was a task as there was a wide selection. I decided to go for ‘mango black blend’ while Jonny picked a bespoke tea blend called ‘mellow’. After ordering our tea, champagne arrived, Laurent-Perrier, I was definitely in my element at this point never mind what was too follow. I lifted my champagne flute to have a sip, well the weight of the glass was completely unexpected and then we remembered each glass was £200….do not drop the glass!!

First arrived our sandwiches, finger sandwiches…there was 10 altogether, so they cater towards 5 per person. Next up was warm scones, both fruit and plain, each person got 2 each. These were served with strawberry jam, Cornish clotted cream and rhubarb and tonka bean jam. I adore a scone, especially with clotted cream, the fact Marks and Spencer cafe sell it sends me over the edge so you can only imagine what the real thing done.

Following the scones, it was time for the sweet treats. In order to serve these, a 100 year old silver tea trolley is pushed round and served in front of you, allowing you to pick your selection. The waiter/waitress explained what all the cakes and patisserie items were and then plated them for us. There were 6 items each and then homemade marshmallows also, (when you didn’t finish everything they boxed the rest to take home).

Sweet Delicacies:

Exotic Fruit Coconut Choux
Alpaco 66% Chocolate Brownie and Chocolate Cremeux
Coffee and Hazelnut Mousse and Golden Raisin Sponge
Apple Tatin Verrine and Calvados Chantilly
Lemon Drizzle Cake
Canele
Marshmallows- Orange Blossom, Red Apple, Tonka Bean

I have such a sweet tooth and always prefer a dessert, so this was absolute heaven for me. My favourite was definitely the exotic fruit coconut choux, the flavours were unbelievable. The attention to detail was second to none, very small aspect was covered, tea was refilled when empty and the staff were so helpful and friendly. I’m still gutted I didn’t get to see ‘Thomas’ from the show. The show highlighted how even selecting the chinaware that was going to be used was very unique, as well as how it would be presented. Throughout the entire afternoon they had a pianist playing which made the atmosphere.

This was a real dream for me, for those few hours we were treated like royalty and made to feel so special, yes we were paying for it but I’d do it all over again in a heart beat.