I found this lovely-looking afternoon tea, and I really wanted to try it. This spot is inside the beautiful Kensington Hotel. We walked in from the main front door of the Kensington hotel, and the staff guided us towards the back to where the Town House is located. There was a small lounge space right in front of the Town House, and we waited until we were taken to our table.
The area was really cute, with a dignitary-looking bunny and a lovely duck with pearls watching over us. The staff offered to take our heavy coats before we walked into the Town House, so we didn’t have to carry them around.
The inside was not so large, but cozy and welcoming. The dining area was separated into two areas, and the first room was surrounded by beautiful bookshelves on the wall. It felt like a large study with all the books.
The second space was more like a living space, compared to a “study” space. It did have a small section of the wall with the book shelves here too, but it was more cozy and relaxing here. Our table was in this space.
Our server came and explained their current afternoon tea offering. It is called the London Landmarks Afternoon Tea (£42/person), and features all the major landmarks around the city. The menu was quite lovely, and came with a London map of all the notable and historic landmarks. The afternoon tea will feature many of these landmarks, and you get to see what they are, and where they are. The map is given to the patrons as a souvenir, which I thought was really nice!
We started off with a choice of drinks. Our friend who is more of a hot chocolate lover than tea lover, so she asked for hot chocolate. The hot chocolate looked really good, almost glittering with pretty swirls.
We went with traditional black tea, and chose Earl Grey. The staff came and did a nice little pour, and the beautiful aroma of Earl Grey spread from the pot into the air around us. I tasted the tea first, before adding milk. The tea was lovely, great flavor and aroma of bergamot. The tea pot is quite heavy…it is a real deal here!
Then, we were served with their “Savouries” course. I didn’t know we were going to receive anything other than whatever comes on the three-tier afternoon items, so we were delighted! We had Colston Bassett Stilton & Broccoli Quiche, Steak & London Ale Pie, and Crab Cake with tartar sauce and caper. The quiche was creamy, light, and very comforting. Steak pie was super juicy with delicious jus. The meat was tender, packed with flavor. And I loved it came in a cute little copper (?) pot! Crab Cake was soooo good! This small baby had an amazing flavor of crab with loads of crab meat in there!
After we were finished with them, they brought out this beautiful stand in the shape of London Eye! Wow! We did the Afternoon Tea Bus Tour on the first day, and it was lots of fun. Here you get to have a tour of London though artistically created desserts. They call their menu “a celebration of London” and I totally agree!
I started with The Shard made with carrot cake and milk chocolate. The carrot cake had super light cream coating, an elegant dessert.
Then the cutest item (in my opinion), the Red Telephone Box! It was made with rhubarb mousse. Very adorable, and mousse was made firm enough to be able to stand up. It was a bit tart, great rhubarb flavor.
Then The Gherkin, made with white chocolate, filled with dark chocolate ganache. I like white chocolate, so I was happy to see this item. It was sweet on the outside, with dark chocolate ganache that was slightly bitter, creating a nice balance. It was also a bit salty to bring out the sweetness.
Another adorable looking item was Big Ben, made with lemon curd tart. The detailed top structure above the clock was very sugary, which was surprising since it looked like a biscuit.
Once we finished with the Sweets, we moved onto the Sandwiches. I first tried the Egg & Cress Bridge Roll, It was very buttery and comforting. Then Campbells & Company Smoked Salmon with lovage pesto and cream cheese on brown bread. Salmon was super fresh. Soft cream cheese and pest went nicely with the salmon.
Next up was Coronation Chicken on brown bread. This sandwich was really flavorful! Last but not least, Marinated Cucumber with crème fraiche and pepper on white loaf. The bread was super fluffy. Cucumber was very fresh and it was a nice refreshing sandwich to cleanse the palette.
And we are not done yet! They had scones resting in their pillow-y bed on the bottom shelf. They had Fruit and Plain Scones, served with Heather Hills Strawberry Jam and Clotted Cream.
The strawberry jam was excellent, felt homemade. Clotted cream was great too! We were quite full, so we decided to take most of the scones home with us. BUT, we couldn’t take them with us since they don’t have any small container for that…So Sad…
They gave us this cute box to take away any left overs. They do everything so nicely here!
Before we headed outside, we asked where the bathroom is, and we were directed to the other side of the hotel. We walked through a nice large lounge areas towards the back.
We found an elephant by a smokey glass door, signaling us to come over. I thanked the elephant and walk through the door to find a VERY green wall, where the bathroom doors were.
The bathroom was spacious, very clean and organized. One of them had the mirror and a sink in the inside, which is what I used. They had small towels in here too.
The service was excellent! Courteous, warm, and polite. We were very well taken care of the entire time. Thank you! And I found out that they seem to change the ingredients often. For example, the Red Telephone Box might be made with Clementine Mousse, and Big Ben made with vanilla & cinnamon cream tart. So, even if you have already tried their afternoon tea, you might get something very different set of afternoon tea with each visit! We finally got our coats and headed back outside. We discovered they actually have a separate door back here, right by the Town House. So, if you know where the door is, you can just walk in from here instead of going through the beautiful hotel lobby. If you are in London and want to try some tasty afternoon tea, filled with everything that is London, give this place a try!
Town House Kensington – 109 – 113 Queen’s Gate, London, United Kingdom