Begin by selecting your drink. The famed Covent Garden theatre is back, with its exciting autumn season beginning this weekend, If you've got a tooth sweeter than Willy Wonka's, you might want to make a trip to Amorino's new Fulham Broadway branch and order the GelaTea. Address: Ting Lounge at Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street SE1 Telephone: +44 20 7234 8000 Website: shangri-la.com Price: British Summertime Afternoon Tea from £52. By Lauren Hepburn, Address: Great Court Restaurant, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DGTelephone: +44 20 7323 8990Website: britishmuseum.orgPrice: £22 per person; £28 with a glass of Prosecco. Elements of Cubism and Realism take on pastry form. The food is as you’d expect – finger sandwiches, scones and sponge cakes – and as good as you’d expect, too. They resemble tiny pillowcases and are made from Egyptian cotton, without plastic, glue or staples, for maximum freshness, flavour and sustainability. Scones (which would struggle to ever seem particularly Italian) are eschewed in favour of several sweet treats, starting with a selection of cakes from the stand. Annabel Sampson. Crispy cannoli are filled with a pistachio cream and dipped in the darkest chocolate, and brutti ma buoni – perhaps best described as a sort of meringue/biscuit hybrid – are soft and chewy. Dinky paint-splash cakes include a sweet Victoria sponge topped with strawberries and a crunchy Quant-daisy-stamped lemon-meringue tart (our favourite) which, on slicing, prompts a lemon-curd flood on our plate. There’s a violet macaroon topped with bright edible flowers, cupcakes with mini pipettes to inject a fruity filling, salted caramel slices and little lemon tartelettes. By Karin Mueller, Address: Ham Yard Hotel, 1 Ham Yard, London W1Telephone: +44 20 3642 1007Website: hamyardhotel.comPrices: From £24. Update: The Lanesborough is currently closed until September 4. Special mention needs to go to the grilled-courgette and vegan rocket-pesto sandwich, which was delightful. This site uses cookies to improve your experience and deliver personalised advertising. Choose your brew from a carefully curated selection by the East India Company – there’s even a special 1871 blend, created exclusively for the Royal Albert Hall to mark its inauguration year. Bang in the centre of busy Soho is the colourful Ham Yard Hotel from Tim and Kit Kemp, whose portfolio includes the splashy Whitby in New York. And then there are the glamorous waitresses, wheeling around trolleys of loose-leaf tea in giant test tubes (try as many of the 20 or so types as you like), and the caviar man – in a pink, double-breasted suit and Panama hat – who doles out spoonfuls of the stuff on to your first course: a perfectly poached quail’s egg yolk on top of silky béchamel sauce. … Attentive waiters roam the room wielding giant silver teapots, topping up the leaves in your tea (there’s a concise choice of four blends from the Rare Tea Company; two black, one green and one herbal) before the three tiers arrive. For a child's first afternoon tea experience: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory high tea, One Aldwych. The tea list is gorgeous, too. Even on a non-market day, it’s a lovely area for a wander, and for a pit-stop right in the heart of it, Roast is in a hard-to-beat, elevated location inside the Floral Hall. TRIAL OFFER The trademark eau de nil is there – on velvet seats and leather booths – but the majestic 16th-century setting in London’s financial district lends it an even grander air, as though tea sippers are members of an elite secret society. There’s no better way to celebrate an occasion or … ), the scones are extra sweet, swimming in buttermilk and vanilla cream. For those who believe in earning their food, you're also presented with a mystery to solve, with a trail around The Mind Palace, and rewards earned for any clues you successfully solve. Cocktails have been whipped up to accompany the meal, including the Endless Stormzy in a Teacup, and the Capaldi Passion Fruit Martini. Address: The Petersham, 2 Floral St, London WC2E 9FBTelephone: +44 20 7305 7676Website: petershamnurseries.comPrice: Afternoon tea, £45. But while the city's love for it has not dimmed, the coronavirus crisis means venues have been forced to temporarily cease service in recent months and – particualrly seeing as many of those are located in luxury hotels – not all of them are back up and running just yet. - with hidden menus to discover, and chocolate and pistachio caterpillars and Tweedle Dee lemon curd financiers to eat. Bow-tied waiters in white jackets serve in the art-deco surroundings. As for something after tea? Shimmy past the sharp-suited doormen, across the imposing colonnaded lobby of the hotel, and you’ll find yourself in a room festooned with paintings hung in gilt-edged frames and oversized, over-the-top chandeliers hanging from an 18ft-high stuccoed ceiling. It's served in The Mind Palace, the speakeasy bar linked to the escape room. But, of course, there is food – an abundance of it. A post shared by God's Own Junkyard (@godsownjunkyard) on Jan 6, 2020 at 4:41am PST. We admire the fact there is a dress code (jacket and tie for men, no jeans, no sportswear), which only adds to the sense the Ritz are holding up centuries worth of standards. There’s a pastel-pink stiletto cookie, complete with Dior-branded sling-back ribbon, from Maria Grazia Chiuri’s current collection; a Miss Dior perfume-bottle cake topped with a gumdrop spray cap (which your waiter will spritz with rose water to recreate the scent); and a quilted Lady Dior handbag, the famous design named after Princess Diana. Almond shortbread, dressed in a Henry Poole and Co tuxedo, and a top hat made with white chocolate and lime jelly, inspired by Lock and Co Hatters – the world’s oldest hat shop, are both fun and quirky eats. Then it’s onto the main event. The tea kicks off with the classics: three sandwiches – fresh cucumber and cream cheese, honey-roast Wiltshire ham and mustard, and smoked salmon – all finger-sized and joyously resembling those of your childhood. (Frankly, even the most jaded of Londoners consider it a necessary indulgence.). The freshly baked scones, plain and raisin, are fluffy with just a slight crunch on the outside. It’s where the Duchess of Cambridge spent the night before her wedding; where the Queen holds her annual staff Christmas lunch, and the only hotel in the world to hold a royal warrant. As sugary-sweet as the food, the setting feels a bit like the inside of a cupcake, and it’s a whole lot of fun. Organic Bohea Lapsang, anyone?From £75, Trust the inventor of the Cronut to make the afternoon tea ritual his own. And it’s worth knowing that the tea can be made totally gluten-free, too. By Fortnum & Mason is celebrated for its selection of fine teas – perhaps unsurprising since they’ve been importing and blending leaves since 1707. From an enchanting Alice in Wonderland menu, to a charming carousel meal (as close to Mary Poppins as it could get without infringing copyright), a Jasmine Indian afternoon tea, and a curious Sherlock Holmes one, the team at Kona go all out for themes. We were assured that they were taking measures to change this, so we look forward to being served drinks in proper china next time. An oasis of tea and cake! Next up are wedges of flaky, buttery sausage rolls and a creamy truffled-egg and watercress brioche bun – not for the faint hearted, but worth every bite. £42 per person. We've had love affairs with Kona's afternoon teas in the past. Executive pastry chef Mark Perkins has designed edible installations inspired by Banksy and Hirst that you'd want to display if only they weren't so delicious. Work your way up the tiers to gooey apricot and pistachio cake, hot-pink Battenberg, salted-caramel éclairs and shot glasses of white-peach and verbena cheesecake, and even a giant pink marshmallow. Best afternoon tea in London for 2020 David Ellis. AOC, Congress’ resident gamer, planning Twitch stream to get out the vote, SAS Australia: we are all Schapelle Corby crying at Merrick Watts getting punched in the nose, Katie Price and Kieran Hayler’s divorce ‘set to finalise this week’ amid Carl Woods marriage rumours, Aston Villa star makes bullish Premier League prediction as fans rave over red-hot academy ace, Oil prices drop for fourth day as COVID-19 second wave worries intensify, Xbox Series X price and bundles: the latest updates on stock, Gentler ventilation techniques helping boost Covid survival, doctors say, Motorists oppose Highway Code safety proposals.