Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea Party for 2
I do love an afternoon tea. And I’m not just talking about pouring myself a cuppa like I do everyday; I mean scones, sweet treats, sandwiches and topped up with a cup of the fanciest tea on offer. Although, I mostly always settle for good ol’ English breakfast tea!
The Mad Hatter’s Afternoon tea has been one I wanted to do for a while but in all honesty, it is just a little pricier that what I had always been prepared to spend so I was waiting to find a deal. The thing with offers on such popular spots is that you probably would never get a weekend deal so if you are 9-5er like me; it is almost impossible to ever go to one on a deal.
Thankfully, Mr E and I had a week off work for his birthday celebrations and since we were not leaving the country for the week, I thought it was a good idea to book a mid week tea date!
Reservation
I signed up to bookable a few years ago and I narrowed my daily updates to Afternoon Teas and Brunches in London. This means that I get daily updates with deals. It does get too much so from time to time, I turn off the updates and if I need a specific booking; I just search to see if there is an offer. For the Mad Hatter’s tea party, I found a star deal for £40 per person! Win!! I reserved via Bookatable for Thursday afternoon 1.15pm.
The usual price is between £48 and £65 depending on your choice of drink with your afternoon tea.
Location
The Mad Hatter’s tea is located in the courtyard of 5* hotel, Sanderson London which is a few minutes away from bustling Oxford street. Its address is 50 Berners St, Fitzrovia W1T 3NG and I would say that the best way to get there, as with all central London locations is via the underground or taxi! Parking is possible; however, it is quite expensive and not always available. You walk through the Sanderson hotel front doors, through the bar and there is a mini reception to confirm your booking prior to leading you through to the courtyard.
Ambiance
Its Alice in Wonderland theme is visible from the moment you walk into the courtyard. There is a garden on the side and there are marble tables adorned with quirky references to the theme. I found it all very cute. I liked that it was not too overdone; even though it had been built around a cartoon, it still had a very mature feel.
The teapots, saucers and cups had the popular King and Queen of Hearts paintings and the menus are presented within vintage books. Ours was in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.
Afternoon Tea!
This was the most exciting!
We were served off the Promotions Menu. First you are presented with 5 tea choices; all with the Alice in Wonderland theme of course – Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit, Alice, Cheshire Cat and Mad Hatter. I chose Mad Hatter and Mr E chose White Rabbit.
Savoury – We had warm scones on the side, served in a checkered napkin with fruit preserve and clotted cream. On the trays, there were sandwiches designed as King of Hearts croque monsieurs, Cornish crab brioche with spiced avocado and coriander, White rabbit cucumber and cream cheese sandwich and Smoked salmon scotch egg with caviar and cream cheese.
So fancy! So yummy!
Sweet – We had a lot of treats from macaroons to biscuits to jammy dodgers. There was a chocolate and pistachio blue caterpillar, wonderland marshmallows magic mushrooms, meringue and a macha cheeseboard gateau! – I know, A LOT!
The cutest thing was the Alice’s exotic fruit potion that had a “drink me” sign.
Our selection came with the classic Sanderson cocktail, which was a medley of Bombay sapphire gin, aperol, lychee juice, melon liqueur and lime.
It was all so yummy and by the time I had eaten my scone, croque monsieur and other savouries, I was too full to finish up my sweeties so had to ask for a goody bag to take home!
Service
Fantastic! From doorman to waiters, everyone was lovely and smiley. When we were served each time, the waiter explained the menu since they all had “code” names and answered all our questions. Initially, they were not aware that we had the deal and as soon as they realised, the waiter was very apologetic and went over the offer menu. I noted that it was not a very busy time in the restaurant, which probably meant that they had more time to attend to customers but it was a lovely service and I give them a 10/10!
Value for Money
Look, if I had known that all the above was included in the afternoon tea, I would have happily paid £60! I have gone to at least 10 different afternoon teas since I moved to London and I can say that this gives the best value for money! Imagine having that entire treat for just £40 in central London? Mind blown!
The only thing that was a little annoying was that the discretionary service charge was 15%! I am used to paying 12.5% or 12% but 15% was taking the piss. Yes I know there is not much of a difference but I am that person who will go food shopping and spend £50 and get upset when I have to pay 5p for a carrier bag LMAO! Anyway, it is still good value for money especially if you are able to get the £40 deal, as a date for 2 would still come under £100 so I would say that it is definitely worth your coins and I will 100% go again.
Final Thoughts
The Mad Hatter’s Afternoon tea is one of the most popular afternoon teas in London. It is like the King of afternoon teas so if tea is your thing or you would just like a fancy day out, I would totally recommend a visit. I have thought about it and this might actually be my favourite afternoon tea ever! Strong words I know but this is true!
Bisous, ‘Bugo x
10 Comments
Mumtaan
This is so fancy, everything looks delicious!!!! never been to an afternoon tea. Even though it’s on my Bucket list but this post just inspired me to make it happen.
Bugo
It definitely is one of the fancier things to do in London as one of the well known British traditions. I know a lot of people think it is a waste of money but I always find it cute and when I manage to convince a friend to go, they end up enjoying it haha!
I hope you love it when you eventually go!
Thank you for reading and leaving a comment x
Vanessa
I’m motivated to try this afternoon tea tradition. I also get angry at those service charges…Arrghh
I’ll scout a few places and make a decision soon.
Bugo
Yes to motivation!! Honestly, you’ll enjoy it.
Just make sure you check the menu of whichever one you want to go to so you don’t have any surprises lol – some are simply dreadful i’ll be honest! I do want to try the Claridges one but the price stresses me out. One day anyway!!
Service charges are a PISS TAKE!! The food is already over priced, it’s just 2 of us so why exactly is there a service charge?! I understand if we are a party of 5 or more so obvs service will be stretched but charging service on 2 people?! annoying!
Thank you for reading, Vanessa x
Adaora
Afternoon tea is not really my thing because I’m such a glutton but this is so fancy! Plus I love a good deal, so if I ever feel like having a boujee afternoon, this will be a great date idea! 👌🏾
Bugo
hahahaaha oh gosh this made me LOL
I totally get that tbh but I tell you, afternoon teas are actually filling; I always recommend to go to one between breakfast and an early dinner. I can’t wait for you to go to one so you can tell me all about your experience lol x
Celine
Okay, this is high tea party to the strictest sense of the word. I nearly came close to licking my phone screen 😂. Someday when I visit London, it will be top of my bucket list tea wise. Great photos!
Bugo
LMAO!
Isn’t it all very grand and pretty?
Yes, I really hope you like it when you do try it! Make sure to check the menu of whichever one you are booking and if you need a 2nd opinion, you can send me a message and we can have a proper chat!
Thank you Celine for reading x
Deolashomo
Tea is one of my favorite things in the world and i’ll definitely be checking this out for my vacation. Thank you
Bugo
Hey Deola, thank you for reading 🙂
I still can’t explain how I got sucked into the world of afternoon teas lol
I really hope you enjoy it too!
x