The Athenaeum Afternoon Tea

The tea — ok, sandwiches — failure, sweets — awful, service — even worse… Thumbs down… I was expecting maybe at leas one item to flatter my taste buds, but nothing!!! lol Don’t waste your time and money…

Came here for afternoon tea on Sunday for afternoon tea. Overall, it was a big disappointment. The service was sub-​par, we had to pour our own tea several times. The servers weren’t very attentive, and weren’t very careful with the serving. Maybe they were under-​staffed that day? The desserts were uninspiring — what you’d expect from a supermarket, NOT from a premium establishment. To be fair, I had the darjeeling tea and thought it was fine.

Food — so disappointed about my afternoon tea. I read some really good reviews about this place so I dragged some people here… but it definitely was not what I expected. The scones were just ok. The crumpets were not that good. The sandwiches didn’t have a lot of flavor (ugh!!). The desserts were just sub par.
Service — attentive service but not as great as other afternoon tea places

Afternoon tea review only — rated 2012 best afternoon tea and for good reason! This was hands down the very best — great service, great sandwiches, amazing tea biscuits, and desserts. Less expensive than some of the other venues in the city as well. Definitely book a time for tea!

The Athenaeum is officially where the UK Tea Council lost all their authority. I say this because I am the real authority of afternoon tea (that’s right… feel my power!) and my visit to the Ath left me nothing but disappointed. Okay, also 90 quid out of pocket too.
My partner and I had the champagne teas on a deep, comfy but also not very practical sofa at the back of the atmosphere-​less corridor/​room where the tea is served. We were placed near where they store guests bags. Not very romantic, but at least we saw some interesting coming and goings. The art in the room is also very cool, especially the torso made of smashed chinaware. The other big ‘sell’ is looking out to see the plant wall that covers the hotel, but sadly as tea is served in the basement you don’t see much and the lighting is only really the electric type.
The selection of tea flavours was nothing special but not too bad either. Not sure why UK Tea Council were impressed. In a maahooossive tea Faux-​Pas, our waitress served my wife’s strong green tea through a petit silver strainer, and then immediately served my delicate Darjeeling through the same uncleaned strainer that was flush with green tea leaves. Great — greeny darjeeling tea. What a waste.
Sandwiches were well made but offered nothing of interest, just the usual suspects of cucumber and the like. Scones were very good but the cream too runny to eat well. Not clotted enough methinks. Crumpets with honey was an interesting addition but didn’t really add much to the mix. Perhaps they go someway to justifying the 40-​quid plus that it costs per person when rose champers is added. Finally the cakes selection is a visit by a trolley, rather than something placed for you. This is a neat twist for both sides of the bargain, because you get to choose only the things you’ll think you’ll like and also because the guilty feeling of taking more than just a few things means they can get away with giving you much less. Be warned that they don’t come around offering seconds, so screw gluttony and grab as much as you can.
All-​in-​all I’d not recommend the Athenaeum’s afternoon tea. It’s expensive, booked-​up far in advance but it’s easily outclassed by many other places. Service was a let down, food and tea were average and the most crucial point of all — the atmosphere of the location — left everything to be desired.

I agree with Natalie P. For being voted the best for tea in 2012 as it was not what I was expecting. I have been to several tea places that were all much, much better. The staff seemed very new, the scones we were served we’re dry, and the atmosphere was … nothing special. Thankfully our British friend got the head waiter over and he corrected the situation right away with the scones. He said all scones are baked on the premises that day, but these were left out a bit too long. Now the tea maybe top notch, but I am not a connoisseur so I don’t know the subtle distinctions of tea. I would try somewhere else such as the Wolseley, Bob Bob Ricard, Dean Street Townhouse, or Brown’s on the high end.

My Mum & I came here last week as one of my birthday treats and we were both really disappointed with the whole experience.
There’s something about the whole institution and pomp and ceremony of Afternoon Tea, you should be sat at a table on proper chairs for starters rather than low tables and sofas. Although this generates a more casual atmosphere, it also unfortunately seems to let the staff forget about you which happened a lot to us and is a big no no in a supposedly 5 star hotel /​restaurant.
We found the service, although friendly and polite, to be really hit and miss and it seemed that a lot of the staff were either new or very inexperienced. There was a guy who must’ve been one of the managers who was great but then went off duty or to serve elsewhere and then things seemed to go downhill from there. There was one point where we’d waited so long that we had to serve our own tea *gasp!* and when we were ready for dessert, waited around 10 minutes before then having to get a waiter’s attention.
The tea was nice and served in a wooden type book, which looked nice. I chose the Bella Coola which I really liked and was very refreshing (orange and pineapple flavours) and my Mum chose the Darjeeling which she was disappointed with and I agreed, luckily they ask you if you’d like to try another so she switched to the Bella Coola too.
The sandwiches were really nice, we particularly like the cheese and cucumber; ham and chutney and coronation chicken but found the egg and cress and smoked salmon ones to be average and a tad dry. You were also offered a second round which is always a good thing in my book!
After these were served, we were brought crumpets — one of my faves and something which I’d never experienced at an Afternoon Tea and they were simply delicious. The scones were really nice too and we had two each.
It was a good idea that you can choose your desserts from a big trolley, we chose
*(Both of us) The Lemon Posset — amazing, out of this world melt in your mouth taste!
*(Mum) Vanilla cheese cake — too rich
*(Mum) Champ jelly — okay
*(Me) White choc cheese cake — too rich
*(Me) Choc profiterole — okay
After this, I was brought out a special b/​day treat of two chocolate macaroons which were really lovely, with a mint filling.
I wouldn’t recommend The Athenaeum as an Afternoon Tea destination, although it was voted the best Afternoon Tea in London for 2012 by the Tea Guild (which was why I thought we should try it and having ‘done’ the big hitters for Afternoon Tea already).
Located at the Green Park end of Piccadilly, literally a stone’s throw from that tube station (on the other side to The Ritz). A plus point are the loos are nice!

Had a reservation for afternoon tea, and it was tip top! Is that actually a British expression? *shrug*
The seating area is quite cozy and comfortable. Not as stiff as you would imagine. This is a great, quiet place for conversation and relaxation.
Started out with a selection of finger sandwiches. I really liked the one with caramelized onions. Tea selection is displayed in a wooden book. We tried the sencha and assam.
Afterwards was a selection of crumpets and scones. They then ask if you would like to try another tea. I opted to switch to the bella coola and regretted it.
We ended with an amazing dessert cart. What is a visit to London without time for tea :)

My husband and I had afternoon tea at the The Athenaeum and enjoyed the experience. The hotel was under construction at the time of our visit so I was a bit worried by the scaffolding and construction workers outside. Yet as soon as we were seated, we were impressed and very comfortable in the modern and beautifully furnished tea salon.
They have a few options on their menu and I selected the «Pink Afternoon Tea» while hubby had the LaDuree set, which included macaroons from the famous French Bakery. The tea menu is a cute wooden box containing samples of the loose leaf teas which they serve, along with a short description of each tea’s qualities. Good selection of teas from Asian green teas, fruit infused black teas, and the classics like earl grey.
After selecting your tea, the food begins with a yummy selection of finger sandwiches; of which they have many delicious and nonstandard varieties such as shrimp and cucumber. I highly recommend that one and got a second when they offered! The sandwiches are followed by fresh baked scones, with the accompanying double devon cream, jam, and lemon curd. They don’t have true devon cream here in the US and if you’ve never had it before, I found it to be a like a spreadable, rich butter. The scones were warm, not to sweet, and delicious. They then bring over a massive pastry cart with all kinds of pound cakes (chocolate swirl, lemon), cupcakes (strawberry with orange frosting), chocolate dipped strawberries, meringues, and cookies. You can select as many as your conscience and waistline allow! Finally, they offered a basket of fresh made crumpets and hot cross buns, by when my belly was completely full.
The difference between the pink afternoon tea and the LaDuree tea my husband had is the foray into the pastry cart is replaced by three french macaroons from LaDuree, as well as a brimming glass of pink bubbly. In retrospect, we probably should have traded menus as I got the impression hubby would have preferred the pastries, and they would have been more filling for him. The macaroons were good, but I’m not sure they warrant the 13 pound premium and pastry cart tradeoff it cost.
Overall, I highly recommend the Tea Salon at The Athenaeum as a place to relax after a day of walking around London.