Afternoon Tea at Claridge's — Restaurant in London

It pains me to write this as I’ve been client of Claridge’s for over a decade for afternoon tea, dinner and lunches. It has always been one of my favourite places to pop into. However, I went yesterday afternoon for this year’s festive afternoon tea - what a shock. Horrendous service, we had to constantly call over the staff to ask for things. They no longer serve tea leaves - so now serve your tea with tea bags (very much like the equally downgraded Fortnum & Mason afternoon tea “cafeteria” style experience), this year’s cakes were abysmal (one flavour being yuzu, meringue and chestnut - sounds like the pastry chef was confused this year and didn’t know what to put with what), the other thing I found shocking was the service - the lack of it rather but equally the rudeness of the staff. Our waiter insisted that we had to take the £120 festive afternoon tea even if we didn’t want alcohol. When I pointed him to the £110 option without it - he said to me “no, you will be charged £120 regardless.” I understand that sometimes with my American accent, places in London take me for a fool because they assume I am a tourist- however, having been to Claridge’s over 30-40 times in the last 10 years - I was very disappointed to see that such an establishment also takes its clients for a ride and for a fool. Very disappointing - and won’t be returning which makes me so sad because I have loved going there for so long. PS: The sandwiches were OK - the egg one is fantastic, the rest are pretty meh for the price you pay. It looks like a lot of places in London are turning their afternoon tea experiences into these fast moving cafeteria style places so they can serve a higher volume of people and make more money - but losing their magic, class and elegance...

Afternoon Tea at Claridge's is a rather opulent - but worthwhile - ordeal.

This is the Afternoon Tea de rigour in the U.K., dating back over 150 years. The room itself is beautiful. Claridge’s bring all the same care and attention of their traditional afternoon tea to their gluten-free alternative. The room is beautiful, and the live music is a nice touch.

I am gluten free, and felt all of my needs were catered to extremely well. I didn't feel like I'd 'missed out' on anything.

I have done many high-end afternoon teas in London, and I would say this one is very traditional. There aren’t any modern ‘twists’ on the food. I want to note that the gluten free sandwiches were the best of any I’ve tried. I appreciate the alternative breads for each filling. The tea was also exquisite, as was the coffee. And don't even get me started on the desserts... Yum!

I personally found the scones less fluffy, and more biscuit-y, than my personal preference. The clotted cream and jam were excellent, though. They also gave you a hefty portion which was appreciated.

My only qualm in the faff around booking - you need to pre-book around 3 months in advance. It certainly is an excellent, albeit expensive, afternoon tea. However, I think the mystique around Claridge's is somewhat overhyped, and there are other equivalent quality afternoon teas in London that require less time to book. If you have the luxury of knowing your schedule months in advance, then perhaps this won't be an issue for you.

If you want a ‘classic’ afternoon tea with a name behind it - and you don’t mind a splurge and a long wait time to book - this one’s a treat!

Free refills available for...

Overpriced conveyor-belt experiment — that sums up my Afternoon Tea experience.

Attention to detail: It feels like a place where standards go to die. Don’t get me wrong: our waiter was incredibly kind and clearly tried to give us a good experience. But the wider picture was sloppy, half the team’s uniforms didn’t fit properly, the cinches on the clean-up crew’s waistcoats were just hanging loose, and there was a general sense that “standards” weren’t considered essential at this level of establishment. Customer focus was also lacking. I had barely been there 30 minutes, finished my 1.5 cups of tea, and was trying to get a refill, but it took five minutes just to find someone who could help.

Cleanliness: The team seemed more interested in banter than basic cleanliness. On arrival, my chair had more crumbs than I’d like, there were crumbs under my plate, and my second plate had stains on it. Again: no quality control, just a conveyor belt approach, moving people in and out.

Food & Drinks: The sandwiches were the highlight, the salmon and coronation chicken in particular had great flavour and a nice balance between meat and dressing. The scones were lovely, the cakes were fine, nothing more. The tea selection was strong, and the iced black tea was especially impressive.

Overall: For the price you pay and what you get, I cannot recommend Afternoon Tea at Claridge’s. London offers so many alternatives, many at a higher standard and a...