London Secret Garden — Restaurant in London

Amazing place for afternoon tea—highly recommend! The whole experience was thoughtfully curated. Food is served in birdcage-style tiers (1 per person): sandwiches on the bottom (salmon w/ cream cheese, egg salad, roast beef), scones in the middle (with clotted cream & marmalade), and mini desserts on top (lemon crème brûlée, macaron, raspberry cheesecake, opera cake). Also includes 1 canapé per person. Each guest picks their own loose-leaf tea in an individual pot—refills available. Alcoholic drink options too, but are a different package from the regular one, just a few pounds more. This place was also well priced compared to other tea rooms. Includes 12% gratuity

Service was excellent—friendly, attentive, and informative. Shoutout to Uspan, who was kind and professional. Seating is both indoors and outdoors; we sat outside under a tree with views of a beautiful old church. Just be aware of a couple curious pigeons. The environment truly elevated the experience!

Family Reviews:

Mom: Strawberry cream tea. Enjoyed her tea but liked mint the best. Loved the outdoor setting, thought the scones were the best she’s ever had, not too dry, moist. Favorite sandwich: roast beef. Egg salad needed a bit more flavor. Loved the canapés. Said it completed our London trip and was well-priced.

Dad: Egyptian mint tea & an Old-Fashioned. Loved both—said the old-fashioned was the best he’s ever had. Enjoyed the salmon sandwich and relaxing outdoor seating. Found the scones perfect with clotted cream.

Brother: Wild Encounter tea (fruity/berry blend)—his favorite. Loved the smoked salmon and roast beef sandwiches. Thought the staff were great and the tea selection had excellent variety.

Me: Peach & ginger tea (balanced and not too sweet). Loved sampling everyone’s teas—Wild Encounter and Egyptian mint were standouts. Roast beef was my favorite sandwich, and I surprisingly enjoyed the salmon too, despite not liking seafood. Desserts were great—lemon pots de crème was my favorite. Staff were sweet and unobtrusive.

Perfect for a relaxing outing with family or friends—would...

We booked afternoon tea a few months ago as a celebration amongst friends. I called 4 times to reconfirm the details for our date (don't ask why, just a gut feel maybe?). Each time I specifically made clear dietary requirements, 1 x veggie option with a nut and sesame allergy and 3 x halal menus. We turned up and the vegetarian was server 4 finger sandwiches which were ok but no cakes/desserts other than scones. When I asked about this they explained they couldn't provide any cakes due to the allergies disclosed and instead provided a plate of fruit! The halal menu consisted of an egg mayo sandwich, cucumber sandwich and 2 salmon sandwiches. Given that I booked at least 3 months in advance and also taking in to consideration the location is in Central London, a multi cultural city, I was gob smaked at the food presented. We book afternoon teas fairly regularly, the fact that my friend will allergies was not offered any option of cake or sweet treats and the hotel couldn't be bothered to source halal food for befoee hand was shocking. Definitely didn't expect that at all. Very disappointed with the venue, pure laziness on their part. The pod itself was nice enough, equipped with an air con (definitely needed on a warm day) and a heater. Spacious table and comfortable seats, location was a bit bland, basically just a garden, not many plants or flowers (or anything else) to make it look special. But we could have looked past all that if they had made an effort with food. The Dorechester, Ritz and Claridges have always accomdated our dietary requirements, as have others, not sure why this venue couldn't fund it in them to do so. We ended up having to go elsewhere to eat just so we had a proper meal! I wouldn't reccomend based on...

IF YOU HAVE A DIETARY REQUIREMENT/ALLERGY-AVOID. I called the hotel a month in advance and again a day in advance as well as emailing to explain I am allergic to dairy and soy, I also told them upon entry. Nevertheless, they served an afternoon tea containing dairy. When I queried it, they then took the afternoon tea away and gave it to the next table after it had been on ours. The next table were understandably appalled. Around an hour later, we received a ‘dairy/ soy free afternoon tea’. As my partner is not allergic, they served him 4 scones, all the cakes and 4 sandwiches. However, they served me 4 sandwiches and 2 huge slabs of ‘vegan’ cheesecake. As they had previously served me dairy, I cautiously ate one sandwich and part of the cheesecake (the cheesecake tasted very buttery). Instead of using alternative products, they just omitted any ingredients I couldn’t have. The sandwiches were stale with no butter alternative, the only one I ate was made was a piece of smoked salmon in stale bread. The other flavours consisted of cucumber, tomato ketchup and ham and egg. I complained to the manager who attempted to put the blame onto us, despite my email proof we had emailed ahead. However, I could not name the various staff we had spoken to detailing the allergy. The manager offered to bring me out something else from the menu but having had such a poor quality of food which was not allergen free, I could not justifiably order something and risk having a reaction to it. I would be extremely cautious about going here if you have any allergies. The staff did not appear to know what was going on, nor was their English proficient enough to fully understand what our...