Afternoon Tea at Brown's Hotel

The afternoon tea at Brown’s Hotel not only looked spectacular during my research, it was also the one place that was consistently recommended to me, no matter who I talked to. Lucky for Molly and me, it did not disappoint 🙂

I got there early and was brought to our table to wait. I didn’t even have to ask for the comfy chairs by the fireplace, to warm my hands and bones until I could order my tea.

I ordered the Brown’s Morning Blend, and it was delicious. At the end of the meal, we also got a little package each to take home 🙂

When the food trays arrived, there were 2 plates of sandwiches, with a plate of 5 different desserts on top. I would have been worried about the lack of scones and not getting to try everything again, but our waiter quickly explained that scones would come once we finished the sandwiches, and that everything would be replenished as frequently as we wanted. He also gave a description of everything we had in front of us.

I love it when all of the sandwiches have their own special bread, like in this case. I have no idea what any of them are called, but the coronation chicken was on a kind of bagel, the smoked salmon and cucumber was on a really dark colored bread, the cheese, tomatoe and chutney had a seedy bread, and the egg and paprika was on plain white bread. The last one was a kind of ham with coleslaw, but there was maybe an onion or something in the coleslaw, so I didn’t have it. All the other sandwiches were absolutely amazing. We did get another plate of sandwiches, that we shared, then got a couple extra coronation chickens for good measure. And when I said that they would replenish everything as much as we wanted, I don’t mean that we ask and they bring. For the first plates of sandwiches and scones, it was the waiter or waitress bringing them before we had even decided we wanted more.

The scones were slightly smaller than at other teas, but they were sooo warm and flaky and buttery and delicious. They also kept on coming, so their small size was the perfect excuse to just have one more. As always, we covered them with clotted cream and the hotel’s homemade strawberry jam, which I like to convince myself was healthier. I was too full at the end, but otherwise, I might have just taken the spoon and eaten the rest of the jam by itself.
As for the desserts, we didn’t get a second plate, since we were too full for it to be worthwhile, so I didn’t get to try everything. Everything that I did try though, was sublime. The raspberry puff thing had an actual raspberry in the middle, and I think it tasted like roses too. The macaron had a hard shell and soft interior, just the way I like it. The mango coconut square was the perfect mix, and the one thing on the plate I didn’t think I would like turned out to be a ferrero rocher halzelnut square thing, so obviously delicious. And Molly says the apple dessert was like a sweet apple sauce in cake form. I might have to bring my mom when she comes and pace myself through the sandwiches so I actually have room for dessert 🙂

This probably doesn’t sound so great, but I felt feeling stuffed, like I couldn’t possibly have another bite, which is exactly what I like in an afternoon tea. Not only did they not make us feel awkward for wanting more, I think they would have kept on bringing more food indefinitely. And the setting was so beautiful, the fireplace so warm, the chairs so comfy, that I would go just to hang out there for an afternoon. The pianist played some songs that I actually knew, as well as a song from Phantom of the Opera, which made Molly really happy. Would definitely want to come back, and will be recommending it to anyone looking for a good afternoon tea in London 🙂