EATING IN LONDON - London 2015 - page 674

£ 24 afternoon tea, served Mon-Fri 15:00-18:30, Sat 15:30-17:30, Sun 15:30-18:30, see full
listing on here ) .
The Orangery at Kensington Palace serves a £ 24 “Orangery tea” and a £ 30-34
champagne tea in its bright white hall near Princess Di's former residence. You can
also order treats à la carte. The portions aren't huge, but who can argue with eating at
a princess' orangery or on the terrace? (Tea served 14:00-17:00, no reservations taken;
a 10-minute walk through Kensington Gardens from either Queensway or High Street
Kensington Tube stations to the orange brick building, about 100 yards from Kensington
Palace—see map on here ; tel. [phone], www.hrp.org.uk . )
The Capital Hotel, a luxury hotel a half-block from Harrods, caters to weary shop-
pers with its intimate five-table, linen-tablecloth tearoom. It's where the ladies-who-lunch
meet to decide whether to buy that Versace gown they've had their eye on. Even so, cas-
ual clothes, kids, and sharing plates are all OK ( £ 30 afternoon tea, daily 14:00-17:30, call
to book ahead—especially on weekends, 22 Basil Street—see color map on here , Tube:
Knightsbridge, tel. [phone], www.capitalhotel.co.uk ) .
The Fortnum & Mason department store offers tea at several different restaurants
within its walls. You can “Take Tea in the Parlour” for £ 18 (including ice-cream cakes;
Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00, Sun 11:30-18:00), or try the all-out “Gallery Tea” for £ 26 (daily
15:00-18:00). But the pièce de resistance is their Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, named in
honor of the Queen's 60th year on the throne (and, no doubt, to remind visitors of Her
Majesty's visit for tea here in 2012 with Camilla and Kate). At these royal prices, con-
sider it dinner ( £ 40-44, Mon-Sat 12:00-21:00, Sun 12:00-20:00, dress up a bit—no shorts,
“children must be behaved,” 181 Piccadilly—see map on here , smart to reserve online or
by phone at least a week in advance, tel. [phone], www.fortnumandmason.com ) .
Other Places Serving Good Tea: The National Dining Rooms, within the National
Gallery on Trafalgar Square, offers a £ 7 cream tea and £ 17.50 afternoon tea with a great
view (served 14:30-17:00, in Sainsbury Wing of National Gallery, Tube: Charing Cross or
Leicester Square, tel. [phone], www.peytonandbyrne.co.uk ) . The National Café,
at the other end of the building, is a bit cheaper ( £ 16.50 afternoon tea served 14:30-17:30).
The Café at Sotheby's, on the ground floor of the auction giant's headquarters, gives
shoppers a break from fashionable New Bond Street ( £ 9-25, tea served Mon-Fri only
15:00-16:45, reservations smart, 34-35 New Bond Street—see map on here , Tube: Bond
Street or Oxford Circus, tel. [phone], www.sothebys.com/cafe ) .
Cheaper Options: Taking tea is not just for tourists and the wealthy—it's a true Eng-
lish tradition. If you want the teatime experience but are put off by the price, most de-
partment stores on Oxford Street (including those between Oxford Circus and Bond Street
Tube stations) offer an afternoon tea. John Lewis' mod third-floor brasserie serves a nice
afternoon tea from 15:30 ( £ 10, on Oxford Street one block west of the Bond Street Tube