Fortnum and Mason, London

My family and I went to Fortnum and Mason for my dads 50th birthday. Fortnum and Mason is one of the oldest department stores in London and sells only the finest of things, even the fruit seems fancier! It's really worth taking a visit to if you're around London as it's quintessentially British and a great experience. 

The afternoon tea is served on the 4th floor in two large rooms, separated by a reception desk and a pianist. It's a lovely touch having live music and Tom was really brave and asked him to play 'Happy Birthday' for my daddy. The restaurant is decorated really nicely and the crockery keeps to the duck egg blue Fortnum and Mason colour. It definitely feels like a special occasion before you've even sat down to eat.

There are a few afternoon teas to choose from; classic, high tea, vegetarian and savoury. The way to go about this difficult decision seems to be to order a selection of different teas and share. We decided to have some savoury and some sweet. The staff are incredibly attentive and replace anything you finish. We had a lovely waiter who made sure our champagne was overflowing and that we never saw an empty plate!

There is an extensive tea menu, a list of their famous blends and rare teas. This is my first afternoon tea of not having breakfast tea *round of applause* I had the green tea with elderflower, which was delightful, it was really light. Tom had the snow dragon, which has the most epic name! We did both find that our tea got really bitter after only pouring one cup but the waiters didn't mind making you a fresh pot.

The savoury tea consisted of  Fortnum’s smoked salmon, coronation chicken cucumber and egg sandwiches. We were all a tad disappointing with the selection of sandwiches, as we think that they could have been a bit more special. Then we had a savoury scone, I am not normally one for cheese scones but they were really yummy! They were served with a grape jelly, which made them so tasty. Then the savoury nibbles were Wild Mushroom Puff with Truffle Savoury Choux with Smoked Salmon Tartare Quail Egg and Pea Panna Cotta & Cheese Straw.

The afternoon tea had the same sandwiches and then yummy scones, either plain or with raisins. They were served with jam and cream or lemon curd. Then onto the sweet stuff, chocolate cake, macaroon with a mango moose on top and  lemon eclair. We then had the extra special treat of choosing another of slice cake from a trolley of yumminess!

So after our wonderful afternoon of eating our own body weight in cake we all concurred that we preferred the savoury tea, the sweets and sandwiches were a little disappointing. We also thought the staff were fantastic and the experience as a whole was lovely. This tea is £44-£48 per head, which definitely makes it a high end luxurious afternoon tea. This is a lovely place to come for a celebration and I'd be very happy to go back! However, due to the cakes and sandwiches we are giving this tea 4 tea cups.

Sophie & Tom