Christmas Afternoon Tea in London
Hello foodies!
My name is Justin Yue, and over my insanely short winter break, my family and I went to London! Right after Brexit back in July, we all bought relatively cheap airplane tickets. The plane ride to London from Philly was really short, but the wait for Customs & Immigration was insane. I arrived on Christmas Eve and had to wait around an hour just to get through that process.
While my family and I were in the land of Double Decker buses and the place Paddington Bear calls home, we went to The Ritz London Hotel to get Christmas Afternoon Tea. If you plan on going to London and are willing to spend a little more money on a nice meal and experience, then you should definitely make a reservation for Afternoon Tea at The Ritz!
From my experience, here are some Do’s and a Don’t of Afternoon Tea:
Do
- Pace yourself. Getting Afternoon Tea is a process, and there is plenty of food to go around. When we sat down, there were already matching plates and cups along with silverware all set up on the table. The plates had a blue flower design on them and were really elegant. Even though the menu was preset, we each chose the kind of tea we wanted. Then, our waiter came over with four kettles of tea and four glasses of pink champagne. After returning from the kitchen, he brought over a tea tier with sweets on the top plate, scones on the middle plate, and finger sandwiches on the bottom. You can always ask for more food as well. We asked our waiter if we could just have more macaroons, but instead he took our dessert plate and brought in a new one with macaroons, chocolate cake, and more confections.
- Look around you! The Ritz was decorated with garlands and fancy ornaments for the holiday season. Everyone getting Afternoon Tea was dressed nicely, and the waiters had fancy suits on as well. A couple feet away from us was a chorus singing Christmas carols and songs. For some reason, getting Afternoon Tea reminded me of The Plaza Hotel from Bride Wars, so it was especially cool to be able to experience and be part of a such a fancy atmosphere.
- Take lots of pictures! There is a lot of history and culture behind Afternoon Tea, so you will want to document your experience to show friends and family later.
Don’t
- Wear anything less than business formal. I actually didn’t bring a suit to London, so I went in with a dress shirt, slacks, dress shoes, and a “jumper” (the British way of saying “sweater”). When I was giving my belongings to the person at coat check, he said that I was required to wear a blazer and tie during Afternoon Tea. For a moment, I thought that he would tell me to leave, but luckily for me, he handed me a tie and blazer to borrow just for the time I was there. Put simply: dress to impress!
Overall, getting Afternoon Tea was one of my favorite experiences while I was in London because it allowed me to experience a different way of enjoying food with my family.
Afternoon Tea at The Ritz: https://www.theritzlondon.com/dine-with-us/afternoon-tea/
Peace Out Girl Scout,
Justin Yue
Penn Appétit Blogger