Gentleman’s afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

Gentleman's afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

Gentleman’s afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

Gentleman’s afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

The history of tea span over centuries, it is believed that tea was first introduced to the Portuguese in China in the 16th Century, where it was supposedly drunk as a medicine. Tea drinking became popular in Britain in the 17th Century, but the traditional British afternoon tea ceremony started in the 19th Century, and  it was a preserve for the high and mighty, as a way to fill the long gap between lunch and dinner. The tea was light, and it was served between 3pm and 6pm.

In Britain,  a confusion still looms between afternoon tea and high tea. Though both teas are celebrated in the afternoon, high tea stands out because it’s a bit heavier and is taken early in the evening usually between 6pm and 7pm. Tea ceremonies are well known all over China and other parts of Asia; each celebrated in different ways, with one thing in common:  it is considered a unifying custom.

To this date, British afternoon tea remains highly regarded and celebrated.  The ceremony of the afternoon tea has changed  dramatically over the centuries, from the traditional afternoon tea with cakes, scones, sandwiches now the champagne afternoon tea, the botanical afternoon tea  and now the Gentleman’s afternoon tea, are now all the rage and being served in high-class establishments in London. This type of afternoon tea is heart-stopping meaty and calorie loaded. It’s not for ladies-who-lunches.

I was at The Athenaeum, a 5 star hotel in London  to review their Gentleman’s afternoon tea last week. What a delight, if you like meat that is! The hotel is perfectly located in Mayfair, just across Green Park and a few meters from Hyde Park. Making a perfect pit-stop to indulge in this terrific British tradition with a male twist.

 The afternoon tea at The Athenaeum is available from 12.30pm to 7pm and it’s served at the garden room, that occupies part of the lower floor of the building. On the left side of the room there are floor-to-ceiling glass panels overlooking a very straight strip of greenery and looking up you can see the street above.

The chilli cheese straws  had the right snap and the velvety creamy of  Welsh rarebit was good too. We ended this bit of the ceremony with a drum of single malt whisky.
The room is cosy, and I noticed that almost all tables were occupied. Majority of them were secluded by the glass panel, so we had our on booth quite private, I liked that.

They have a lovely tea menu, but, unfortunately, the picture I took was too blurry and dark to publish it.  A good selection of black teas, green and infusions to chose from.

The savouries Gentleman’s afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

Gentleman's afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

Gentleman’s afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

The Gentleman’s tea started with a slate filled with naughty miniatures of classic British  savories:  a terrific  sausage roll, I loved the flaky pastry and  filling was a bit coarse like homemade ones – great!  The wild boar terrine paired very well with the sweet onion chutney. The Suet pastry crusted mini beef steak, and British ale pie was delightful!  Again well seasoned filling. I am always amused when I cut into them, the filling slowly falls   all over the plate; free from incarceration, spreading a lovely comfort smell.The chilli cheese straws  had the right snap and the velvety creamy of  Welsh rarebit was good too. We ended this bit of the ceremony with a dram of single malt whisky.

 

 

the scones
We were then served delicious tea and warm and rich scones, those were bacon and  mature cheddar cheese. Must say, they were very tasty, but by now I was craving sweet things!
Gentleman's afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

Gentleman’s afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel, London

cheese and bacon scones

the sweets at Gentleman’s afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel

Hot and sticky mini toffee pudding with walnuts – one of my favorites British desserts! I was very happy.  A nice and crumbly whisky fruit cake and melt-in-the-mouth homemade whisky truffles.

We drank copious amount of very good quality tea, and the afternoon went by so fast! I guess we enjoyed our time at The Athenaeum.  The service was impeccable and quite friendly.
The Gentleman’s Afternoon Tea at The Athenaeum is priced at £34.50 for good quality tea and a very decent amount of food.  Our sitting was at 5.30pm. I didn’t fell the need to have dinner that night, now that is a first!

Disclosure: I was a guest of The Athenaeum. They invited Hot&Chilli plus a fabulous guest to try their Gentleman’s afternoon tea. I retained full editorial control over this review. All opinions are mine.

 

Until next time why not join me on  InstagramTwitter and Facebook…X

 

Share:

3 Comments

  1. September 8, 2014 / 1:36 pm

    Loved the post and the historical facts behind tea. 🙂 ohh, "It's not for ladies-who-lunches" is just awesome!

  2. September 8, 2014 / 2:27 pm

    Hi Givanna, glad you enjoyed the post. It is a rather special tea experience. R

  3. Simon Day
    July 21, 2015 / 3:04 pm

    Hi Rosana – what is the definition of a Gentleman's afternoon tea? Because it has more meat? Or because you needed to behave better than usual?!