Afternoon Teas in London, Ranked
Updated Jan 13, 2026
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Here is a ranked list of the afternoon teas I had in London. See my ratings on the food, the service, and the setting.
An ongoing list of the afternoon teas I’ve been to in London, ranked.
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6/ Shangri-La The Shard
Setting: ★★★★☆
Afternoon tea is served in the TING restaurant at the Shangri-La hotel, which is on the 35th floor. You get sweeping views of London but I knocked off a star since the setting wasn’t as cozy as a tea room.
Service: ★★★★★
Service was fantastic from start to finish.
Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★★
Loose tea is served and they brought extra hot water to refill. They start guests with a welcome drink, which I thought was a lovely touch.
Savories: ★★★★☆
Tea sandwiches were good but they don’t use homemade bread so it wasn’t as soft and pillowy as it could be.
Scones: ★★★★★
The scones were served warm and the clotted cream was good.
Sweets: ★★★★☆
I found the sweets to be hard to eat since it required utensils and the portion sizes were a little bigger than I like. They did have a fun presentation where dry ice created a fog.
Overall: ★★★★☆
The afternoon tea here wasn’t my favorite but I’m glad I went to see the panoramic view of London.
Price: £65 ($86) per person at the time of my visit. The menu and prices may change at any time.
5: Rosewood London
The Rosewood hotel does themed afternoon teas based on a person and when I went, it was a Hokusai inspired art afternoon tea. Hokusai was a Japanese artist and the food and tea were inspired by his art and history.
Setting: ★★★★☆
The Rosewood afternoon tea is served in their Mirror Room, a dining room off the main entrance. The space is like a mix between a lounge and a restaurant but definitely not a tea room.
Service: ★★★★★
The service was excellent. Friendly and attentive.
Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★★
All teas recommended to pair with the afternoon tea were Japanese teas. There was an option to switch up the tea with each course which is what I did and enjoyed.
Savories: ★★★★☆
The savories were good but a bit messy. The portion size on the sandwiches were too big.
Scones: ★★★★★
The scones were very good as was the clotted cream.
Sweets: ★★★★☆
The sweets were a bit of a miss for me. They were very pretty and on theme, but I didn’t like how they were served. They had 3 big sweets that were meant to be shared by 2 people, meaning we had to cut each piece, which resulted in making a big mess. They were a little hard to eat.
Overall: ★★★★☆
I appreciated the themed afternoon tea, which is always fun. But, I wish they did better with the sweets by serving mini servings instead of full-sized.
Price: £80 ($109) per person at the time of my visit. The menu and prices may change at any time.
4: Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London
There are 2 Mandarin Oriental hotels in London and the only one that serves afternoon tea is the one at Hyde Park.
Setting: ★★★★★
The afternoon tea is served in The Rosebury a lounge/restaurant that serves food all day. It’s a light-filled room with comfortable seating.
Service: ★★★★★
Service was great.
Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★☆
The tea menu had a little too many options with 29 teas to choose from. I got a flavored white tea called Sticky Rice, which I LOVED. It tasted like lightly charred cooked rice. I love roasted teas with toasty notes so it makes sense why I loved it so much. I knocked off a star since they had supplemental cost for some teas.
Savories: ★★★★★
The sandwiches were very good with excellent flavors and the softest bread.
Scones: ★★★★★
The scones came out on a 2-tiered bird-cage shaped stand that was clipped to a metal branch next to the table. The top tier had the scones and the bottom had clotted cream, jam, and lemon curd. It was all very good.
Sweets: ★★★★★
The sweets were cute and tasty. I liked the variety and they were all very good.
Overall: ★★★★★
I really enjoyed the afternoon tea at Mandarin Oriental and would recommend it.
Price: £79 ($107) per person at the time of my visit. The menu and prices may change at any time.
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3: The Ritz London
Setting: ★★★★☆
The Ritz London serves afternoon tea in a space that’s just for tea service 5 times a day (!!). The space is off the walkway near the hotel lobby and up a couple of steps so it’s set up like a stage. One thing I didn’t like was the table arrangement. The tables are very close together and the two chairs at my table both faced the lobby, making the seating awkward. The space itself is gorgeous.
Service: ★★★★★
Service was top tier with everyone on their game. They time everything perfectly so the next course arrives just as you’re finishing up the previous one.
Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★★
Both the tea and the tea selection were excellent. No notes.
Savories: ★★★★★
The tea sandwiches were phenomenal. Each one was better than the next.
Scones: ★★★★★
The portion size of the scones was great as was the clotted cream. The clotted cream was absolutely delicious.
Sweets: ★★★★★
They serve 3 sweets on the tiered tray and after, they roll out a dessert trolley with 2 additional cakes. Loved that extra touch.
Overall: ★★★★★
The Ritz London was the most formal afternoon tea I’ve ever been to and you can tell why it’s so iconic by how the tea service is done. A must-go.
Price: £81 ($110) per person at the time of my visit. The menu and prices may change at any time.
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2: Sketch
Setting: ★★★★★
Sketch is a 3-star Michelin restaurant that serves afternoon tea in the Gallery room. It’s a very pretty tea room and they have a live string trio playing while you enjoy the tea service. It’s what you want a tea room to feel like.
Service: ★★★★☆
Service was very good until the end when the host came to our table to tell us we had to leave our table since we were going to exceed our 2 hour limit. This was after we had already asked for the check and we were waiting to pay.
Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★★
Tea and tea selection were excellent. They serve loose tea and since it’s unlimited, like almost all afternoon teas in London, I got to try 2 different teas.
Savories: ★★★★★
The tea sandwiches here were the best. Super flavorful with unique combination of ingredients. They went beyond the classic tea sandwiches.
Scones: ★★★★☆
Scones were good but a little dry and flavorless. Good portion sizes though.
Sweets: ★★★★★
Delicious and so adorable.
Overall: ★★★★★
Even with the service and scones at 4 stars, the whole experience and high level of tea sandwiches and sweets made this one a must-try. I would definitely go back.
Price: £85 ($115) per person at the time of my visit. The menu and prices may change at any time.
1: Fortnum & Mason
Setting: ★★★★★
The Fortnum & Mason store at Piccadilly devotes an entire floor to their Diamond Jubilee tea room. White tablecloths and live piano music makes the experience elegant and memorable.
Service: ★★★★★
Service was excellent, with our server providing great tea pairing recommendations. Really felt taken care of.
Tea & Tea Selection: ★★★★★
Fantastic tea and tea selection. I had the Queen Anne black tea blend which was excellent.
Savories: ★★★★★
The tea sandwiches are traditional in that they have classic flavors and are cut into a rectangular shape but what really makes them stand out is the bread. The bread on the tea sandwiches were exceptional. Super fresh and so soft, it was like biting into a cloud.
Scones: ★★★★★
Out of all the scones I had in London, I liked the ones at Fortnum’s the best. But what really makes this a standout is the clotted cream. I cannot stress enough how good the clotted cream is here. I was blown away.
Sweets: ★★★★★
Tasty and the portion sizes were perfect. Not too big and not too small.
Overall: ★★★★★
This is the standard that I’ll compare all afternoon teas to. It was excellent and I can’t wait to go back.
Price: £84 ($113) per person at the time of my visit. The menu and prices may change at any time.
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