To coincide with the newly opened Marie Antoinette Style exhibition at London’s V&A museum, The Kensington Hotel, just a pleasant 10 minute stroll away, has launched the ‘Let Us Eat Cake’ Afternoon Tea at their Town House restaurant to offer the ultimate treat after admiring the 18th century fashions made famous by the ill-fated Queen of France. Punished for her wildly ostentatious lifestyle at the Château de Versailles, guests of the Town House are invited, nay encouraged, to be as decadent as they please.
A window table with comfortable armchairs beckons, with a fan-inspired menu to tantalise your appetite, accompanied by an extensive list of Rare Teas to satiate your thirst. As the Town House reminds you, Marie Antoinette was “a woman remembered as much for her sweet tooth as her flair for extravagance”, so afternoon tea is an extremely apt way to follow-up a viewing of the V&A exhibition celebrating the original fashionista whose love of fine clothes was matched only by her taste for lavish desserts and confections.
For a further touch of French-inspired glamour, enjoy your ‘Let Us Eat Cake’ experience with a glass of The Kensington’s house champagne, Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV, or the ‘Queen’s Coupe’ cocktail, especially designed as an afternoon pick-me-up and featuring Belvedere Vodka, Pimms, Earl Grey cordial and clarified clotted cream, topped up with Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV and finished with freeze-dried raspberries.
Enjoy this splendid afternoon tea, truly fit for a queen, in one of the well-appointed, chandelier-adorned drawing rooms of the Town House, each overlooking a quiet South Kensington street of white stucco Georgian townhouses resembling a wedding cake. Nor are there many dining experiences to rival the joy of working your way through a three-tier cake stand. Commence with the selection of dainty finger sandwiches including French chicken tarragon and the highly original savoury pink brioche roll (yet another nod to the last Queen of France) filled with avocado, sun-dried tomato and crumbled feta.
I have no doubt that Marie Antoinette would have approved of the hotel’s traditional English scones with homemade strawberry jam and clotted cream, while the pastel-hued top tier patisserie is worthy of Versailles; ‘Le Gâteau du Jardin’, a strawberry genoise sponge with vanilla Chantilly & fresh strawberries; ‘La Robe de la Reine’ a blackberry & lemon curd tartlet with blackberry mousse; ‘Le Macaron Petit Trianon’ an almond macaron, sandwiched with raspberries & white chocolate ganache montée, while the ‘Le Brisé de la Dauphine’ is a delicate fan-shaped lemon shortbread, so prettily iced you may want to take it home with you!
Although Marie Antoinette’s famous “Let them eat cake” retort is something that she’s highly unlikely to have uttered upon being told that the peasants had no bread, her association with dessert is an enduring one, fuelled by Sofia Coppola’s 2006 Oscar-winning film, Marie Antoinette, portraying our heroine devouring macarons and other sweet treats. Whilst it’s true that she possessed an extremely sweet tooth – insisting on ‘Versailles Hot Chocolate’ for breakfast each morning and relocating her Austrian chocolatier to France that she might continue to partake of her favourite cocoa-rich dishes – records show that she ate little during the day, so perhaps her greatest tragedy was having lived before the invention of afternoon tea!
‘Let Us Eat Cake’ Afternoon Tea from 20th September 2025 at The Kensington Hotel, 109-113 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 5LP. £59 per person including a selection of Rare Teas, £73 per person with The Queen’s Coupe cocktail (alcohol-free alternative also available) or a glass of Charles Heidsieck, Brut Réserve. For more information and to make a reservation please visit the website.
