If you’re looking for the quintessential London hotel afternoon tea experience, it doesn’t get much better than at the Langham’s Palm Court. Everything that you would wish for from a five-star experience can be found here, from the more than capable pianist playing away in the corner (we especially enjoyed his rendition of ‘My Way’) to the excellent staff, who smoothly appear to offer glasses of Laurent-Perrier (Brut and Rosé respectively) as we peruse the menu for the Strawberry Season experience.
While this delicious selection of savoury and sweet treats does not attempt to reinvent the expectations of tea-fanciers, there are numerous twists and refinements that make the whole experience well worth the £100-a head price tag. For starters, the sandwiches are utterly divine, especially the aged beef sirloin with black truffle and Devon white chicken breast with sundried tomato pesto, and the quail egg tartelette acts a welcome touch of novelty.
And as the name suggests, strawberries play a large part in this afternoon delight, whether it’s a selection served with clotted cream on the table or a couple of delicious ice creams brought over mid-course. With Wimbledon now in full swing, it would have been easy enough for the Langham to lean on bowls of strawberries and cream and call it a tie-in; instead, the fruit turns up with rather more guile than that, woven through the menu as if the tournament had nothing to do with it at all. And it’s safe to say those served – from fourth-generation growers J Myatt and Co Ltd at Mockbeggar Farm in Kent – are unparalled for their succulence and sweetness. Strawberries as intended; no GM supermarket fodder here, thank you.
The sweet selections are, of course, peerless – we were especially big fans of the ‘Like a Bellini’, which mixes peach compote with champagne foam, and a ‘sharing cake’, Pavlova by Brigitte, might or might not be a reference to the First Lady of France, but combines meringue and cremeux to delectable effect. There is one small twist to the usual sandwiches-scones-cake formula – the scones come last – but they’re every bit as feather-light as they need to be, served with two kinds of jam, apricot and (naturally) strawberry and, of course, clotted cream, which, as any habitue of afternoon tea knows, always comes first.
It would be remiss not to mention the teas we try, which, unusually, are served with each course, giving us a chance to pivot seamlessly between the sweet and savoury kinds. Larry tried the Ceylon & Rose and the Organic Yunann White Peony, while I opted for the splendidly named Phoenix Honey Orchard and Blackcurrant & Hibiscus. All had the depth and intensity of flavour of the very best alcoholic drinks while being a purely guilt-free pleasure, which is more than can be said for some of the rest of the tea, but the whole thing adds up into quite the most enjoyable couple of hours that you can spend in central London on an afternoon.
The Strawberry Season Afternoon Tea is available daily from 22 June to 2 August 2026 in Palm Court at The Langham, London. Prices start from £85 per person. For more information, and for bookings, please visit www.palm-court.co.uk.
