I’ve experienced and reviewed more than my fair share of luxury afternoon teas in London and The Milestone Hotel & Residences, a five star Red Carnation Hotel in Kensington, is the venue to which I return most when off-duty due to the exceptional attention to detail and the charm of the hotel itself, where the friendly team ensures that every guest is treated like a regular.
Named after the 1834 milestone which stands outside notifying the passer-by of their 1.5 mile distance to Hyde Park Corner, as with any dining experience, the setting is paramount. If you enjoy taking in the city’s history and heritage it doesn’t get much more old-world London than this grade II-listed Victorian red brick property overlooking Kensington Gardens; hence the aptly named ‘Park Lounge’ where afternoon tea guests are made supremely comfortable with plush furnishings and book-lined walls, the like of which is hard to come by nowadays.
First opened as a hotel in 1922, you wouldn’t be remotely surprised to find Agatha Christie nibbling a cucumber sandwich in the corner and poring over a book on poisons, for the hotel has fully retained its character in the 104 years in which discerning day-trippers, business travellers and vacationers have sought out the calm oasis of its public rooms. You can immediately sense that The Milestone belongs to a family-run company, who not only train their front of house to the highest of standards, but instil in them a genuine desire to connect with their guests. It’s no surprise that so many international travellers single out The Milestone year after year, or that the flashier London 5 star establishments simply can’t compete with the ‘home away from home’ serenity and welcome you’ll find here.
The Milestone Hotel & Residences update their award-winning afternoon tea experience seasonally and nothing could be more aligned to the femininity and elegance of this rarefied English custom than their new, limited edition ‘Cherry Blossom Afternoon tea’ from 25 March until 3rd May; a special collaboration between The Milestone’s Executive Chef, Dan Putz and the Red Carnation’s Global Director of Chocolate & Patisserie, Paula Stakelum, who joined the group’s sister property, Ashford Castle in Ireland in 2010 and is internationally-renowned for her creativity and talent. Ensuring that guests staying at each of the 17 Red Carnation properties worldwide experience the most exceptional and mouth-watering desserts, this is certainly one good reason to seek out their luxury global outposts!
Capturing the evocative pink flowers which brings so much joy each year, the Milestone Hotel’s Cherry Blossom Afternoon Tea is a refined and creative celebration of spring inspired by the fleeting beauty of blossom season and the Japanese obsession with ‘Sakura’ (meaning to bloom), even the delicate finger sandwiches have an Asian twist, from a katsu chicken mayonnaise filling with toasted almond exterior, to the afternoon tea staple of smoked salmon with a nori (Japanese seaweed) and dill cream cheese which offers an addictive umami flavour, even the warm, freshly baked scones to follow are served with clotted cream and preserves including a lemon and matcha curd which adds complexity and interest to this traditional English food.
In addition to offering a ‘Prince and Princess’ afternoon tea menu for children, presented on a dinky version of the adults 3-tier cake stand (I observed one little girl overjoyed to discover this was just for her), The Milestone are especially obliging about catering for dietary needs, with dedicated vegetarian and vegan afternoon tea menus, besides alcohol free alternatives to the optional, yet customary glass of Champagne typically enjoyed with sandwiches. Nor could any tea aficionado want for a better selection of Planters’ Tea, with guests encouraged to try as many as they wish. Alongside usual favourites such as Earl Grey, you’ll also spot some suitably fragrant blends offering a more harmonious accompaniment to this celebration of the most precious spring flowers; from ‘Mistress’, a golden tea featuring bergamot, orange and lemon peel; ‘St Andrews Estate Orange Pekoe’, a seasonal single estate tea with an exotic, rosy flavour; ‘Radiant Rose’, a high grown tea perfumed with rose petals. But it is perhaps the ‘Mattakelle Golden Curls’, a Gold winner at The Leafies International Tea Academy awards organised by UK Tea Academy and Fortnum & Mason, which offers the marriage made in heaven when sipped alongside this highly fragrant afternoon tea due to its clever partnering of Japanese and Sri Lankan flavours, lending it a rosy aroma with heady jasmine notes.
Japanese-inspired desserts featured within the patisserie selection include a miso macaron with a peanut and raspberry filling; yuzu, strawberry and hibiscus choux; and a Japanese rollcake featuring sencha tea and cherry. The highlight, however, is Paula Stakelum’s signature dessert of aerated Opalys white chocolate with forced rhubarb, dulce crémeux and melt-in-the-mouth shortbread, finished with gold leaf and epitomising her award-winning artistry and chocolate expertise. ‘Delicious’ just doesn’t do it. Incredibly original, I guarantee that your Cherry Blossom Afternoon Tea experience will be as reluctantly concluded as cherry blossom season itself, and I strongly advise making a reservation sooner rather than later. Going far beyond novelty-factor, with each lovingly thought-out and handcrafted element just as much a delight for the palate as it is for the eye, as Katsumoto said in The Last Samurai, “The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life,” so it was worth sacrificing the diet in order to find our readers the most magical spring experience in the afternoon tea capital of the world.
Cherry Blossom Afternoon Tea at The Milestone Hotel & Residences from Wednesday 25th March – 3rd May, £85 per adult, £98 with a glass of Champagne, £45 per child. For more information and to make a reservation please visit the website.
