London Eats | Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea

After a couple of years of neglecting birthday and Christmas presents, myself and my best friend decided that we would make up for it by splashing out for an experience. Both of us being massive foodies it didn't take long for us to decide that an afternoon tea would be right up our street. I started looking into ones that were a bit more lavish than what we might normally be used to. I'd seen plenty of pictures of the Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea before all over Instagram and have always wanted to give it a try but have never quite been able to justify the price (ranging from £48 upwards, depending on what package you get.) I did a bit of research anyway and was able to find a deal on Afternoontea.co.uk for £40 per head including a cocktail, with an offer like that we were unable to resist.

When we first arrived at the Sanderson hotel I was adamant that we were at the wrong place considering how fancy it was, I thought there's no way they are going to let these two ragamuffins in here. But despite my fears we were in the right place and the staff were absolutely lovely, even seating us 20 minutes before our allotted time as we had arrived early. The waiters and waitresses remained so attentive during our entire visit, always on hand to get us more tasters and even take an embarrassing picture or two.

The attention to detail at this afternoon tea was second to none, all fitting with the Alice in Wonderland theme perfectly. Whether that be from elaborate playing card plates and tea pots, sugar cubes in music boxes to menus in story books, they really did think of everything. 

Now to get on to the good stuff: the food! 

The Menu

Savoury

Scottish smoked salmon, quail egg and caviar scotch egg

Wiltshire ham and smoked applewood croque-monsieur 

Cornish crab and herb eclair

Cucumber and cream cheese sandwich on fresh lime bread

Sweet

The Blue Caterpillar

Wonderlands magic marshmallow mushrooms

Curious carrot meringue

The White Rabbit's pocket watch macaroon

Red velvet ladybird

Banana bread-and-buttery 

The Queen of Hearts Oreo cookie soldier 

Alice's drink me potion

Scones served with seasonal fruit preserves and cornish clotted cream

The Teas

The Queen of Hearts - red rose petals and hints of chocolate and vanilla. 

Mad Hatter - green tea infused with mango, passion fruit and guava.

The White Rabbit - white grapefruit, vanilla and almond white chrysanthemums.

(There were more on offer but these were the ones I tried)

The food was absolutely delicious and everything was exceptionally pleasing to the eye. My favourite things on the menu were the croque-monsiour and the cucumber sandwiches - both of which we allowed ourselves to indulge in second helpings. I was also a huge fan of the The blue caterpillar, the Red velvet ladybird and The White Rabbit's pocket watch macaroon. When we arrived they asked if we were celebrating an occasion and we told them we were there for our birthdays so when we finished our food they were kind enough to bring over an amazing white chocolate and raspberry cake with two candles in for us to share.

Before we arrived I had slight concerns that the whole thing would be a bit over hyped and that the food and experience would be a bit of a let down, but my mind was quickly put at ease. Whilst you are essentially paying for the aesthetic, the food, the experience and the attention from the staff all make it 100% worth the money. I would definitely recommend this afternoon tea, and if you having any special occasions coming up I would definitely consider this as a place to go! We were both saying that it would be the perfect place to have a hen do. 

Have you been to this Afternoon Tea?

Would you give it a visit?

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Labels: London , Mad hatters afternoon tea , Sanderson Hotel