Afternoon Tea

I expect you mean afternoon tea - the one with cakes and sandwiches. A lot of people on here recommend the Wolsey for a good experience at a more reasonable price, although I think it’s still about £40.

I saw this posted on TripAdvisor recently and it has lots of ideas for afternoon tea:

https://londonist.com/london/food-and-drink/cheapest-budget-best-value-affordable-afternoon-tea-london

A word on nomenclature: what you are probably looking for is properly known as “afternoon tea”: savoury sandwiches, cakes and scones.

Traditionally in Britain, “high tea” was a substantial, often working class meal with a cooked element - say, ham and eggs with bread and butter followed by cakes.

However it seems to be common in North America and Australia to use the term “high tea” for afternoon tea, because presumably “high” makes it sound fancy and posh… and so you will now find some London cafes and hotels have started describing their afternoon teas as “high tea.”

Clear as mud.

Thanks, Golden Girl for the link. I finally quit trying to correct friends and family about what high tea is. However, whatever you call it I love afternoon tea with all the treats.
Cdb travek lover, you might ask where you are staying if there is anything in the neighborhood. I've had wonderful teas in small, cozy, unknown places.

"it seems to be common in North America and Australia to use the term “high tea” for afternoon tea,"

As an Australian I would call it afternoon tea, but quite a few restaurants etc seem to have adopted the term 'high tea'. So I'd day for Aussies, if they have friends round to their house, it's afternoon tea, but if they have it at a hotel it's high tea. Very confusing.

Where I am today, in Cheshire, I have just been given an offer for High Tea (their name for it), at a local restaurant. £12.95, or £8.95 for the over 65's.

Working class people would not themselves call the meal ‘high tea’, it would just be tea. It’s a hot meal eaten early in the evening at about 5pm, which to middle and upper class people is now only a time that children and the working class eat. Dinner (or supper) time should be later, from 7pm onwards, if you’re the kind of person who cares about such things. And in Britain, still a very a class conscious society, lots of people really do care about these class markers.

And in Britain, still a very a class conscious society, lots of people really do care about these class markers.

Whilst there is definitely still an obsession with working, middle and upper classes I think there is less concern about what to refer to meal times as. When I was growing up the evening meal was referred to as teatime but now I refer to it as dinner. I've never called it supper though, that's just posh.

As for the OP's question there is such a huge breadth of establishments offering afternoon tea it's almost impossible to provide a recommendation. I genuinely don't think you're going to find a bad one as it's not something that's difficult to do, it's essentially sandwiches, savouries and cakes, the setting typically dictates the price. I'm assuming you're after the experience rather than the culinary prowess in which case I wouldn't spend too much effort trying to decide which one to go for.

https://www.walks.com/blog/affordable-afternoon-tea-london/

Over decades enjoyed afternoon tea at the English Rose Cafe and Tea Room, The Orangery, Biscuiteers, Fortum and Mason, Harrod’s Tea Rooms, Browns Hotel and Orange Pekoe in Barnes.

Honestly depends on how formal you want the atmosphere to be and how much you are willing to pay.

Check TimeOut London online for recommendations, same with a Lady in London and
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/unique-afternoon-teas

We really loved tea at Fortnum & Mason.

We enjoyed afternoon tea at The Wolseley last June--running around £44.50 right now. We've also enjoyed afternoon tea at The Orangery a number of years ago. Current cost is £30 for tea for one.

If by "low key" you mean coat/tie/dresses not required, then either venue would meet your needs. If you mean quiet, then I would recommend The Orangery over The Wolseley. The latter isn't noisy per se, but it's busy, and located in a shopping area rather than in a park.

I recommend you watch some videos by the London vlogger Hannah Ricketts, she has been to just about every tea in town (she is quite determined).

Also per another vlogger, apparently the lighter version of afternoon tea is also known as cream tea?

A cream tea is simply a pot of tea served with scones, jam and clotted cream. It’s widely available in cafes, especially in rural areas, but not so much in some of the fancy hotels and restaurants that serve afternoon tea. They don’t tend to want people sitting around for ages spending £10 when they can charge £45 and up for afternoon tea. It carries a huge profit margin which is why everywhere is so keen to sell you one.

Cream tea is associated with holidays to the south coast where it was first invented for the Victorian tourist market. Baking powder was a Victorian invention and scones made with it were much easier to produce in large quantities than yeast risen buns, and so the cream tea spread.

I would just add that afternoon tea is often served and priced for 2, so if you are planning on having this on your own you might to to double check your chosen destination can accommodate that.

There are any number of good options. Recently my friends and I chose the British Museum for afternoon tea following our visit. It was £35/each, I think. This was a balance of convenience and price for us.

Wolseley is great for afternoon tea.

I had a nice afternoon tea at Bea's of Bloomsbury.

We thoroughly enjoyed afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason on our most recent trip to London in April.
Food and tea were all delicious. As long as we were still eating or drinking tea, they kept refilling the trays and the tea pot. You definitely need to book ahead.

We also did the Brigitte’s Bus Tea which was a nice experience. She has a Double decker bus that’s been turned into a rolling tea room that takes you on a tour around London complete with commentary. Food and tea were good but not a lot of it. You get to keep your special travel insulated tea cup.

You pay for the experience and I think you get your money’s worth.