To A Tea: Fortnum & Mason


In efforts to help out your future adventures in London,
round out the final days of my pregnancy with shocking caloric intake,
& spend time with my girlfriends in cute places...

I took on the task of trying out different places for tea in London
for you to enjoy during my transition into motherhood.

See, the thing is-
visitors always seem to have this on their bucket list 
when planning a trip to London.

While there are many institutions 
that do tea service well,
my goal is to give you a handful of opportunities
at several different price points & styles
within different neighborhoods in London.

While most of the places I'm trying
are smaller and lesser known,
it only seemed right to start with 
a real London classic for afternoon tea.

So here you have it...
Fortnum & Mason Afternoon Tea.

__________________


Within the famous department store,
Fortnum & Mason,
is one of London's favo(u)rite tea rooms.

It used to be known as the "St. James Tea Room,"
but was recently renamed "The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon"
in honor of, well, you guessed it-
the Queen's Diamond Jubilee last summer.

My mom treated her daughters
{and their daughters} 
to ladies tea on Christmas Eve,
and while it was a pretty big splurge,
I think we would all agree-
it was an awesome memory.

My mom & me, fresh in from the winter rain.

Here are a few things to know about having tea
in this special place:

It's fancy.

Yes, you need to make reservations...
which I recommend doing online to avoid the long-distance call
and to have a physical, printed copy of your reservations. Never hurts.




You need to dress appropriately.

People go here for a splurge...
so don't yucky up their special day
with eyesore fashion like tennis shoes & ski jackets.

You'll have more fun dressing up
and sitting like a well-heeled Londoner, too...
take my word for it.

{Plus, certain dress requirements are required by guests.}


Tea Time here is a feast.




With "Afternoon Tea,"
you can expect
the standard silver-tiered tray 
of yummy sandwiches,
scones with clotted cream & jam
& tiny cakes and sweets
served with your choice of 
one of F&M's famous green pots of tea.

{£40 per person}

***

With "High Tea"
you start with a main plate
{think eggs benedict, lobster omelette, cheddar & haddock soufflĂ©}
and THEN you have the tiered tray
of scones & cakes
served with your choice of tea.

Definitely don't plan on eating anything before this,
or you won't have any room to enjoy it.
Go on and consider it your lunch... and then some.

{£44 per person}

***

You are going to be unbuttoning your fancy dress pants
under the table to make room for all of this goodness.

Editor's Note: If you flip back a couple of pages on the menu,
you can find a la carte items, which has more variety
and can be a slightly less expensive way to craft your visit at F&M.
If you'd like a main + scones or cakes, the staff is happy to piece together whatever you like.

***

If you have kids,
don't hesitate to ask for the Children's Tea
which comes with their own tea pot of tea, hot chocolate or juice
and a special selection of treats...
which, if your kid is anything like my niece,
will absolutely tickle their fancy.

{Children's Tea: £20}



________________________


I'll be posting more great places to enjoy tea
in the great city of London over the weeks to come...
 but in the meantime, 
have you had tea anywhere special 
while you were visiting the UK?

{I may need some more places to add to my list!}



*all images original to Aspiring Kennedy
** If you'd like additional information, you can read about my previous visit to Fortnum & Mason for tea here.

33 comments:

  1. I want to have tea in London! This looks wonderful. How great that you had this experience with your mom!

    Hope parenting has been so amazing to you!! Much love.

    Xo-L

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  2. I will have to check that place out next time I am in London. Having tea is my favourite part about living here in England. Plus anything with clotted cream is a dream. yum. Thanks for sharing Lauren xx

    Bonnie Rose | The Compass Rose

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  3. Ps. I will let you know what great places for Tea I find here in Bath, England. xx

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  4. I'm also popping into F&M to have a look around, however I've never been there for Afternoon Tea! Your pictures make me want to go very much!
    CB1 in Cambridge is a really good place to relax and hang out with fresh coffee. It's quite a quirky place with local artwork displayed, and book shelves filled with random books. If you ever find yourself in Cambridge check it out!

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  5. I definitely want to go here next time I'm in London. So very lovely!

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  6. That photo of that litttle girl is totally me and all I want to do at tea time. I need to go there! NEED1

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  7. You niece is adorable! Just seeing her that happy makes me want to put that place on my list!

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  8. Love this idea for a series... the food looks absolutely divine! And the look on your niece's face... priceless. :)

    xxx
    Jenna

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  9. my friend and I did afternoon tea at the Tea Rooms last year when I was in London! I can't compare it to other places, but I thought it was adorable and so charming. the tea and the little sandwiches and sweets were so tasty! we had a great time. I blogged about it here if you're interested.

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  10. My 8th birthday was at the Ala Moana Surfrider in Hawaii for their "high tea" by the water. Not as fancy as this, but as a little girl it was huge. Will have to remember this whenever we get to Europe some day.

    Praying for you guys and little baby.

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  11. That little girl...oh my goodness...the look on her face! I actually don't think we had high tea when we were in London. This looks divine. Definitely worth the splurge whenever we make it back there. Do they sell those tea pots? I NEED one!

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  12. In our first year of dating, I "forced" Jon to go to F&M with me for tea - he hated the idea because he said it was too expensive and it made him feel like a tourist, but I think he enjoyed it even more than I did in the end! Do you know Bea's of Bloomsbury? They have a location near Holborn and one in St. Pauls now, too. They're my faves!

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  13. I went to London for the Olympics but never went to tea. :( oh well, looks like we have to go back now! ...hope you're doin good with that precious new babay Lauren.

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  14. Your niece is adorable! How sweet! Never been to tea at F&M but I always loved their Christmas windows.

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  15. I've been wanting to go here since you posted about it around Christmas time. These pictures make me want to go even more now ... guess a trip to London is in order!! Glad to see a new post from you - hope you are (I'm sure you are) enjoying Miss Viola!

    Karina

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  16. Oh your niece is SO cute! I love afternoon tea, we made having a mini tea (e.g. tea and cake/ biscuits/ whatever was around) every afternoon at university at 4pm- it was lovely, and a great way of catching up with everyone's day! Next time I'm in London though, I am fully intending on going somewhere fancy for a proper afternoon tea :) x

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  17. The Dorchester's is GREAT. I also really adored one at a hotel in Bloomsbury, can't remember the name

    xo
    www.carlyonqueue.blogspot.com

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  18. I visited London last summer and had high tea at The Goring, the hotel where Kate Middleton got ready prior to the Royal Wedding. It was unreal and an experience I will never forget. Loved looking over the croquet set on the lawn. Highly recommend!

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  19. Could your niece be cuter? Talk about a perfect photo moment :)

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  20. I love the idea of this series-- I really regret not having a proper tea the last time I visited London, which means I will just have to go back, of course! Your niece's expression is adorable!
    XO, Rachel
    With Love, Rachel

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  21. Bookmarking this for next year (hopefully)! Your niece is SO cute... that gleeful expression! :)

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  22. Betty's Tea Room holds a special place in my heart, and not just because it's Harrogate's biggest claim to fame. The food there is AMAZING, the teas are exquisite, and the desserts are to die for. Much of the ingredients are sourced from Yorkshire, as well, so of course they taste better, too ;)
    There's a Betty's in York, too, as well as North Allerton and Ilkley- but I say try to get to the original in Harrogate! It's the Queen's favo(u)rite tea room in the North!

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  23. Oh! And Sketch, where Laura of Happy Homemaker UK hosted a Bloggers' Tea! I posted about it here: http://www.peachandthistle.com/2012/10/bloggers-afternoon-tea-at-sketch.html
    The food is as good as the venue was fascinating!

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  24. Tea in London should go on everyone's Bucket List, sounds amazing!

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  25. I wen to London a few years ago and had the best tea experience!

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  26. I love F&M and crave the Welsh Rarebit. Claridge's is fun, too, just because it's so pretty.

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  27. i think F&M is os much better since its refurb and was so impressed the last couple of times we came.

    the ritz is also amazing and a classic as is claridges.

    i might be slightly afternoon tea obsessed.

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  28. The Orangery doesn't have a big menu, but it's right on the grounds of Kensington Gardens and was a very fun afternoon tea the last time I did it.

    http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/Foodanddrink/Orangery

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  29. Your niece is adorable! And I think that's similar to what my reaction might be if I were to attend tea time here. Lovely post!

    www.whenwewander.blogspot.com

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  30. Oh my gracious. You could have put up that adorable picture of your sweet niece and called it a day. She is just too precious.

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  31. We definitely plan on "having tea" while we're in London. At least my little boys and I do. My husband...not so sure. So, I will definitely keep track of your posts so I can decide on the best place for us. This looks fabulous!!!

    Love the look on your niece's face!!!
    Hope things are going well and that you and V are getting some rest. Tyler, too!
    xoxo Elizabeth

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  32. Sounds divine! When I was living in London I was a student and the money was mostly needed elsewhere (nights out, shopping ;-) ) and I left without having had proper English tea.
    Shame.
    I shall remedy when I get back (which shall happen in October, fingers crossed).

    Love,
    Svenja
    Happybluebird

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