The Park Room

A really beautiful, perfectly clean venue for afternoon tea. With relaxing, romantic live music from a pianist setting the scene. Excellent service from staff and so much variety on the menu.

Who invented Afternoon Tea?  No one really knows, but one legend is that Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford found that dining late in the evening would leave her feeling hungry.  Tea, bread and cakes were served in her room and, ultimately, became something of a ritual.  Afternoon Tea was born.  The Grosvenor House Hotel, with a deep seated heritage, serves a classic Afternoon Tea named after Anna, in the Park Room – a large space with pianist, views out over Hyde Park and traditional decor.

Paul A Young Chocolate Afternoon Tea at Park Room and Library, Grosvenor House

Just a few weeks ago, when I heard about this chocolate afternoon tea being hosted at the Grosvenor House Hotel and created in conjunction with Paul A Young, one of Britain’s top chocolatiers, it was not a question of whether to go. It was just a question of when. How fortunate that this should appear just as I was just looking for a birthday gift for a great friend and fellow chocoholic.

In an open airy and relaxed lounge environment, we were treated to sunny views of Hyde Park from the large windows with a central chandelier providing a scattering of light. The staff were so smiley, sincere and efficient. No pushy turnaround times and then mention of my friend’s birthday did not go unnoticed.

Various tea menus were available to order from the standard menu but today, we were all about the chocolate. There were a range of teas on offer but neither of us glanced at it after we spotted the cocoa nibs specialty tea. Think nibs of crushed cacao beans – hundreds of them – all infused in water to give the most explosive but lingering cocoa aroma – it was nothing short of a delight to to the gullet. I drank the entire pot. Oh yes I did.

A refreshing mini serving of pineapple, melon and mango salad provided just the summer burst of fruit we needed to cleanse our palates (and consciences) before getting started. The sandwiches included some of the expected participants – ham and cheese, smoked salmon and cream cheese, some of my favourites – chicken and tarragon and prawn and some downright quirky – chocolate and cucumber. Sounding utterly bizarre? It was. But it works freakishly well.

Before the scones arrived, the waiting staff came our way, bearing a fruit tart on a happy-birthday decorated plate, singing to the melody of the live pianist playing happy birthday. Said scones were perfectly warm and insulated in a little cloth pouch but there was a split second of disappointed when I noticed a lack of chocolate chips. Sometimes though, less is more and Paul A Young and the team at the Grosvenor House have clocked onto this. Instead of stuffing the scones with chocolate, we have plain and sultana but the indulgence comes in the form of a seductively lush salted caramel sauce – I layered up my scone with lashings of this. Raspberry jam is also available for those who prefer to adhere to convention.

The cakes were a delightful combination to suit all tastes. My friend laid claim to the Battenberg, which was fine by me as I was eyeing up the chocolate and Earl Grey tart and the pistachio and chocolate slice. I would recommend leaving the chocolate and orange ganache till last as it is very rich and decadent, which may over-power the cakes if you dive into it first.

We had such a wonderful experience here for Afternoon Tea! An old mentor of mine used to come to the tea room at Grosvenor House when she was a little girl a long time ago, and suggested we come. The atmosphere was charming and the live piano was a lovely touch. I had the High Mountain Oolong tea, which was wonderful. The open and finger sandwiches were nice, but the prawn sandwich was hands down the best. The sparkling wine shave ice started was refreshing and fun, and the scones and jam options were a treat! The best part was the tea cakes—each was so fun and cute (and tasted good!). They even had vegetarian options for the sandwiches. If you get the chocolate tea cake, be sure to eat that one last—the flavor is strong, and might change the taste of the next cake. I got an espresso at the end, which was good, and the person I was with got a latte, which was okay. They gave us two slices of cakes to go, which was a real treat, too!

Afternoon tea here was a very special occasion. The food was delicious, the waitress from Nepal was very attentive and provided us with an excellent service. I also loved the pianist musician playing both classical and more modern music. The fresh flower arrangement was beautiful. All in all a wonderful evening with my family!

We reserved the date a few days before which was an easy online reservation system and reconfirmed the day of at their request. Arrived a few minutes before our reservation for 3 persons and had to wait a bit for our table to be ready at 4 pm. At first, service was spot on and attentive, then quickly felt abrupt as the servers changed mid-stream in the process. The menu was explained well, but honestly we had no idea who our main server was. We were offered champagne or non-champagne option. We chose champagne option and we weren't offered any option on champagne, despite what appeared to be a few different choices. They poured the most expensive, which was fine and what we would have chosen anyway but it would have been nice to know and server should have offered and explained all the options ("regular" or "reserve"....felt a bit taken advantage of and unsuspecting customers may not be aware). The woman taking the tea and jam order was very matter of fact and for a few seconds, it felt like giving an order at Denny's in the USA, with menus being snatched up as the orders were taken. The food was abundant(amuse bouche of pear granita, canapes, then three tiered trays of sandwiches, scones and desserts), and the three of us could not finish it all, so it was packaged up (scones, some of the dessert cakes and a few finger sandwiches) after 2 hours of nibbling and enjoying the delicious teas (Earl Gray, House Blend and Chai). We spent 2 hours taking it all in. Overall, a lovely experience in a dining area filled with all kinds of customers. Not stuffy, but elegant. With all the attentive staff (there must have been about 5 different people tending to us at different times), it felt slightly frenetic and it would have been nice if the servers introduced themselves by name. I would absolutely return and plan to in November when back in London again to visit our daughter who is living here for a year.

First ever afternoon tea. Was an elegant (and filling) adventure. The tea offerings were diverse and well curated. The finger sandwiches were tasty with enough options for most people (we had 1 particularly picky eater with us...he'll be sent for Grover's tea service in the future even though he's 33). The scones and accompaniments were delicious and plentiful and the desserts were absolutely beautiful with a wide variety (Mr picky was happy with these). Was definitely not rushed but our particular server definitely waned on service level after the first 45 minutes. I don't feel that was indicative of service in general but frankly didn't watch others. Would definitely recommend.

Amazing experience, staff are so helpful, polite and friendly. We went for my mother's 70th birthday celebrations. The afternoon tea with a glass of Champagne is delightful, I had a vegan option and it was tasty. We were unable to finish the tiers of finger food, they had provided us with a cute takeaway box to take home our remaining food. I would definitely recommend and go back again.