The Lounge

Atmosphere was nice and quiet 👍 Food was great, especially with the sandwiches and crayfish rolls 😋 Scones weren't bad but perhaps a bit tiny in terms of size, comparing to afternoon teas from elsewhere in London. I had sapphire earl grey tea ☕ which helped me to relax after a very tiring and stressful week 😊

It was also at The Royal Horseguards that I had my first afternoon tea experience in London. I was really excited for it because more than anywhere else, London is synonymous with Afternoon Tea! There's no argument that the post-lunch, pre-dinner treat is a British institution.

Having been accredited with ‘invitation only’ membership to the esteemed UK Tea Guild in 2012, The Royal Horseguards was honoured with its second ‘Award of Excellence’ in the Tea Guild’s Top London Afternoon Tea Awards in 2013 (The Tea Guild is a prestigious and unique non-profit organisation that represents and encourages those outlets who are dedicated to both brewing and serving tea to the high standards desired by the United Kingdom Tea Council).

The Royal Horseguards' Novus Tea menu offers a broad range of black, green and herbal infusions from the world’s premium tea estate using only the finest quality leaf grades. Mijune and I chose "Strawberries & Cream", a Royal Horseguards unique blend of black leaf teas which was light in flavour with subtle strawberry and cream notes, and "English Breakfast", a black tea blend of delicate Ceylon, gutsy Assam and rounded off with a tasty South Indian leaf. 

Both of us opted for the Laurent-Perrier Champagne flight with our tea (we patted ourselves on the back for the brilliant idea). Because why not, right? When in Rome ;)

The Laurent-Perrier Champagne Flight (£55.00)

Sommeliers selection of three selected Laurent-Perrier varieties to perfectly compliment the different elements of the Royal Horseguards Afternoon tea:

Laurent-Perrier Brut

Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé

Laurent-Perrier Demi Sec (exclusive to The Royal Horseguards' afternoon tea service)

The Signature Tea (£32.00 without champagne flight) includes:

A Traditional Selection of Elegant Finger Sandwiches and Contemporary Savoury Bites

Coronation Chicken, Cream Cheese & Smoked Salmon, Hummus & Cucumber and Roast Beef and Horseradish.

These finger sandwiches were perfectly sized. My favourites were the cream cheese & smoked salmon, and the coronation chicken which was packed with herbs and spices in a nice creamy sauce.

Warm, Freshly Baked Fruit and Plain Scones, Homemade Fruit Preserve and Cornish Clotted Cream

To ensure freshness, the scones were brought out only after we were done our sandwiches. These scones are quite possibly the best scones I've ever had so far in my life. Served warm, they had a medium-gold outer crust and a light-gold, moist and tender crumb. The entire scone was light and buttery with a cake-like denseness and texture. I needed a lot of restraint when it came to the clotted cream because I wanted lots of it on my scone. It was ridiculously smooth, thick and creamy (clotted cream is a thick cream made by indirectly heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly).

Handmade Cakes and Delicate Pastries

Lemon Cupcakes with Marshmallow Meringue, Banana Toffee Cheesecake, Creme Brulee and Darjeeling Chocolate "shot glasses", Mango Passion Fruit Tart, Raspberry Meringue Lollipops and Macarons.

The banana toffee cheesecake and the creme brulee and Darjeeling chocolate "shot glass" were the highlights for me from the sweets plate.

Attentive service combined with its great afternoon tea and comfortable setting makes The Royal Horseguards a superb afternoon tea spot. Guests enjoying afternoon tea will never leave hungry too as their Afternoon Tea is continuously replenished at no additional charge.

The Royal Horseguards Hotel is in a beautiful location that looks out to the London Eye. We received a very warm welcome and left five hours later. It is one of those places that you could sit down with a great pot of tea and leave the world to do its thing, as we did.

The afternoon tea at The Royal Horseguards began with a smooth glass of Laurent Perrier champagne and a selection of sandwiches. The two in the party who took the gluten free option were impressed with what was provided to them and requested seconds. Those taking the classic afternoon tea received tuna in choux pastry along with light cucumber, salmon and Coronation chicken finger sandwiches.

Following the champagne and sandwiches, Novus tea was served from the world’s most perfect silver teapots, our party having chosen white pear and ginger, fleur d’orient oolong and strawberries & cream black tea. The tea ware was the Royal Horseguard’s own china, beautifully designed and when replaced, each person was consistently served with the design they had originally sat down with (we each received a different and unique design of tea ware).

Both plain and fruit scones were served around 40 minutes into the service, both gluten and non-gluten free options being light and buttery with a deliciously tart home made fruit preserve.

And before we knew it, we were munching on an array of cakes, the highlight being a caramel cheesecake that we would have asked for seconds of if we hadn’t been so full. Also served were a passionfruit tartlet, lemon meringue cupcake, chocolate macaron and elderflower with raspberry Battenberg cake.

The service was five-star. We felt so welcome at the Royal Horseguards Hotel and at no point felt under any pressure to leave. It would be very easy to make yourself at home in this wonderful establishment and it is certainly somewhere we would visit again. Take your mum, your best friend, your dad, or like we did, just the girls for a good old natter; just make sure you wear a lovely tea dress to match the divine tea ware.

Pricey and lovely afternoon tea experience in the lounge marred by occasional strollers and luggage carts rumbling through to use the ramp to the lobby. We had two tables of 3 and 4 across from each other last week. At my table for three, we enjoyed a vegan tea. The scones and biscuits were slightly dry that were fixed by berry jam and plant-based butter. The tea sandwiches were very good. Our server was excellent and did everything to make us comfortable and happy. There was so much food that it actually served as a late lunch. We shared refrigerated leftovers with hot tea in our room there the next afternoon. It was a welcome break from sightseeing, especially during cold, windy weather. I recommend reservations, as they had limited tables for walk ins.

"We had a fantastic time at this restaurant. The cozy atmosphere and diverse menu made for a great evening. The food was delicious, and the service was attentive. We'll definitely be back.

Wonderful experience staff are 5 star customer service. Starters was mouth watering. Will be back

Excellent place to eat