Bloomin' great: is this London's best Chelsea Flower Show-inspired afternoon tea?

Indigo macaroons with chocolate-lipped smiles and little purple flowers for hats grinned at me from inside the artist’s wooden box. Small parcels of smoked salmon were carefully wrapped to resemble swelling roses; egg mayonnaise filling encased in petal-shaped pastries glistened creamily under the room’s ceiling spotlight. Yes. I’d go for that one first.

I was at the Lancaster London hotel, trying out its limited-edition Chelsea Flower Show-inspired afternoon tea.

In truth, I’ve always found the concept of Chelsea Flower Show Afternoon teas rather ironic; let’s celebrate the vitality of the world’s gardens by eating pastries confettied with decapitated dead flowers. But as I’m better at eating than I am at weeding, I’m willing to overlook any moral or intellectual complications that arise from partaking in a floral-themed pastry-scoffing ritual of an afternoon.

• London's best afternoon teas

A word of warning: the hotel is being refurbished. So you’ll have to traverse chilly clapboard-covered hallways to get to the lounge. And although this venue for afternoon tea is comfortable and cosy with velveteen sofas to decadently flop in and Beethoven playing in the background, it’s now completely trumped by the flash new lobby, with its crystal fittings, chunky, modernist chandeliers and shimmery turquoise and silver furnishings, bathed in a purple-hued light – a tantalising taste of the £80-million refurbishment of the hotel which will be finished in the autumn of 2017.

These details were soon forgotten once I tucked into the egg mayonnaise tart – like an egg mayo sandwich, except with homemade pastry that turns crisp to creamy when you bite into it – a refreshing change to floppy supermarket bread.

Also outstanding were the sweet, butter-glazed, sunflower-seeded choux buns stuffed with a wild mushroom filling that had been whipped with truffle oil and cream cheese – the kind of thing that you know is 300 calories a mouthful but doesn't count what with its earthy, wholesome Italian flavours and being the texture of a cloud.

• The best hotel gardens in London

Go for a glass of the Pommery champagne - Winston Churchill’s favourite – before ordering tea. I went for white pear, a delicate silver needle white tea an after-sigh spicy ginger. Pai Mu Tan, one of China’s rarest teas, was also on offer here; a brilliant shade of gold, with honey-like sweetness and mellow floral notes. A timer on the table was a neat way of knowing when the tea was brewed enough to pour.

Sandwiches were decent, especially the coronation chicken, jazzed up with cranberry-studded bread. Scones were dainty and light, but controversially the homemade strawberry and orange blossom jam and clotted cream were served in 'artist paint tubes'. Piping flower shapes onto my plate was a fun novelty at first, but trying to squeeze out the last pathetic dribbles of clotted cream was stressfully reminiscent of strangling the nearly-empty toothpaste on Monday morning.

• The best luxury hotels in London

Then came the sugary climax. The lime and elderflower trifle had sprightly citrusy flavours and was drizzled with edible flowers. A white chocolate lollipop was sexed up with sugary, fragrant rosewater flavouring. My favourite was the lavender chocolate mousse cake: dense, sordid chocolatiness but brightened by that slightly herbal, minty tang that lavender has.

Once you’re suitably stuffed, I advise heaving yourself across the road to Hyde Park; what’s a flower-themed afternoon tea if it’s not followed up with a stroll among the roses and horse chestnuts of London’s most famous park?

Lancaster Terrace, Lancaster Gate, London W2 2TY, England (020 7262 6737 lancasterlondon.com). Afternoon tea available 3-31 May 2017, priced at £35 per person, and £45 with a glass of champagne. Double rooms from £149. For more information on Lancaster London, read the full review, and for more Hyde Park recommendations, read our guide to the best hotels.

Register Log in commenting policy