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Fortnum & Mason with its summer decorations up
What's the story behind this?
There's a lot of history behind everything that happens at Fortnum & Mason. For starters, the store itself has been around for a long time, having opened in the early 18th century back when Queen Anne was on the throne. Having begun in the business of selling candles, they moved into tea, first selling Chinese and then Indian tea (they were apparently the first British company to sell tea bought in auction in India).
Tea has always been a big selling point for Fortnums and they've held a royal warrant for their tea since Edward VII asked the store to bring him "the finest tea in all of the land" (which sounds like a line from Withnail and I).
Where are we having it?
The Diamond Tea Salon has more of a recent history, having been opened in 2012 by the late Queen Elizabeth II, who visited it on opening day with the current Queen and Princess of Wales. You'll find it up on the fourth floor of the building where it takes over the whole floor across a series of interconnected rooms. On a midweek afternoon in the height of summer, the place was absolutely packed with a mixture of tourists and those here for a special occasion.
One of three rooms, all of which were absolutely packed when we visited.
And the savoury tea, what's that about?
The savoury tea is a relatively new-fangled creation that was brought in for the first time when the salon opened in 2012. The idea is that if you lean more towards savoury than sweet but still really like the idea of afternoon tea, then you can come and enjoy this version instead. It's a three-tiered affair of finger sandwiches, scones and patisserie, but all of them are savoury instead.
Let's start with the tea...
Before any of the cakes or sandwiches are delivered to your table, there's the serious business of choosing what pot of tea you're going to have. Everyone at the table gets to choose their own tea. The extensive tea menu begins with a selection of their own house blends, including those created for the royal household from Queen Anne to Prince William. Then there's a large selection of black, green and flavoured tea options, along with infusions. If you fancy changing teas with every course, that's fine too.
The Queen Anne blend is particularly recommended as a good pairing with the savoury tea.
On to the food...
The tea itself arrives on a tiered cake stand consisting of sandwiches, savoury scones and pastries. Here's what we had:
Finger sandwiches - a particularly good selection of coronation chicken, Cotswold Legbar egg mayonnaise, Kames Bay smoked trout with chive cream cheese, Suffolk cured ham with English Mustard and, of course, cucumber with lemon and mint.
Savoury scones - ours were Pea, Artichoke and Comté Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato and Rosemary. And while you're not going to get clotted cream and jam with these, you are given a choice of both a Pea, Lemon & Mint Cream and Piquillo Pepper Paste to spread on them.
Savoury patisseries - this is where they really get inventive. There's an eggshell filled with oeufs drumkilbo (a favourite of the late Queen Mother), a very moreish duck and raspberry choux bun, a smoked trout and herb roulade, an intensely green goat's cheese and basil mousse and - our personal favourite - a Portland crab tart made with the thinnest pastry.
How much is this going to set us back?
There's no getting away from the fact that this is a special occasion kind of outing. The savoury afternoon tea is £86 per person. But for that, you get unlimited refills of tea, and as many sandwiches and scones as you can put away during your booking. They'll even offer you a doggy bag to take away anything you haven't managed to eat. We should also give a shout out to the staff who make serving up the xx teas they do every day, look like a particularly relaxed walk in the park. Service is absolutely faultless as well as just the right level of OTT as the occasion merits.
Overall thoughts
We ordered both a sweet and savoury afternoon tea option (for comparison purposes, you understand) and we were pleasantly surprised to find how thoughtful and considered the savoury option was. If you've ever swerved away from the afternoon experience, perhaps thinking it might be too sweet for your taste, then this is a very good alternative way to enjoy the experience. It's not the case that everyone at the table has to order the same type of tea offering, so this would suit anyone.
Be a tourist for the day in your own city and go and embrace this singularly London experience.
More about The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon
Where is it? 4th Floor, Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, London W1A 1ER
How to book: book online.
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @fortnums
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