Since becoming an expat, I now have quite a few British friends.  I’ll tell you right now, the stereotypes are true.  They love their tea.  It works for me because I love tea too. But I’ve come to learn they’re far more serious than I am when it comes to tea time!Not long ago a couple of my girlfriends went on a trip to London and said they were going for Afternoon Tea.  I took this to mean that they were just going to have a cup of tea in the afternoon.  How wrong I was when I saw their photos?!

On a trip to Hong Kong I experienced my first ‘proper’ Afternoon Tea at our hotel and I was hooked.  I wanted to do Afternoon Tea everywhere I went.

In my mind this fancy tea party event was called “High Tea” but I have also learned that I’m not exactly correct on that either.  Basically, afternoon tea is the fancy sandwiches and desserts that are served with tea, in the afternoon.  High tea is served after 5pm and is more of a heavy meal of meat dishes, or so I’m told.  As it turns out, I was after the fancy finger sandwiches and desserts at afternoon tea.

Now it was my turn for a trip to London, and I knew ‘Tea’ would be on my schedule!

I put my daughters in their party dresses, told them that we were going to a real tea party, and we headed to The Chesterfield Mayfair.

You might think that a fancy afternoon at a nice hotel is no place for two little girls, but this tea party made that perfectly possible.  The Chesterfield Mayfair has created a special menu called ‘Charlie and the Chesterfield Afternoon Tea’.  To me this implied chocolate, and I was intrigued.If you have kids, you might understand that there can be a bit of anxiety when you walk into a very elegantly set room with breakable tea cups, Champagne flutes and a man playing piano in the corner.

My internal dialogue began, Please be good.  Please don’t yell or break anything.

But there was no need to worry because before we were even settled in at our table, our waiter appeared with small teddy bears and activity packs for the girls.That kept them busy while my Mom and I scrolled through the menu.  Much to my delight, there was a kid’s special, ‘The Little Oompa Loompa Afternoon Tea’.  It was a no-brainer!  We ordered two of those for the girls right away!Our waiter reappeared with tiny glass bottles of pink soda.  The party had begun and my daughters were thrilled.  The soda was a hit with the girls, but I was won over by a different type bubbles that was being served up.

Ahhhh Champagne!Once we all had our bubbles of choice, the Little Oompa Loompa Tea arrived and there were smiles all around our table.  No fighting about food today!  With peanut butter and jam finger sandwiches, cupcakes, fruit and chocolate scones and a chocolate bar, it was a 3 year old’s idea of heaven.  Heaven with sprinkles on top since she was also given a giant chocolate milkshake to wash it all down.  With our tiny tea partiers busy enjoying their lunch, my Mom and I began tasting our own treats!

Honey roast ham with cheddar cheese and tomato chutney on onion bread

Roast chicken with grain mustard mayonnaise and nibbled almonds on white bread

Scottish smoked salmon with cream cheese on brown bread

Free range egg mayonnaise and watercress on basil bread

Cucumber and cream cheese on white bread

For dessert??

Chocolate chip and fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam

Oompa Loompa Cupcake

Blueberry macaron

Fizzy Lifting cheesecake

Golden chocolate egg

Chocolate Wonka bar

And of course, tea!  I stuck with the theme and ordered the Willy Wonka chocolate tea, but there was plenty of others to chose from if you’ve had enough chocolate.Needless to say we never left hungry.  When the sandwiches and desserts got low, they were promptly refilled, just as our Champagne glasses and tea cups were.My daughters, my Mom and I, were all thrilled that we had a proper afternoon tea and a wonderful girl’s day during our visit to London. If you get a chance to experience Afternoon Tea, I highly recommend it.  Be careful though, you’ll want it to become regular practice!

Thank you to The Chesterfield Mayfair for hosting us as guests for afternoon tea.  All opinions are my own.