Blooming British Afternoon Tea at the Royal Lancaster London: Review

Recently launched at the Royal Lancaster London, the Blooming British Afternoon tea champions all things flowers and pollinators.

The Blooming British Afternoon tea champions all things flowers and pollinators. (Image: Emily Davison) This new afternoon tea has been created in partnership with the Natural History Museum and has been two years in the making.

Recently launched at the Royal Lancaster London, the Blooming British Afternoon tea champions all things flowers and pollinators. (Image: Emily Davison)

The hotel already has a strong bee theme running through it, from the honeycomb décor on the ceilings to beehives housed on the second floor that they use to produce their own in-house honey.

The setting has a lot of attention to detail, with fresh flower arrangements, bee-themed tea sets, and menus that even have a map showing London’s pollinator hotspots.

The setting has a lot of attention to detail, with fresh flower arrangements and bee-themed tea sets. (Image: Emily Davison) The menu also featured a number of interesting facts about the world’s pollinators and I learned that 1,500 species of insects are responsible for pollinating flowers.

​The menu featured a number of interesting facts about the world’s pollinators. (Image: Emily Davison) We first began by selecting our tea choices, they have a really broad selection of teas from breakfast teas, herbal teas and oolongs, along with two of their special blends for the afternoon tea.

We tried the Pollinator Blend, which was a mix of Darjeeling and China tea, with a bouquet of floral notes and organic bee pollen, and it was really flavoursome and went well against the savouries.

hey have a really broad selection of teas, including two of their special blends for the afternoon tea. (Image: Emily Davison) Savouries consisted of a very classic selection of finger sandwiches which included chicken with bee pollen, smoked salmon and cream cheese, egg mayonnaise and chive, and finally cucumber with salted butter.

Savouries consisted of a very classic selection of finger sandwiches. (Image: Emily Davison) This was followed by freshly baked scones with homemade jam and Devonshire cream, and I will say these were probably some of the best scones I’ve had this year.

The freshly baked scones with homemade jam and Devonshire cream were probably some of the best scones I’ve had this year. (Image: Emily Davison) Finally, the sweet treats created by Head Pastry Chef Scott Villacora and his team were all themed around pollinators and included four treats.

My personal favourites were the Beehive Honey cake made with honey and crème fraiche and the Daisy & the Bee cake made with vanilla sponge and lemon curd.

There was also a decadent Toffee Dome cheesecake made with saffron and toffee and a Blooming Berries tarte made with berry compote, orange blossom and chocolate ganache.

The sweet treats created by Head Pastry Chef Scott Villacora and his team were all themed around pollinators. (Image: Emily Davison) If you fancy making a day of it, you could also walk to nearby Hyde Park to enjoy the scenery, or take a 30-minute walk to the Natural History Museum in Kensington if you want to find out more about pollinators and their role in our biodiversity.

They also offer a vegan and gluten free alternative afternoon tea, along with a children’s version priced at £30.

They also offer a vegan and gluten free alternative afternoon tea, along with a children’s version. (Image: Emily Davison) Blooming British Afternoon Tea will be running at the Royal Lancaster Hotel 7 days a week between 1pm and 4pm, priced at £55 on weekdays and £59 on weekends.

With so much attention to detail, this afternoon tea is well worth a visit for any horticulture lovers who want to try something new.