The Chilworth Hotel (English Afternoon Tea) – Paddington

You can take a Brit out of Britain, but you can’t take the Britain out of a Brit – especially when it involves the time-honoured tradition of afternoon tea.

And so it was that we found ourselves at The Chilworth Hotel in London Paddington for a spot of tea, f?a?n?c?y? ?b?i?s?c?u?i?t?s? and sundry other delightful goodies.

And we were spoilt for choice too, with the following trio of afternoon tea menus to consider: Classic, Chocolate, and Indian.

Served all day, every day, from between 2.30-5.30pm, you’ll be served premium afternoon teas in a fancy dining room by essentially a 5-star hotel which opened in March 2018.

3-Tier Traditional Afternoon Tea, £25:
Tier 1 – Chocolate moose, lemon tart, coffee eclairs, carrot and walnut cake, macrons.
Tier 2 – plain scones with strawberry jam and butter.
Tier 3 – Tuna mayo sandwich on carrot bread, hummus with cucumber and cheese in beetroot bread, egg & watercress sandwich on brown ray bread, chicken and pepper brioche.

Tier 1 – With the dessert tier being at the top, this was the one that caught our collective interest, with an assortment of goodies that included a chocolate mousse, lemon tart, carrot and walnut cake, macarons, and brownies that were a replacement of the coffee eclairs.

The best of the lot, however, had to be the dainty lemon tarts which, despite their size, really packed a citrusy punch, with a small wedge of lemon complemented by the burst of fruitiness courtesy of the blueberry.

As for the chocolate mousse, then this was smooth and airy enough, with fresh raspberries and blackberries dusted in icing sugar helping to cut through its richness.

And while the carrot and walnut cake was relatively moist, and the macarons nicely executed, we did find the brownies to be a touch on the dry side.

In the end, it was the diversity of types that set this tier apart from the others.

Tier 2 – While these scones were handmade, they didn’t quite have that we’ve-just-been-freshly-baked feel about ’em. Sure they were soft enough on the inside, but they were also rather hard on the out.

Worse still, the all-important jam accompaniment had a inferior quality to it, which was the most disappointing thing here.

And butter! Butter? Where was the cream?!

Tier 3 – On paper, this sandwich tier was certainly an interesting one comprising as it did of: 1) tuna mayo sandwich on carrot bread, 2) hummus with cucumber and cheese in beetroot bread, 3) egg and watercress sandwich on brown ray bread, 4) chicken and pepper brioche.

In reality, however, and while these were good enough, they simply weren’t that memorable. Sure the different types of breads offered something slightly different, but these sandwiches aren’t exactly pushing boundaries of innovation are they?

While the afternoon tea came with a glass of champagne, there was no non-alcoholic alternative, which was a pity.

As a result, we had to opt for a Latte and an Earl Gray breakfast tea.

Both were well executed and went well with all the above.

Note also that there’s Assam and Darjeeling teas available too.