Rule number one: come hungry. Afternoon tea at The Savoy in London is a culinary commitment to multiple plates of lovely things. Start off with a flute of champagne. Tea at The Savoy is a special occasion - honour it with a glass of bubbles. It sets a celebratory tone for what will be a beautiful afternoon of indulgence.
Following the bubbles, move on to the main event (in this tea snob's opinion): tea! The Savoy offers a good selection of teas. I appreciate that it's not an exhaustive list that takes forever to get through. The tea sommeliers behind the tea list created a showcase of gorgeous teas worthy of the event. I chose the silver needle white tea - delicately sweet with floral notes. It paired very well with the savoury and sweet plates to come.
Service at The Savoy was incredible. You've come to the right place for true tea service. Our server was incredibly attentive to our tea cups. Each time it approached empty, our server would appear ready to pour another cuppa - or perhaps more hot water for your pot. They keep the tea flowing which is incredibly important for me. I hate an empty tea cup.
With the tea now flowing, our finger sandwiches arrived. Our server was incredibly accommodating to me as a vegetarian. I forgot to call ahead to give them notice. But, she offered me a plate of vegetarian finger sandwiches on a stand-alone plate separate from the meat sandwiches offered to my partner. I had let her know that fish/seafood is okay in my diet, and so she also brought the full array of the normal offering for two. I ate what I was able to - there was lots for me. They're very generous with the finger sandwiches - want more? They'll keep bringing them until you say "stop".
From finger sandwiches we moved on to the sweets (perhaps my favourite (after tea of course)). A gentleman came by with a full plate of five or six offerings of sweet things - eclairs, bars, squares, macarons - all beautifully adorned and presented. Again, there was no limit to what your heart desired here. I was on a sugar high because I wanted to try it all.
Just when you think you've made it to the end, our server offered sweet breads. We were pretty full by this time so my partner and I shared a slice of sweet apple bread. It was a very nice way to end the indulgence of afternoon tea.
This is certainly not in the realm of the 'everyday' but afternoon tea at The Savoy is truly something to add to your list. The pianist tickling the keys really put the afternoon over the top for me - she played everything from classical, to show tunes, to movie soundtracks, and jazz. I had to remind myself to sit and soak up every moment.
Afternoon tea at The Savoy was simply marvelous. I highly recommend it.