Afternoon tea has always been one of those things which quite frankly, I haven’t really got my head around. I’ve always been the sort of person that likes the idea of either lunch or dinner – and certainly not to miss both for a lavish sweet and savoury spread. However this may all be about to change, because my afternoon tea experience at Pont St restaurant, housed in the beautiful Thompson Belgraves hotel in Belgravia is a revelation and the best that I’ve experienced so far – although I don’t exactly have much to compare it too. Maybe I will be skipping lunch and dinner after all from here on in?
Pont St is actually a rather interesting restaurant and one that got me a little excited – because its head chef is Sophie Michell. Sophie is the UK’s youngest female executive chef and a very accomplished chef personality, having made multiple TV appearances and has four (maybe five) published books. The current afternoon tea offering here at Pont St restaurant is a Marie Antoinette inspired one. If you know the history of Marie Antoinette and how much this woman really loved her cake – you’ll have a little idea of what to expect, and the gluttony that comes with it. Priced at £35 a head, or £45 with a glass of Ruinart champagne, we went for the alcoholic option and found ourself sipping on a very large glass quickly after sitting down in our bright and airy booth, decorated with some rather raunchy chainmail curtains.
Then the food started to arrive – and there was ALOT of it. Some dainty sandwiches were the first for rigorous inspection (scoffing) – the classics. Cucumber, cheese and pickle and ham and tomato. They were all perfectly fine but nothing to go crazy about – nor do I suspect they’re supposed too. One of the best things we ate here and that I can still recall now, were these divine home-made scones with clotted cream and good quality runny jam – just the way I like it. Especially made even better once I washed down with another sip of that buttery Champagne.
We decided to go against all afternoon tea rules too when dining here at Pont St and work our way not from the bottom to top, but instead delving into whatever took our fancy. For less confusing purposes on here however we’ll start at the top. The Champagne and lychee jelly was a great little pot of flavour, laced with rosewater cream. Absinthe choux was expertly crafted and it’s inside flavour wasn’t overpowering but actually quite delicate and refined – if not all a bit luminous green. The least favourite from the top-tier was the Marie Antoinette shortbread playing card – it was just a little too sweet for me, but I’m sure presentation was mostly its purpose (no use to me).
Working our way down the tier, things seemed to have went from very good – to excellent. By this point we’d finished the Champagne we were sipping on and moved on to some quality loose tea. I’ve not drunk tea for a good while (more of a coffee drinker) but I’ll say the stuff here is absolutely stunning – it had the right balance of flavour, intensity and some mighty smooth tannins. The rose macaroons were really very good, both full of flavour and really chewy. The real star however on our halfway journey through this fabulous afternoon tea, were the nostalgic fondant fancies. They may have reminded me of the Mr Kipling kind but these were a million times better – I’m a changed man.
By this point during our afternoon tea, saying we were full would have been an understatement. Scoffing the last remaining food off this delicious display, such as the sublime cheese balls with quince and foie gras on brioche came with ease. The afternoon tea offering here at Pont St was rather spectacular if I say so. Perhaps the sweet and sugary offerings slightly outweighed those of the savoury kind, but that’s a problem you can easily get over. As far as afternoon tea goes in London this is a solid offering. This restaurant may be in Belgravia but surprisingly there’s not an ounce of pretentiousness or stuffiness here, it’s just all about good food and having a good time – plus some very excellent service.
8/10
