Suanne L.
Yelp
I couldn't go to London without sampling an authentic high tea, could I? My friends suggested Richoux, which is supposedly French, but I just followed the locals and suspended by disbelief. The exterior is bright red and classy, and the inside feels very art deco old money pretty. The ceiling is stained glass and the carpets are lush. That said, the restaurant was on the dim side and certain elements of the service made the experience a little less posh, but still good. That said, please don't come in with flip flops, shorts, or tank tops... You would feel awkward.
My table ordered the traditional afternoon tea, which comes with finger sandwiches (smoked salmon, egg mayonnaise, cucumber chicken), warm baby scones, strawberry preserve and Cornish clotted cream, rich fruit cake and a pastry with tea, coffee or a mug of hot chocolate. Each person got their own pot of tea and we opted for extra scones. I loved the baby scones - they were the perfect size for tea and to avoid carbing it up too much. They were buttery and fluffy, but I could have skipped on the raisins mixed in. The sandwiches were good, but a little dry. I was expecting open faced sandwiches, but they were full sandwiches with bread on both sides. I loathed the fruit cake, but I've never been a fan anyway. Others at the table who are not so averse to fruitcake said it was tasty. And the raspberry pastry (that looked like a giant macaron) was fantastic. I also really enjoyed my Richoux "own blend" of breakfast tea, which was smooth and well rounded without being steeped too long. The Richoux Earl Grey was also tasty with good notes of bergamot. However, I found the jasmine tea to be too bland, with not enough fragrance to make it distinctive. (Yes, I know its supposed to be a light tea. This was basically drinking hot water.)
The service was mediocre. While we had a reservation and the restaurant was only 20% occupied, we still had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated. When we were seated, one of the chairs was covered in powdered sugar. Since my group was a little young and a bit casual, I felt that service was a bit disdainful of us, even though were were not being loud or disruptive. (Perhaps we didn't order enough for them?) Our tea and food came after a 20 minute wait and they let us leisurely enjoy our tea, but it did take a while to get the check.
The price is good, especially if you're splitting the tea among a party of 4. But if you're a small party, it will feel very expensive until "tea" really means "lunch" to you.