mad hatters tea - sanderson london hotel

...a number of savoury items such as vegetable quiche, sun dried tomato scones and some sushi-esque sandwiches. i say “sushi-esque” because thesandwicheswere curled up and reminded us all of maki rolls. the scones and quiche were both delicious but none of us were particular keen on the sandwiches...

the mad hatters afternoon tea was great but there are definitely better themed-afternoon tea options in london. i feel they could have added more to the alice in wonderland/mad hatter theme in the dishes and decor. nonetheless the home blended teas were great! i had the mint chocolate chip and the strawberries and cream, both had a perfectly mild flavour. the desserts were great too! personally for me, thesandwicheslacked the 'fancy' feel. pretty basic variety of sandwiches.

my friend had been going on about the afternoon tea at the sanderson, so we finally decided to go here the other day.

it is themed around alice in wonderland, which i believe was executed well through the dining set and food but otherwise you would not be able to tell what the theme was just by stepping in to the room. the room is very clean and spacious with a small waterfall in the middle and a glass ceiling. 

the menu was inside a vintage reading book and we were presented with some flavored tea to choose from. i had the strawberry flavor and my friend opted fro her classic earl grey. i would recommend getting a typical english breakfast tea or whatever you re use to as the flavored tea can get slightly bitter and ruins the taste of all the sweets you are about to indulge in.

thesandwicheswere nice and my favorite dessert was the mango cheesecake. there is also jelly set out on a separate table, which you can help yourself to.

overall this is a lovely experience however, all the sweets can get a bit too much; my friend and i didn’t manage to eat everything and felt paying £48 each, was expensive. however, it does have a very unique concept and if you don’t mind paying that much then give this a visit.

the hotel is located in the upper west end on berner's street and my word this place is ridiculously cool. filled with wickedly mismatched chairs of red lips and ones that twirl around and just to the right is the long bar buzzing with after work party goer's and a chilled blend of house beats. the afternoon tea itself took place in the outside area which is actually a closed in conservatory, separated in two parts by a very tranquil garden and a bit of mood lighting to throw in there.

the waiter called andres was very tentative and firstly offered us a selection of their speciality teas to start off with. rhubarb and custard and chocolate mint. good start indeed. the menu which is cleverly hidden in a vintage book and comes with a riddle, really does fit within the theme ever so perfectly. i had to of course order the scarlett martini - rosewater and cucumber. had to be done. after all is was friday evening. the tiers of beautifully presented cakes soon followed by a selection of condiments. thesandwicheswere all nicely wrapped and they even managed to use rye bread which made me one happy customer.

the melting mango cheesecake was an absolute winner and a must to try. i'm not going to spill too much but wait until you get to the middle for the surprise - divine my friends. divine. we were even lucky enough to have seconds bought to us on this one which i didn't say no to taking home with me. the scones of chocolate and spinach (not together obviously) were equally as delicious and a nice touch to the evening was the brightly coloured meringue carrots in a bed of pea shoots and the fluffy strawberry marshmallow mushrooms (thats a mouthful in itself!).

my all time favourite menu item was the miniature bottle labeled 'drink me' which was a potion of unbelievable amazing flavours coming from that straw. will have to leave it up to you to try for this one for yourself as i dont have any words of explanation to describe it at this point. im just far to busy enjoying it ;) 

have to say i am very impressed with this one. the service could not be faulted, the staff were very friendly and almost bent over backwards for you. the atmosphere and the ambience in general were second to none and for the £38 they were asking for, i didn't think was a bad price either.

the ritz and dorchester are great if you like a really fancy afternoon soiree but if your like me and you enjoy something slightly out there, then this is your kind of place to check out!

a place i've been wanting to try for a long time purely for the "alice in the wonderland" theme of it. and in terms of the theme, it definitely provides what it promises. situated in the middle of the sanderson hotel in a very zen and garden-like environment, very cohesive with the alice theme. the tea set arrives and all the little cakes and desserts is very thoughtfully catered around the theme, with little bottles that says "drink me" on it and sugar cubes thats placed in a little music box. 

the novelty of jumping down the rabbit hole into alice's wonderland wears thin however, as the price we pay for this "tea party" was not worth it in my opinion, as it is basically fingersandwicheswith a few props thrown upon it. the ambience and surrounding is immaculate and service is absolutely amazing, very attentive and friendly. and if that is what you're predominately looking for the sanderson definitely provides that. however, if you're purely looking for a place with good afternoon teas, there are many more places around london that serves just that with half the price. if you come to this mad hatters tea party, you're paying for the theme not the food. the theme itself it brilliantly executed. the food could be somewhat improved.

down the rabbit hole we went as we ventured through the doors of the sanderson hotel into a modern reception with cushiony lips as a seating option. i had decided to take my mum somewhere interesting to celebrate her birthday and thought that the mad hatter’s tea party would be the perfect bit of fun.

after asking for directions, we were led onto a very zen-like courtyard, a place you wouldn’t attribute to hosting an afternoon tea with such a title, but it had a charming atmosphere and heaters to keep us warm out in the open in february. a pleasantly helpful waitress handed each of us a hardback copy of alice in wonderland, inside of which was the menu detailing the colourful treats that would be laid out in front of us. we were first asked to choose from a selection of teas such as mint chocolate chip, apple pie and rhubarb and custard. the pots are unlimited and you can try all the flavours if you want to. we settled on the rhubarb and mint ones. they were served to us in porcelain pots sporting paper crowns and the faces of the king and queen of hearts on the sides.

wearing our royal hats as though it were christmas, we sipped on the deliciously sweet tea and awaited the food. it wasn’t long before a stack of cakes, pastries andsandwicheswas presented to us on a three tiered dessert stand. the portions are more than generous for two and fill you up very quickly but you can’t help but try them all. the food is decorated to tie in with the theme and you will get to sample chocolate tea cups, marshmallow mushrooms, ‘tick tock’ victoria sponge and rainbow cheesecake to name a few. the savoury options were also pleasing and varied. accompanying the sweets were delightful little passion fruit potions with a tag that read ‘drink me’. after gorging ourselves, we declined the offer of seconds before they would have to roll us out of there like tweedledum and tweedledee

the food and design of the tableware do well to feed into the world of the lewis carroll novel and i definitely recommend it if you have a sweet tooth. it’s a little pricey for lunch but you pay for the experience. there’s also an option to add champagne for £48pp, making it great for a special occasion but not somewhere you will visit again in a hurry.

my birthday was coming up, and i had been nagging my other half to take me to tea to celebrate. there's something so delightfully british and quaint about afternoon tea, don't you think? 
j booked the mad hatters tea party, which is an alice in wonderland themed tea in the sanderson hotel. first impressions were a bit dodgy, as the hotel was undergoing refurb and there was scaffolding and a temporary entrance outside, but once in we were shown through to the beautiful greenhouse area. the table decor is insanely cute - plates and napkins lining up form aiw clocks and pictures, and a gorgeous tea set in the middle. i plumped for rhubarb and custard, one of my favourite flavour combos and as it turns out, exquisite as a tea. 
from there, the treats are brought out on a stunning layered tea stand. thesandwicheswere fine, nothing special, but the cakes were excellent - gooey, melt in the middle ganache, an edible tea cup and carrots, a 'drink me' potion and other delights. the tea finished with jelly, which i was slightly disappointed with - it was a serve-youself buffet and the flavours didn't pack a punch.
still, all in all it was a magical experience, definitely one for a special occasion as its pricey but worth it for the pure child-like joy it brings.

i ordered a number of dishes here, savoury and delighting flavours. to begin with, vegetable quiche and sun dried tomato scones. the scones and quiche were both delicious and well prepared. we also orderedsandwicheswhich were in some sushi style concept curled up and rolled, though we did not particularly liked them much!