High Tea Time – How Very British! Scoff&Banter Oxford Street

Scoff & Banter Tea Rooms 

350 Oxford Street, London W1C 1BY

Last week I was lucky enough to be one of the “50 for 50p” guests at the soft launch for the tea rooms Scoff & Banter have opened on Oxford Street in the Radisson Blu hotel behind Debenhams. 

My sister and I already had tickets to the theatre for that night, I was working in London during the day, so the opportunity seemed too good to miss. We were very taken with the unusual menu –the savoury options do make it a High Tea rather than an Afternoon Tea- and the fact that you can choose your own two items from the savouries, sandwiches , scones and pastries http://www.scoffandbanter.london/d/scoffandbanter/media/New_menus/J303629_FB_SB_A4_Landscape_TeaRooms_Menu_Web2_a4ff3f.pdf - much discussion had ensued on the way there about which choices we would make! 

  

When we arrived we were greeted at the door of the hotel and whisked upstairs to the stunning wood panelled tea room, a glass of Prosecco was placed in our hands and we were shown to our table. It was so exquisitely set with a white table cloth and Bombay Duck chinaware (long been a favourite of mine) – we were by the window , which although the view wasn't spectacular of the side of Debenhams it was a good people watching spot of both outside and inside the restaurant!

We were given our choice of teas, explained in detail by the charming Justas, and chose our sandwiches, scones and desserts. I chose a delicious lavender based tea.

As it was a soft launch, we were given the chance to taste all of the hot savouries which were being served canapé style by the staff circling around.

Oyster Rockefeller

Caramelised onion tart 

Scallop

Sticky Beijing Beef

Teeny Tiny Eggs Florentine

I would be hard pressed to say which my favourite was – but I especially loved the spiced scallop with a little battered cauliflower topping, which melted in your mouth, and the Oysters Rockfeller and the sticky Beijing fillet of beef was a hit with both of us. In fact we enjoyed all of them and I would struggle to choose just two!   

We were then brought our three tier tray with our sandwich,  scone and desserts choices

Rare Venison with Gin & Tonic Relish

We both chose the same sandwiches: rare venison with gin & tonic relish and Smoked salmon, crayfish and dill crème fraiche on a toasted bagel – I do like finger sandwiches but it was great to have a choice of unusual sandwiches on different bread. The sandwiches were utterly delicious – I loved the gin and tonic relish, and the fillings in the bagel were very generous.

By this time we were struggling and quite glad we hadn’t had lunch.

We chose a mix of scones between us, which worked out well as we had two mini ones of each of our choices so could mix and match, Pecan and apple Maple syrup and sultana, Seville orange, Valrhona chocolate – there was also a Vanilla and Cheddar cheese option. 

How adorable??

One of my highlights of the table setting was the adorable serving dishes for the Devon clotted cream, the strawberry and rhubarb conserves, my sister had to tell me to stop lifting the lids!

Ta Da!

This definitely was High Tea as we then had desserts not pastries – again we chose a mix to test them : Chocolate whisky cake with candied orange,  Lemon meringue with  blackberry compote and lime syrup,  Sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel ice cream and  macadamia nut brittle and last but not least Poached rhubarb and custard with a gingerbread biscuit.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Poached Rhubarb and Custard 

Sadly we had to go to the theatre  - we could have spent at least another hour sitting there, enjoying the food, drinking more tea (and prosecco !!)  but had to rush off – but we had sat there for 90 minutes and didn't quite finish our food.

It’s not a cheap option (£34 /£39 with prosecco /£42.50 with champagne) but is reasonable compared to some of the big London hotels. It is so special that’s it’s the perfect place to have a celebration and the high tea was enough food for lunch and dinner. 

The location is great too just behind Debenhams on Oxford Street- great place to take the weight off after a busy day of shopping. Normally I agree with the Duchess of Bedford in that afternoon tea is for the ladies but unusually for me I think it’s a fantastic place to take a man – (or a man to take a lady) my husband would have really enjoyed the hot dishes , variety of sandwiches and savoury scones and the quantity of food.

I take Afternoon Tea a lot (as readers know) but this is without doubt up in my top three, it is exactly the right blend of interesting and unusual foods and traditional fare, the setting is beautiful and the service faultless – not over fussy but just a raise of an eyebrow and someone would be there. We also got to meet the Manager, Mike , who had issued the invitations – great job Mike, of training your staff, and managing such a splendid place with such attention to detail.

Would I go back ? Definitely – and have several volunteers that want to come with me having seen my facebook pictures.

Do make the effort to go – well worth it !