Prêt-à-Portea Afternoon Tea in the Caramel Room

The Berkeley
Wilton Place, Knightsbridge
London SW1X 7RL

December 2015

It’s been a lean few months as far at ATs have been concerned but Christmas and several birthdays are going to keep the AT ladies very well fed and watered for the next couple of months!

We kicked off our Christmas season with a long awaited visit to the Prêt-à-Portea Afternoon Tea at the 5* Berkley hotel – a Christmas present to each other for my friend and I,  and taken on a wet December Sunday. 

The tea is advertised as:

“Mouth-watering Afternoon tea delicacies with a fashionista twist. The Berkeley’s designer afternoon tea, Prêt-à-Portea, is inspired by the themes and colours of the fashion world. The menu is transformed every six months to follow the changing seasons in fashion.  Prêt-à-Portea is served in the Caramel Room daily from 1pm – 6pm. All served on a bespoke fine-bone china by Wedgwood”

Being December it was a Christmas theme and the first thing we came upon was the absolutely stunning fireplace display – in fact the hotel corridors were all beautifully decorated in silver and white.

We were instantly whisked to our seats and our coats taken to the cloakroom, the table was very nicely set – the Wedgewood crockery was gorgeous, with Sarah’s name written on a little shoe, the menus in bright themed colours, very comfy chairs and space around us to put our shopping bags.

Our charming waitress Ana explained what our experience would be. We opted for a glass of champagne with our tea as it is nearly Christmas and were given a choice of Laurent Perrier champagnes.

So after a few sips of our very delicious champagne our savoury course arrived.

From top left : sundried tomato bread but can't recall filling , Egg and Mayo roll, ham and mustard, turkey and cranberry, smoked salmon with a salmony mousse 

Mozarrella and pesto on pesto bread, cream cheese and cucumber, hummus and sundried tomato, smoked salmon,  egg roll 

Carrot and Coriander puree? with cauliflower, mini cheese and chive scone, smoked salmon with delicious forgotten name of topping 

There was also a very nice carrot and coriander savoury in a glass  – texture of baby food but delicious, with a mini scone and some smoked salmon.

As my friend doesn’t eat meat we had requested a non meat option which we were very impressed with – not just a substitute cheese or egg but actually a completely different and very well thought out selection – in fact so much so that we had an extra plate each (greedy - us?! ) and I asked to try a plate of the non meat ones as they were so interesting. The sandwiches were very generously filled and there was a variety of breads to add interest and texture.

I asked for a tea recommendation and a very nice Dragonwood ? green tea was suggested to go with the savouries. Really light with a citrusssy tone, a great choice to balance the carbs! Sarah had coffee which came in a lovely pot, but she did feel it could have been hotter.

To be fair we were fairly full up by the time the sweets came but oh my how amazing did they look – all of them themed to a fashion designer autumn/winter collection.

I think the pictures speak for themselves - there was two of everything except the top layer of biscuits and the pannacotta and bavarois - we could have asked for more but think there would have  been a similar scene to the Monty Python waffer thin mint scenario ! 

We worked our way gleefully through all of it,  bar 2 tiny mince pies – every mouthful was full of flavour and so so exquisitely designed – can’t even begin to imagine how long it must take to create such things.

There was no hint of rushing us off even though they were very busy , and at the end we were presented with a mini Prêt-à-Portea handbag each with a few mini cakes in to take home – very nice touch as we had eaten everything this wasn’t just our leftovers . 

I had decided to go with a pomelo and mango tea to pair with my sweet course – this turned out to be a selection of dried fruits which they poured hot water over – I wasn’t sure at first but it was very pleasant, a bit like drinking a hot fruit squash very refreshing.

Ana also brought me a little packet of the fruit tea which I thought was very kind.

This really was a special tea and at £59 each including champagne and 12½ % service (well deserved by the way and I do hope the staff actually get it – I meant to ask) not in the cheaper range of teas but as our Christmas gift to each other it felt worth it. There was a lot of food and you could have had extra of anything – It was all I ate all day except for a cereal bar in the morning, and I’m still feeling full this morning !