There are very few things in life I love as much as I do Alice in Wonderland and tea (shoes). A combination of the two? Tears of actual joy may have been shed (in a rather sleepy and stupid way), though there weren’t any White Rabbits with pink eyes to run past me and direct me to this wonderland – I had to make do with plain old city mapper. 

And by Wonderland, I mean the Sanderson Hotel, Berners Street, London. With it’s inner courtyard, fountains, marble topped tables and themed place settings, I felt like not having the White Rabbit escort was ok to let slide.

The Mad Hatters afternoon tea is not cheap, as far as afternoon tea’s go; prices start at £38 per head to sample this collaboration between the Sanderson and Luna & Curious, but if you’re looking for something cute and quirky – and OK with suffering from terrible tea set envy – then it’s a grand way to treat yo’ self. 

It’s no secret that I have a bit of a sweet-tooth (espesh during bake off season), but the savories really stole the show here. 10 days in London has changed me, I’m eating Kale chips and singing the praises of savory scones, herb butter and spinach bread. I’ll take another 6 plates if you don’t mind. Gimme the sandwiches. 

The sweet plate wasn’t entirely my cup of tea, if you’ll pardon the pun. I just about touched the gates of cake heaven with the ‘Tick Tock’ traditional Victoria sponge, but it was a steady decline from there. The melting mango cheesecake was nice but sweeter than anything I’ve had this year – and I’ve had cake at home sweet home. The matcha green tea and white chocolate mousse, served in that fancy chocolate cup didn’t have much of a matcha taste at all, which was disappointing. I love me some matcha. I’m still swooning over the ‘Drink me’ potion, though. 

On to tea: we decided on a pot of peppermint (safe choice, aids digestion, stops death by sugar***), and a slightly more daring pot of apple pie. Lift the lid and you’ll see the loose leaves and apples sitting in your teapot. Both were lovely, and I especially fawned over the little glass vials we were presented with upon sitting down so we could choose our first pot. They all smelled delicious. 

Overall, I felt the little touches really made the whole experience – the details on the cutlery, the little ballerina in our sugar box, the menu’s hidden in vintage books, the subtle nods to Lewis Carroll’s classic, but not having it be so in your face that you feel like you’ve accidentally hopped over to the Alice in Wonderland cafe, Tokyo (though that’s a place I’d love to go).  We didn’t feel rushed at all, the staff were attentive and explained the entire tea set really well. I don’t think it’s entirely worth the £38, but as I said, it’s a nice stop if you’d like to treat yourself to some fineeee finger sandwiches/scones. 

I didn’t try the Jelly Wonderland, though, because the fear of entering food coma status was very, very real. 

Where is your favourite place for afternoon tea? Tell me, tell meee, because I’d love to try all the places!

♥

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***peppermint tea does not actually stop you dying from sugar-related deaths. it does aid digestion though