The Dorchester, afternoon tea in The Promenade: prices, the autumn 2026 menu and booking

The hotel’s dining FAQ answers the first question plainly: tea is served in The Promenade. The room is hung with work by artists based in Britain, chosen in the tradition of landscape painting, and the menu carries a QR code to an art guide that tells the story of each piece. Every flower arrangement holds a pale-pink rose bred for the hotel, The Dorchester Rose.

The autumn menu, dated September 2026, opens with a seasonal savoury bite from the chef and then the sandwiches: Severn & Wye smoked salmon with horseradish, apple and fennel on rye; cucumber, elderflower and watercress; roast chicken with Little Gem, parmesan and lemon on malt bread; Clarence Court egg mayonnaise with crispy shallots; Dorrington ham with tarragon mustard and celeriac on onion bread. A sweet bite follows, then warm raisin and plain scones with clotted cream and seasonal preserves, and 4 pastries: a blackcurrant and vanilla cheesecake, an Earl Grey and lemon tart, a Black Forest choux and a hazelnut and pecan slice. The menu puts the whole tea at 2,726 kcal.

The pastry team bakes 3,000 scones a week, according to the tea page. A vegan tea sits on the same menu at 2,338 kcal: coronation chickpea with Little Gem, smoked aubergine with red pepper and artichoke, tomato and basil with vegan feta, and scones served with coconut cream cheese.

The tea itself comes from JING, which blended 2 teas for the hotel: The Dorchester Breakfast, from golden-tipped Assam, and The Dorchester Afternoon, which the tea page calls delicate Darjeeling and the tea list of February 2026 describes as Assam’s malt joined to Darjeeling’s top notes. Each is sold in a 100g caddy for £35. The afternoon tea menu promises «a choice from our exceptional range of rare teas exclusive to The Dorchester».

Children have a tea of their own, made with the French brand Atelier Choux: a Dorchester hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, 5 miniature sandwiches, scones and 7 small sweets, from a vanilla cupcake to an iced biscuit, at £65 per child on the menu of September 2026.

Guests on Google write most about the pace and the service. One, in March 2026, liked that everything came course by course, the sandwiches topped up and the desserts boxed to take home; another, in September 2026, found refined pastries and a calm room. A guest in June 2026 waited for a table despite arriving early, then got hot water poured onto the old leaves when asking for a fresh pot. In May 2026 a guest who took the champagne tea found the scones hard outside and the cakes too sweet, and had to ask twice before a squashed cake was replaced.

Claridge’s serves tea in its Foyer and Reading Room from 2.45pm to 5.30pm, from 12.45pm in August, at £95, £110 with champagne and £125 with rosé champagne, and takes bookings online only. From 3 November to 3 January, except Christmas Day, it serves only its festive tea, from £120 on weekdays and £130 at weekends.

The Ritz seats tea at fixed times, 11.30am, 1.30pm, 3.30pm, 5.30pm and 7.30pm, from £95 for adults and £73 for children, and asks gentlemen for a jacket and tie.

The Savoy pours its tea in The Gallery from noon to 6.45pm, with more than 30 teas, then a Twilight Tea from 6pm to 9.30pm; it keeps no formal dress code, though it asks for elegant clothes.