Practically Perfect in every way…

Mary Poppins Afternoon tea, Aqua Shard

Good morning angels, hope all are well. I wanted to share with you a review of Afternoon Tea at the Shard. Specifically the Mary Poppins Afternoon Tea at Aqua Shard- and let me tell you it was (in those immortal words)… practically perfect in every way! This is only on until the 3rd Nov 2019- so definitely worth booking for a special occasion, birthday, mother’s day or otherwise! For me i was celebrating my mums birthday and she was visiting for the weekend.

Time- you are allowed 2 hours, we arrived around 3pm for the afternoon tea and it was busy!!! Bookings are definitely necessary!

Price- £49pp (slightly more for the champagne tea)

The views- despite living in central London for years now i never tire of the view! Be it over the Shard out towards Canary Wharf or over towards St. Paul’s or the London Eye! The London skyline is as always spectacular and we were incredibly lucky to arrive at that Golden Hour on a clear and sunny day (highly unusual for February) but so worth it!

Location- Aqua at the Shard is located next to the Shangri-la hotel (a spritely 2 mins walk from London Bridge Station) you cant miss it!

On to the afternoon tea, staff at Aqua as always are incredibly helpful and welcoming. We were seated for our service relatively quickly (we did request a table change- for that all important view) and were moved swiftly! Brilliant- inserting a pic of the view below…

Then on to the menu- and it’s ingenious, creative and definitely a trip own memory lane- we all remember the scene in the film where Mary is gazing into the mirror and sees her “practically perfect” reflection… well your menu is emblazoned on such a mirror! So cute! The staff will take you through the menu and the special teas curated for this menu!! Dietary requirements and tea options sorted, you can take in the glorious views of the city…

On to the food… pretty swiftly our tea and finger sandwiches arrived. I opted for a classic english breakfast tea, my mum opted for Marys tea (this included a blend of black teas from around the world, with elegant rose petals- light and floral)… The sandwich options were delicious, my favourites included the delicious Cackleberry Egg and Black Truffle- i am not an egg mayonnaise fan at all but these little delightful morsels were really good! It’s that heady truffle… mmmm, the mini crumpet served with salmon and cream cheese and the Dressed Devon crab followed second and third! If i was to make one recommendation, perhaps switch the brioche bun for the devon crab with classic sandwich bread! The brioche was a little heavy- still delicious but i’m all about the savouries and would have loved to order more!! You can refill sandwiches, and if you’re anything like me that’s the best bit of an afternoon tea followed of course by the scones!!! Other sandwiches included the classic cucumber, and of course cheese and pickle (there was a ham option for those that eat it)…

On to the sweets- and i have to say, the design is just so creative! All of your cakes are served on a cake tray, displayed with silver booted feet and the classic mary umbrella… the scones are delivered to your table straight from Mary’s bag! That’s right, we all remember the carpet bag- wish i had one of those at home! The scones were out of this world, not sure what they put in them but the flavour was amazing!!! Truly scrumptious served with a classic cherry jam and of course clotted cream! Scrummy- the quintessential British Afternoon tea filled with creative and surprising little playful twists!

Cake wise there is a lot of choice, the back to front zoo- golden syrup cakes served in authentic little tins, chocolate hats filled with a cherry mousse, gingerbread stars, oh and little, very cute vanilla sponge cakes ‘strike me pink sponge’. All of the cakes are gelatine free- so you don’t need to worry about that!

Every detail of this afternoon tea has been thought through so well… there is even a little surprise- fresh candy floss served towards the end! You truly feel like a little kid all over again!

We were absolutely stuffed and the team here kindly boxed up all of our left over cakes and treats for us to take away! Come with your appetites- but even then, you will fill up quickly!

The most enjoyable part of the tea was taking in the views with a spot of tea! So why not check it out now?! We loved it and i’m sure you would to- defo worth a visit.

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Until next time xoxo