Pret A Portea At The Berkeley Hotel

I feel like unless you’re looking for The Berkeley Hotel you could miss it. Wilton Place is just a short walk along Knightsbridge from Hyde Park Corner Station but if you weren’t looking for it could easily pass it by. Once you step inside the doors though it is hard to deny the luxury of the place.  It’s so chic and modern and I want to move in immediately.

Don’t be intimidated by the lush surroundings though because you are made to feel so welcome and so comfortable immediately. The Collins room is just beautiful and such a lovely setting for the fashion themed afternoon tea.

Now I know the highlight of any afternoon tea is the sweet treats but I feel I need to stop a minute to appreciate the savouries here. This wasn’t your bog standard cucumber sandwiches, oh no. There was a selection of six or so delicious finger sandwiches, two little bowls of absolute deliciousness and a tomato and goats cheese macaron. I wish I could tell you exactly what was in those little bowls but I clearly forgot to make a note of it (sorry!) One of them was topped with mackerel and although I’m not a fan of, what I describe as, fishy fish it was super tasty. I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed every mouthful of something so much. The sandwiches had loads of filling and a wide selection of breads and that tomato macaron was something else. I kept saying that I could have eaten another one but I don’t think I could in all honesty. It was so rich and creamy and delicious it was perfect as it was.

Before the piece de resistance at the fashion themed tea came out we had scones. I’m not the hugest fan of the scone, I’m a fan of a cream tea every now and then but I’d always pick a cake over a scone given the choice. However, we were given a plain and a fruit scone each (still warm from the oven) and a selection of strawberry or raspberry jam plus cream! I’ll always plump for strawberry in this situation and it was delightful. I definitely did not feel let down by my choice and polished off both of the scones without as much as a second thought!

The Pret A Portea menu changes every six months to keep up with evolving fashion seasons. For Spring/Summer 2017 the talented pastry chefs have designed a selection of incredible cakes and fancies based on designs by some of the world’s greatest designers like Gucci, Stella McCartney, Mulberry, Balenciaga and Miu Miu. It was the prettiest and most intricate offering of sweet things I’d ever seen in my life. We could help but stop and stare at the prettiness of the selection before us not wanting to ruin any of it by putting it in our mouths.

After everything we’d eaten up until this point we could only manage a couple of the cakes and the rest wear packed up in tiny little hatboxes for us to take home. Although they were all incredible my absolute favourites were the Charlotte Olympia ‘Chiquita’ banana pump biscuits and the Dolce & Gabbana hazelnut daquoise pasta-print midi dress with praline croquant and Gianduja chocolate mousse.  I’d go back again for those alone!

I’ve had afternoon tea at a couple of places now (it’s definitely a favourite treat of mine) and I think this is the best I’ve ever had. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the change to the Autumn/Winter season and trying to plan a return visit! If you’re looking for an extra special afternoon tea I’d highly reccomend The Berkeley.