Feed your Head – An Alice Inspired Afternoon Tea in London

If you ever feel like disappearing down a rabbit hole on a busy Saturday afternoon in central London, then I know the place to escape to.

At the Sanderson Hotel in Fitzrovia you’ll find afternoon tea, a glass of champagne and an Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

Just two minutes walk from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Circus is this stylish and innovative hotel and inside an Alice in Wonderland themed afternoon tea was such a wonderful experience that I felt I had to blog about it.

Everything is meticulously done, just as the precocious Alice would expect, from the food to the crockery to the décor and of course the tea, cake and sandwiches.

The table is set with black and white zebra plates and pots of tea featuring images from queens or kings from a pack of cards.

Drinks are served first. The “Alice” China black tea is served in individual tea pots and you can choose from a choice of infusions, including blackcurrant, vanilla, caramel, citrus, mint chocolate, strawberry, or apple. For the alcoholic option you can also have a glass of champagne or if you really want to push the boat out a scarlet martini, oriental daiquiri or an elder flower Bellini.

Served on elegant tiered cake stands, the food is a true feast for the senses. It is aesthetically decorated, colourful, quirky and delicious.

There are these irresistible old fashioned bottles of “potions” with tags saying drink me, a selection of colourful sandwiches (smoked Cumbrian ham with wholegrain mustard on sun-dried tomato bread, spinach, cucumber and chive cream cheese on spinach bread, smoked salmon and lemon butter on dark rye bread, egg mayonnaise with watercress and smoked sea salt on lemon bread), a tick-tock victoria sponge, strawberries and cream homemade marshmallow mushrooms, a melting mango cheesecake with Brdiget Riley psychedelic op art icing and the particularly scrummy matcha green tea and white chocolate mousse served in a chocolate teacup.

If you’ve got room after all that there are sweet and savoury scones, served with clotted cream and jam and even wonderland jelly.

The Davies Girls, Karol, Lynne, Ali and Vera (although one is now known as Dunnell) at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party at the Sanderson Hotel in London

Cake, tea, fancy sandwiches, scones, Alice in Wonderland, champagne and cocktails… I was in my element. Needless to say, I really did not want to leave.

And just in case you are wondering, this is not a fancy dress event, so please leave your mad hatters hat and white rabbit costumes at home!

“You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”