afternoon tea at sketch London — when there is food

When I was in London, one of the places I knew I had to visit was the extremely instagram-friendly restaurant that is sketch. So a couple weeks before we left, I booked an afternoon tea reservation for my parents and I, so I could live out all my instagram #influencer dreams.

First of all, it is as beautiful as it looks in all the pictures. The gallery room, which is decorated in a dusty-rose pink scheme, is filled with tables of teenage girls with their friends or poor parents, i.e exactly like my table. Whoops. It was fairly busy, as the volume level was a lot higher than I expected, especially compare to the serene atmospheres of the afternoon teas I had previously been to.

Once seated, we were handed a menu, where we selected our tea, whether or not we wanted the standard, children’s or champagne tea, and if we wanted any cocktails. Since I’m technically underage and the tea was already fairly expensive, we selected the regular menu, and I picked the blackcurrant and hibiscus tea, since I can never resist a fruit tea. I really enjoyed the tea, as it was slightly floral and sweet, needing very little sugar, which is saying something for someone with an extreme sweet tooth.

Afterwards, I had to check out the insta-famous bathrooms of course. Unsurprisingly, it was filled with other people, trying to get their own pictures with the egg-shaped pods. But luckily, I was also able to snap a few good pictures. Also, randomly there’s a cocktail bar, or more of a den, when you first enter the bathroom.

a classic, and absolutely necessary, mirror selfie.

Once we got back to our table, the real exciting part of being at sketch, the afternoon tea, began. The caviar man, who is a waiter whose entire purpose is to walk around the dining room serving people caviar, serves you the first course, of their take on eggs and soldiers. The eggs in this dish is techinally the caviar, as the “egg” is actually a salty, cheesy, creamy, salty mousse, with buttery sticks of toast to dip into the delightfully savory mousse “egg”.

After the amuse bouche, it was time for the main event: the tiered stand of savory sandwiches and sweet desserts. Because I’m allergic to nuts, they were kind enough to prepare treats for me that were slightly different than the ones my parents got.

I’m not entirely sure what I got, but I do know I got a mango tapioca pudding, a slice of slightly dry battenburg cake, a chocolate-covered chocolate cake, and some other things with lots of tempered chocolate and fruity fillings. Overall, the desserts were just okay, although I did especially enjoy the rich, extraordinarily chocolate-y chocolate cake. As for the savories, they included salmon and cream cheese, a foie gras tart, a cucumber and ricotta sandwich, and a cornonation chicken sandwich. As much as I hate to say this for ethical reasons, my favorite was probably the foie gras tart. The buttery crust crumbles and almost melts in your mouth, but still holds up to the rich, decadent foie gras filling, which only mildly tastes of foie gras, which is generally a very strong flavor. I think I enjoyed the savory tier better, as you could really see the care they took to put their own unique twists on the savory items, even in the presentation.

At the same time as the sweets and savories stand came one of my favorite things in the world: golden, warm, raisin scones, with blueberry and cherry jam, along with thick clotted cream, which I firmly believe should become more popular in America. These were probably some of the best scones I’ve ever had, as they had a very thin crust, that easily gives way to a still steaming, soft, buttery interior that probably could make the tastiest memory foam pillow ever. Paired with a generous smear of slightly sweet jam and ultra-thick and rich clotted cream that melts into the scone, I could not think of anything better in the world.

I’m not religious, but I think this may be heaven on earth. Just saying.

And for the grand finale, in case you’re not stuffed enough, we were served a slice of Victoria sponge. It’s served off a trolley, which I’ve had a weird appreciation for since I was a child. There’s something about serving stuff off of a trolley that just makes your dining experience seem so much fancier. The cake itself was very good, as everything about it was very light, even the cream filling, which made it very easy to finish and was an excellent way to end your afternoon tea.

While afternoon tea at sketch is VERY expensive, at £59 per person, if you have a special occasion, I would definitely recommend visiting, not just for the amazing pictures you’ll take of the decor, but also because of the afternoon tea. This is one of those rare places, where appearances, both in terms of the food and interior, are not deceiving.