- Hey Google, what's the best afternoon tea in London?
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- [Phone] I found a few top rated tea houses near London.
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- Afternoon tea is probably one of the most British things
that I've come across during my eight years here in London.
It's basically a tea related ritual
composed of scones, and sweet treats,
and little finger sandwiches,
and of course your choice of tea or coffee.
There are probably hundreds of afternoon teas
you can choose from in London,
so how do you know which one to choose when you're here?
Well, I'm gonna try out and compare
three of the top afternoon teas here in London.
We'll go from the ultra classic and traditional one
at Fortnum & Mason, to quite literally
a state of the art one at the Rosewood Hotel,
all the way to Europe's tallest afternoon tea
at the Shangri-La in the Shard.
I'm gonna show you some of the differences
between the three, judging them on food,
location, service, and cost.
And I'm gonna be using my Google Pixel 5 throughout the day.
It's the ultimate Google phone with 5G
and there are some features on this phone
that I use all the time that I will show you
throughout the video.
Right, I've got a long day ahead of me,
so let me gather up my keys, my wallet,
and of course my Google Pixel all fully charged.
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So we're outside Fortnum and Mason,
we are in the heart of central London.
To my right is Piccadilly Circus, to my left is Green Park.
We can eventually make our way down to Buckingham palace.
(bells chime)
I've never actually seen that before.
We just got lucky with the timing
that we've come at 12 o'clock.
We're gonna be having the afternoon tea here in the
Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, which was actually
named after the queen.
This is where she goes for afternoon tea.
She was even here for the opening with Princess Kate and
Duchess Camilla. So let's go in.
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(camera clicks)
Okay, we just arrived.
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This is like very classic afternoon tea.
Cute little sweets up here.
The scones, have to have those when they're still hot
and warm, my favourite part actually.
And then we've got all the finger sandwiches down here,
which again, look like the traditional, um, fillings
that you would usually find in a classic afternoon tea.
And then we've got, of course the jam two types of jam,
I think for the scones and the cream on top.
Something I love about this phone is the battery is really
good at lasting the whole day.
Even when I'm taking photos and videos all around London,
all, for like many hours, it still lasts really long time.
And then when I need, I can put it on battery saver mode
and that helps to preserve the battery more.
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I'm done with the strawberry jam,
which I feel like it's a bit more classic.
I like strawberry, but also they've got blueberry.
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We're gonna do the Champagne Challenge.
I'm gonna start the timer on my Google pixel and see
how long it takes for me to call somebody over,
order a glass of champagne, and how long it takes
for it to arrive at my table, ready to be drank.
So, let's start.
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A glass of champagne
- [Waiter] A glass of champagne? Definitely.
- Thank you.
Thank you so much. Just under two minutes and 30 seconds
Cheers!
Such a lovely time at this afternoon tea.
This is definitely a great place for anyone who wants to be
quintessentially British classic afternoon tea.
And especially if it's your first time visiting London,
this is gonna be a good entryway into
afternoon tea in the UK.
So let's go try another tea.
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(camera clicks)
- [Main Speaker] Okay, we've made it to the Rosewood.
We're gonna go try their new afternoon tea.
Let's go.
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Okay, we are at the Rosewood in their gorgeous mirror rooms.
And now this isn't any traditional afternoon tea,
this is an art inspired afternoon tea.
It's actually inspired by Yayoi Kusama and her art
and her exhibition that's currently on at the Tate Modern.
Plus you might recognise her famous pumpkins from this,
but this tea is gonna be very art inspired
and a bit different than you would get other places.
The tea that they have here is from a tea company called
Mariage Frères. It's the oldest seed company in Europe,
so definitely lots of history there.
I don't like pouring my own tea, so that's really nice.
Finger sandwiches are here, and they look good
and they sound good. I like this little thing over here
with some avocado mousse, and the pepper on it.
But I think really the amazing part of this tea
is going to be coming on the way.
Okay, look at how different that these sweets are
compared to like a traditional afternoon tea.
They're really small, and they actually look like
little pieces of art. They even have the little polka dots
on the top of each of the little pastries
that is signature of Kusama.
You've probably seen her stuff with lots of polka dots.
Um, this looks almost like a little bit too nice to eat,
but we're still gonna eat it.
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Oh my God. These are so cool.
They look so cute.
So the chef has made this display box basically to show
what you see when you're at the mirror room that's in
the Tate Modern right now and um yeah,
you kind of get like all these like duplications from
the different mirrors. So cool.
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Two minutes, and a few seconds over.
Okay, we've just wrapped up the art afternoon tea
in the mirror room at the Rosewood Hotel.
Overall, this is a fantastic tea. Had a great time.
I'd recommend this for anyone who doesn't want to do like
the really traditional tea, but still wants elegant,
and high-class, this is great for that.
Also anybody who's an art fan and obviously a Kusama fan,
this is like the thing to do.
And finally, anyone who loves the sweets when it comes to
afternoon tea, the sweets slash the pastries are,
they steal the show.
They are just like absolutely incredible,
and you get two courses so.
Plus this tea is really photogenic,
so actually got a lot of great Instagram photos and stories
on my Google Pixel 5.
For a location, we're right in central London,
just a couple of minutes from Holborn station.
You could walk to a million different things
while you are here.
(camera clicks)
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We're at the Shard, which is Western Europe's
tallest building, and we're gonna go to
almost the top, to the Shangri-La Hotel,
where they have restaurant called Ting and
we're gonna try their afternoon tea, so let's go.
(camera clicks)
Okay. Just took the lift up to the 35th floor of the Shard,
which is the tallest building in Western Europe.
So we're having the cloud forest afternoon tea here at the
Shangri-La, and obviously the views are gonna be amazing.
I mean, it's hard not to just stare out the window
the whole time that you're up here. So let's try the tea.
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Oh, that's nice and refreshing.
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They've brought us the savouries for both the regular tea,
and also the vegetarian, because I'm vegetarian,
so that's what I'm eating naturally.
I quite like how the savoury stuff is not just
the finger sandwiches and it tastes really good.
I love Asian food, so.
Although now I have my finger sandwich left.
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So we've got the traditional scones down here, and then
the traditional jam and cream,
and then also one that has pandan mixed into it.
Quite interesting. And then we've got three of the sweets
up here, which are again, a mix of British, uh, classic teas
also with, uh, more of an Asian influence as well.
So let's give it a go.
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Okay, I think it's time for the Champagne Challenge.
So let's start the clock.
Ready and go.
Thank you.
- [Waiter] Somebody will be here shortly
- Perfect. Thank you.
I've had it before, so, oh that sounds very pretentious,
but I have had that one here before actually (laughs).
Okay, champagne in hand. It was five minutes to get it.
Finished the afternoon tea, and it was fantastic.
This is great for anybody who obviously wants to have
their tea with a view, also great for anybody
who likes a theme.
They change the theme of the tea here every
couple of months or so, so it's always gonna be
something different and they really go all out with it.
And finally, if you prefer the savoury stuff over
sweet stuff in afternoon tea, this is a good place to come
because they really kill it with the savoury stuff.
Especially with the mix of British and Asian inspired
little treats that come with your tea.
(camera clicks)
Okay, I'm back home and I'm thinking about the three
completely different afternoon teas that I've just had.
The beautiful Fortnum & Mason was definitely
the most traditional, and I also liked the vegetarian
and the vegan options that they had for the tea.
The Rosewood is almost like going to its own
art exhibition with the, probably craziest,
sweets and pastries I've seen ever.
And the Shangri-La at the Shard, I mean, of course,
how amazing is it to have your luxury afternoon tea
looking out all over central London?
As usual, my Pixel 5 performed very well today.
I was taking photos and videos throughout the entire day,
and I still have a tonne of battery life left
thanks to the battery save mode.
I also got some amazing pictures and videos
using features like portrait mode, and ultra wide,
and even night sight.
And those pictures and videos are gonna be on the
Levin London Instagram.
For more information about the Google Pixel 5,
click the link that is in the description box of the video.
And for lots more videos about what to do in London,
then click one of the boxes that's popping up
right around me.