The Palm Court at The Ritz Hotel

At the heart of The Ritz’s unashamedly opulent Edwardiana, The Palm Court hits a crescendo of gilded gold & lemon among polished marble pillars, Grecian urns & elongated birdcage chandeliers. Add the gentle tinkling of ivories, discrete white-jacket service & compulsory Sunday-best attire, & you have the makings of afternoon tea at its most sedate & nostalgic. The result is a three-tier event stacked in silver: the ground floor yields childhood sandwiches – all crustless & finger-sized of course; above them, scones of unparalleled lightness with abundant clotted cream & jam; & in the penthouse, a veritable treasure trove of patisserie, from fruit-studded madeleines to pastry boats loaded with cream & berries. Crowning it all is tea itself – a choice of 17 different varieties, all proffered in suitably ornate & weighty pots.