The Hilton Park Lane London serves a chocolate themed afternoon tea and despite its fancy title, it is a very ordinary experience.
Chocoholic Afternoon Tea at The Hilton on Park Lane
Chocoholic Afternoon Tea at The Hilton on Park Lane
“Confessions of a Chocoholic” Afternoon Tea
London Hilton on Park Lane
Overall rating: ★★☆☆☆
Price: £36/person for the Traditional afternoon tea
£46 with a glass of Champagne
(excl. optional 12.5% tip/service charge)
Tea refills: Yes
Food refills: Yes (excl. Cakes)
Service: 1 to 6 pm in The Podium Restaurant & Bar
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The Hilton Park Lane Setting ★★☆☆☆
The afternoon tea is served in the Podium restaurant, which is a rather ordinary venue with no distinctive atmosphere. Something that I found quite odd and displeasing: you have to go up to the second floor to find the men’s washrooms.
There was a very talented live singer but it was a bit too noisy for an afternoon tea, I prefer something more discreet such as instrumental music (e.g. some piano playing).
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The Tea & Beverage Selection ★★★☆☆
There is a decent selection of tea from Twinings, but the white and green teas were not brewed at the right temperature.
Tea was also a bit slow to come, I was under the impression that the restaurant team was a bit snowed under and not very organised.
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The Savouries ★★★★☆
The best part of the afternoon tea food wise. As the staff kindly offers refills, I recommend focusing on these.
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The Scones ★★★☆☆
Two scones per person served with three toppings: Strawberry preserve, clotted cream and chocolate cream.
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The Sweets ★★☆☆☆
Fair is fair, the pastry selection is eye-pleasing. Too bad it doesn’t taste nowhere as good as it looks, and that you’ll only get one of each.
For most afternoon teas, guests are usually served with one type of each cake, so everyone can try each pastry without having to cut everything in half (and destroy it in the process). In this instance, you will have to do just that since the cakes cannot be refilled.
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The Service ★★★★☆
The staff is professional and courteous, as expected from a four-star hotel.
Too bad the restaurant was understaffed, which is abnormal on a week-end where high attendance is to be expected.
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Conclusion & Overall Mark ★★☆☆☆
If I had to describe this “Confessions of a Chocoholic” afternoon tea in a single word, I would call it ordinary, perhaps even average. If you crave chocolate and can afford to book in advance, I would recommend getting the Charlie & The Chocolate Factory at The One Aldwych instead as it is much better for almost the same price.
However, it is more or less always on offer with Groupon and can therefore be bought for £20/person during the week and £25/person on week-ends (plus tip that will be charged at the end of the meal) which is somewhat of a good deal on the London scale, especially on Park Lane.
+: Great location
+: Decent savouries & scones
+: Good service
+: Almost always on Groupon
-: Average venue
-: Ordinary tea selection
-: One cake for two?!
-: Not very chocolaty
-: Bad price/performance ratio
