Weekends in Hamburg are always an absolute blast food-wise, but I did not expect the Reichshof Hamburg afternoon tea to be this good. Priced at 18.84€ in honour of Martha Langer (the hotel founder’s wife and a tea lover), it is one of your best bets in Hamburg:
Martha’s Afternoon Tea – Reichshof Hamburg
High Darling and Scuba Garden teas
Martha’s Afternoon Tea
Reichshof Hamburg, Curio Collection by Hilton (4* hotel)
Overall Mark: ★★★★★
Afternoon Tea price: 18.84€/person
Tea Refills: No (5€ per extra teapot)
Food Refills: No
Service: Every day, 12 to 6 pm
in EMIL’s Bistro, Café und Bar
The Reichshof Hamburg Hilton Hotel Setting ★★★★★
The “Reichshof Hamburg, Curio Collection by Hilton” is one of the city’s most iconic hotels and the symbol of Hanseatic chic. The hotel opened up in 1910 and was instantly a huge success, both because of its prime location in St Georg (close to the Hauptbahnhof – Hamburg’s main train station) and the vision of its founders, the Langer couple.
The hotel was somewhat of a pioneer in the industry, introducing innovations such as competitive flat rates, electric elevators and telephones on all floors, private bathrooms… In some aspects, the Langer couple was Germany’s equivalent to Cesar Ritz and his now world famous Ritz Hotel in Paris.
I could go on all day about the Reichshof and its history but I’ll simply advise you to take a stroll around the hotel (especially the Stadt Restaurant and Bar 1910) and read the hotel book. The staff will also happily discuss the hotel’s history and explain what makes the Reichsof Hamburg this unique.
The EMIL’s Bistro, Café und Bar ★★★★☆
Afternoon Tea in the EMIL’s, which is the Reichshof Hamburg hotel’s ground floor lobby bar. The venue is fairly pleasant though it greatly depends on where you get to sit in the lobby.
I recommend sitting in the areas by the windows as it will offer more privacy, or even on the terrace, should the Hamburg weather allow it. The EMIL is a lobby bar so do not wait for anyone to choose your seats for you.
The Tea & Beverage Selection ★★★★★
There are 10 teas on offer from the Samova tea company. I had never heard of this tea supplier before as it’s still a small-size local company but their tea quality is most excellent and each tea is named in a very creative way. The tea is brewed properly and the teapots are cleverly designed so guests may stop the infusion easily.
I especially loved the “Istanbul Nights”, an organic black tea with mint, anise, cinnamon, chives, ginger, coriander & cardamom. The flavour is strong and it does have quite an oriental feeling to it. The high tea includes a single choice of tea but at 5€ per extra teapot, it’d be a pity not to try out some other teas.
Guest’s who fancy something else can choose “Emil’s Chocolate Heaven Dream”, hot chocolate amateurs will be pleased.
The Savouries ★★★★☆
Each guest is served with four sandwiches (2 of each):
- Salmon & Beetroot
- Cucumber & Cream Cheese
The sandwiches were tasty and made with fresh bread. The quantities are also very generous for an afternoon tea in this price range.
The Scones ★★★☆☆
The scone tasted fine and was served with a delicious strawberry preserve. The problem lies with the clotted cream, which wasn’t authentic and in fact tasted very odd.
It’s the sole weakness of this afternoon tea but everything is fine if you skip the cream.
The Cakes & Sweets ★★★★★
Each of the four sweets is delicious:
- Strawberry Pannacotta ♥
- Peppermint Chocolate
- Chocolate Biscuit Cream Cake (Donauwelle Schneewittchenkuchen)
- Chocolate-coated Madeleine
The Chocolate Madeleine was the most original: the pastry chef adds a mini-muffin inside, which grants it an extraordinary flavour. The Strawberry Pannacotta was the tastiest of the lot, as it is perfect in texture and just sweet enough.
The Service ★★★★★
The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable about their teas as well as passionate about the hotel.
This feeling is unusual: you can tell that there is something special about working at the Reichshof Hamburg.
Conclusion & Overall Mark ★★★★★
At 18.84€ per person, the Reichshof Hamburg serves one of the best afternoon teas in the city in terms of value for money. The tea quality is excellent, the food is tasty and there is something unique about the hotel’s atmosphere.
Do give it a try and don’t hesitate to walk around the hotel as it is magnificent and full of history.
+: The Reichshof Hotel, an institution
+: Brilliant location
+: Excellent tea quality
+: Tasty food
+: Good service
+: Great value for money
-: Lobby bar only
-: The Scones & Cream
Email: info@hamburg-reichshof.com
Phone number: 040 370 2590
Address: Kirchenallee 34-36, 20099 Hamburg, Germany
