Last Updated on August 10, 2026
A botanical afternoon tea made for summer
4.0 out of 5.0 starsThis year’s Summer Edition of the Orchard Room’s InfiniTEA Experience promises lots of botanical elements and bottomless Champagne for those who like bubbles with their cakes. We went along to the launch of the new afternoon tea menu to try it out. The restaurant is in the Conrad London St James hotel, conveniently situated just across the road from St James’s Park tube station. In preparation for the large tea ahead, I got off the train and went for a brisk and sunny walk in the park before heading to the Orchard Room.
The attention to detail in the Orchard Room makes for a stunning-looking table. Our spirits were lifted by the sprays of summer blooms in pinks, oranges and yellows. Even the crockery – Wedgwood’s Wild Strawberry fine bone china – is a charming talking point. My companion’s excited response to the styling, colour palette and musical playlist at the Summer Edition tea was simply “Bridgerton”.
For those who have something special to celebrate or are simply feeling indulgent, there’s the option to add free-flowing Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut NV or Bollinger Rosé to the afternoon tea.
Normal tea is, of course, available at the Orchard Room but we were treated instead to botanical and herbal infusions from single-origin supplier Nazani Tea. First up was a hibiscus tea served cold. Grown on the Greek island of Paros and packed with vitamin C, this was reminiscent of a light cranberry juice. Second was nettle, picked in Armenia, served hot and a surprisingly good accompaniment to our rich meal. Apparently, it’s a natural anti-histamine so I might stock up for next year’s hayfever season.
Do not front load with lunch before coming to the Orchard Room for tea. We started with a generous five savouries. The selection included a smoked salmon and lemon eclair. The choux was good but the contents were a bit too far along the salty spectrum for my taste. The English pea and mint tart was a picture in green, combining crushed and fresh peas as well as the shoots. We particularly liked the Parmesan crisp, and both agreed that more mint would have lifted this tart to another level. The third item on the plate was a very good Coronation chicken roll served in sweet brioche.
The two finger sandwiches we tried were classics. We liked the freshness of the cucumber and mint sandwich with just a light slick of cream cheese. A lifetime of suspicion had surrounded the egg sandwich for my companion to the extent that she had never tried one before. This was going to be the day, and I’m pleased to say that the Orchard Room’s organic egg, truffle and watercress sandwich won her over. “It’s actually quite delicious,” were her exact words.
Scones and cream and jam, what could be better? Our scone selection was kept warm in white linen while we made shortish work of the savouries. I like my scones traditional, so started off tasting the Jersey butter scone and the raisin scone, both heaped with cream.
Things had gone a bit rogue on the jam front with the addition of a strong rose flavour to the raspberry jam, obviously playing on the botanical theme but perhaps a step too far. We’d also been given lemon curd, a favourite, and this went well with the blueberry lemon scone. I’m ashamed to say that we did not try the fourth scone, the dark chocolate stracciatella, as we were in need of room for the next course.
Finally, we made it to the cakes and pastries, a lovely-looking plate that married beautifully with the botanical theme. Here the flavour of rose really did shine in the raspberry and English rose delight: a concoction that tasted a bit like Turkish delight if it was reinvented as a cream. Another favourite was the cornflower blueberry cheesecake, a mix of crunch and creaminess with a strong punch of blueberry. The apple, pistachio and basil slice was a summery treat and topped with welcome fresh apple balls. The sunflower honeycake with honeycomb tuile and bee pollen was sticky and a little dense, perhaps better suited to an autumn menu.
If you’re looking for an afternoon tea that looks as good as it tastes, the Summer Edition might just be the one for you. The team at the Conrad London St James have managed to make the Orchard Room feel like an indoor flower garden. The standard afternoon tea costs £62 with the addition of the Bollinger for £35 (or £45 for the rosé). Anyone looking for a healthier afternoon can add the Wellbeing Tea Experience, including the hibiscus and nettle infusions that we tried alongside other flavours, for £15.
Conrad London St James
22–28 Broadway, London, SW1H 0BH
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