For over a century The Ritz hotel, located in London's bustling Piccadilly, continues to uphold it's high standards of service and traditional values.
For all you trivialists out there, The Ritz was opened on May 24th 1906 by Swiss hotelier César Ritz, The building is neoclassical in the Louis XVI manner, built during the Belle Époque (The Beautiful Era) to resemble a stylish Parisian block of flats, over arcades that consciously evoked the Rue de Rivoli. The grandeur of The Ritz is nothing like I have ever experienced before and it is going to take something extra special to beat this experience. The hotel is synonymous with London and made a name for itself all over the world and has even had a starring role in British blockbusters like 'Notting Hill' starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.
We arrived at The Ritz for 13:15pm for a 13:30pm sitting; I am glad we went to the first sitting because we were able to go and enjoy the rest of London afterwards. After being greeted by the lovely men at the door and front desk we were guided into the Palm Court where tea would be served, we dropped our coats off into the cloakroom and went to line up to be seated. It was wonderful to see so many people looking very glamourous, there is a strict dress code for The Ritz and rightly so, it is an establishment that has been built on grandeur and class and is one of the remaining places that continue this.
Once we were seated we were quickly attended to by the staff who were all very attentive and looking very smart in their uniform, we were treated like special guests and felt very welcomed. We were asked what tea we would like and my mother and I both decided to go for traditional English tea which was served in a solid silver tea set complete with tea strainer. You can see the full menu from the Aftenoon Tea right here
Menu.
Once the tea was poured and we were made comfortable we tried the finger sandwiches on offer, I tried the ham and mustard sandwiches but the mustard was far too hot for me, so I asked one of the gentleman if I could have just ham sandwiches which they were more than happy to do. The chicken and horseradish was beautiful, the chicken was moist and the horseradish was not too overpowering on the palate. My mother loved the salmon sandwiches and the egg and cress, so we definitely were catered for and very happy with our selections.
Then was the turn of the scones, they were delectable. You could tell they were freshly made and made with only the best ingredients which included whole butter. The clotted cream and fresh strawberry jam were the best accompaniments, I do not think I am going to be able to go to a tea shop ever again for tea and scones because I am pretty sure no where can beat the standard of these lovelies. The cakes to finish off with were tempting me the whole way through and I could not wait to get my greedy hands on them, the waiters came around with the dessert trolley which had coffee walnut cake and lemon drizzle cake with a golden finish; I had to say no to them I could not fit another piece in me. However, we did finish off with a compote that started with Passion fruit coulis then a mousse and ended with banana, it was a passionfruit banoffee concoction that blew my taste buds to high heaven. Safe to say I was famished and was all tea'd out by the end, which I suppose is the idea.
After, we paid our bill, we headed to the Riviloli bar and again we were greeted by very attentive and charming staff, who gladly went through what beverages they offer and what they recommended. We sat there for a good hour talking about our wonderful experience and how we will definitely be doing it again. Christmas time would be amazing to experience but it does fill up VERY quickly, so if you are thinking about going at Christmas you will have to be quick.
At £45 a head it is an experience that everyone should try, it might not be to everyones' taste but it was everything that I thought it would be; you cannot beat the hospitality and service of the wonderful staff, the traditional aspects that makes it iconic and the grandeur and luxury of the ambience that makes you feel like a celebrity even if it only for two hours, but it is two hours I would happily pay for again.
