I met one of my best friends Carl at uni around 9 years ago and we’ve had a lot of adventures together since. We shared a flat in Preston and now both live in London. He’s one of my fave people ever and so I was super excited and honoured when he invited me to be his groomsmaid at his wedding next year to his lovely fiancé Lee. Lee’s groomsmaid is his sister Ellie and the four of us recently decided to have an afternoon together, a chance for us maids to meet and for us to talk about all things wedding!

We decided on an afternoon tea at The Soho Hotel, I haven’t been before but had heard great things, and at the moment they are running a G & Tea menu – featuring a gin cocktail alongside the regular meal.  I love a G&T almost as much as I love afternoon tea so it sounded perfect!

The tea was served in the Refuel bar and restaurant within the hotel, and it’s lovely, modern with bright colours and cool decor. This extends throughout the hotel and I’m definitely thinking about booking a stay soon to experience what the rooms and facilities are like.

This guy just chilling in the lobby 

Refuel restaurant 

Carl and I opted for the gin cocktail along with our afternoon tea and Ellie and Lee went for non-alcoholic version. The cocktail was really just a gin and tonic (Fevertree tonic which is my favourite) infused with jasmine. It was a nice touch and a welcome accompaniment to the food, but I’m not sure it’s worth the extra £11 on top of the regular afternoon tea (it’s always gin o’clock though right, so we couldn’t really turn it down)

Gin cocktail infused with jasmine

The real treat was the afternoon tea itself! Served on the traditional stand it featured a sausage rolls (a first for me in an afternoon tea, and delicious!) and sandwiches – egg mayonnaise, cream cheese and cucumber and a prawn cocktail roll. We were asked about dietary requirements and Carl isn’t a big fan of fish, the waitress couldn’t have been more helpful and brought him an extra plate of fish-free sandwiches including an avocado roll which I was hugely jealous of! This was really great service and the sandwiches were fab and not at all crispy (a pet hate of mine – crispy bread is gross)

Afternoon tea plus extra sandwiches (avocado roll envy)

The tea also featured warm scones, fruit and plain, with clotted cream and a couple of different jams. The cakes nearly finished me off – cheesecake, a white chocolate eclair, apple and almond cake and a plum cupcake with frosting. All of them were amazing! The cheesecake was my personal favourite.

Literally ate all these cakes 

The tea on offer was breakfast, Earl Grey or Darjeeling and we tried all three. There’s also speciality tea available, an optional extra at £2.50 – personally I think this could have been included in the cost, but the tea is my least favourite part of the meal anyway so I can’t complain too much!

After we’d finished the afternoon tea, the waiter brought over miniature sorbet cones – a choice of either strawberry or vanilla. A delicious refreshing and unexpected treat!

Teeniest cone in town

The service was great and the hotel is beautiful – as a Soho lover, I’ll definitely visit again for a great go-to afternoon tea. On a Saturday afternoon it was relatively quiet in the restaurant, so you may not need to pre-book if you’re passing and fancy sampling some of those amazing cakes with a G&T!

LP xo

Grooms and their maids 

Perfect for: relaxed afternoon tea in Central, lovers of sweet treats

The Soho Hotel is located at 4 Richmond Mews, Soho, London, W1D 3DH