No they don’t call it The Sweeney Afternoon Tea, but Spring Afternoon Tea at Great Scotland Yard Hotel is still a steal.

Hidden away in the quiet zone between Embankment and Whitehall,  the Great Scotland Yard Hotel is a real find. Formerly part of the large collection of anonymous buildings that once served pretty much as the administrative heart of Britain, it’s now a gorgeous and stylish hotel in an 1820’s Grade II listed building graced with Edwardian and Victorian architecture.

Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police (The Sweeney) is not exactly here, but there was originally an entrance in Scotland Yard, (so named because there was a once mediaeval palace here to house Scottish royalty when they were in London on visits)

Now tourists visit here from all over the world, at least the smart ones do. This hotel has a very bespoke feel and is perfectly located, and it really is for connoisseurs of class.

It has a posh restaurant from Nikolas Ekstedt, once the superhero chef of the ‘cooking over fire’ craze. Those flames died out a while back, but the embers can still be found glowing in cool restaurants around town.

And of course it does afternoon tea in its cosy Parlour. This spring it’s pouring tea and serving cakes in partnership with iconic perfumery, Floris London.

One of my wife’s multifaceted roles is to be wing-person on my reviews, and she loves an Afternoon Tea, so she needed no pressure applied to come with me on this one.

It’s a warm and welcoming room, with wallpaper that depicts what I assume is a Chinese Dynasty, all pagodas and people in classic clothes. A large fireplace may be original or may be not, but it looks great. 

The furniture is antique and all eclectic. We sit under a window which looks out onto the side of a large delivery van parked outside. This rather spoils the atmosphere, but the waitress is alert and quickly closes the plantation shutters to hide the view.

Inspired by Floris’ Lily of The Valley scent, the menu from the hotel’s Head pastry Chef Veronica Garrido Martinez includes dishes such as ‘Egg truffle mayo and chives on pain de mie’,’Courgette, rocket and lemon quiche’ and ‘Caramelised Jerusalem artichoke and Montgomery cheddar Yorkshire Pudding’.

We eat these from a classic tiered stand and they are superb. The Yorkshire Pudding is particularly clever. There is a selection of teas from classic ‘breakfast’ through very fine black, green and white teas and the chinaware is elegant and light. I don’t like a teapot that I can’t lift.

Scones are a test for afternoon tea. These are plain and fruity, warm inside their napkin. The clotted cream is certainly clotted, quite hard to deal with but excellent otherwise, and the Rhubarb and rose jam is very special indeed.

We move to the ‘cakes’ which are beautifully presented and we can catch ‘perfume’ from them. There’s even  gold leaf for extra class. There are two each of a Rose, lychee mousse, raspberry crunch and pistachio breton, a Strawberry and white tea choux and a Ylang Ylang, almond and honey petit gateaux.

These are remarkable creations, cut open they reveal masterful workmanship all the way through and must take some time to create. It is almost a shame to eat them. Almost.

As it is we find we can only eat a few, we are surprisingly full. The Parlour seems prepared for this and so we’re offered a nice box to take the spares away . We gave them to our neighbours when we got home and their little girls’ faces lit up, and so will yours.

Pricing starts from £59 per person.

Bookings can be made online, here or by calling 0207 9254 700.