A good afternoon tea has to have a few specific ingredients. First, the ambience has to be right – relaxed, great décor, attentive service – and second, the food has to hit the spot. The Amalfi-inspired Bergamotto di Positano Afternoon Tea experience at Hyatt Great Scotland Yard has both, creating a refined experience.
Based at The Parlour, on the ground floor of the luxe Hyatt Great Scotland Yard Hotel in London, the tea room has a classy, colonial feel, as if modelled on Raffles in Singapore. Comfortable lounge chairs and sofas, lush plants and Asian-themed wallpaper provide a chic, welcoming air, while the staff were quick to show us to our seats and ensure we were comfortable.
Being a 5-star hotel in the heart of Westminster, some of our fellow guests were of course American tourists, here to soak up the sights and a little of what British culture does best. At other tables were groups of girlfriends catching up over a glass of prosecco or two, creating a bubbly atmosphere that was helped by a glass of champagne for us as we sat down.
Food at The Parlour, Hyatt Great Scotland Yard
The menu is new and themed on the Mediterranean Italian coast, with the classic lemon flavours of Amalfi part of an indulgent afternoon feast. Described as a ‘multisensory’ experience, the Parlour has teamed up with perfumery Floris London to run the top notes of its latest fragrance through the cakes and pastries, including bergamot, mandarin, and a balmy marine essence (which I can only presume means salty). A bottle of the perfume was provided for us to whet the tastebuds via a quick sniff.
And so to the food. There are options for either a straight afternoon tea, the addition of a glass of Pomelo Spritz, or an Infinite Champagne Tea, which does pretty much what it says. The savoury first course consisted of several Italian-style treats such as a Pizzetta Fritta (a delicious mini-fried pizza), an aubergine and onion focaccia, a courgette and mint frittata and a lavish stracciatella, smoked salmon and caviar bruschetta.
All were very tasty and, it has to be said, evocative of Amalfi in all the right ways. Following this was the sweet course with the obligatory, and nicely baked scones, although the inclusion of marmalade (listed as orange jam) rather than strawberry jam was not to my personal preference. Alongside this came a nice almond torte, the fragrance-inspired mandarin babà, and a lemon delight cake, which was an apt way to finish.
Cosy cocktails in Síbín Speakeasy, Hyatt Great Scotland Yard
Full and happy, we trotted across to the other side of the Great Scotland Yard Hotel to their Irish whisky-themed bar, Síbín (pronounced shebeen, Gaelic for an old illicit bar). This being a speakeasy, it was discreetly hidden behind a white bookcase. The room itself has a decadent, almost apothecary feel with the display cabinets full of high-end spirits and decanters, combined with the wood-panelled walls of a gentleman’s club.
The bar has had a recent revamp, with a slimmed-down whisky menu, and now leans more towards mixology, though its Irish roots are still very evident. There are some fantastic cocktail creations alongside a new sharing plates food menu that includes charcuterie, perfect dry-aged beef sliders, cauliflower croquettes and prawn and sweet potato tapioca crackers. The ambience is completed by live jazz music that feels intimate but not overbearing.
It’s the cocktails themselves though that are the star. Alongside the timeless classics like the Old Fashioned or Vieux Carre, sits the house cocktail, A Shebeen. Combining a base of 12-year-old single malt whisky with Campari, pineapple, eau de vie and bitters it arrived with a flamboyant, smoky flourish. Along with this, we ordered the 6 O’clock Swill, a lot tastier than it sounds, which fused Tanqueray Ten with Japanese yuzu, camomile and Vetiver Gris with a touch of theatre as it came to the table.
As the afternoon rolled into evening, the bar began to fill and the atmosphere more lively. As the jazz filled the air with a little more urgency, it wasn’t hard to imagine this as a great late-night bar where the attentive staff would keep you finely lubricated, well into the early hours.
For more information or to book either experience see online.
Great Scotland Yard Hotel – The Unbound Collection by Hyatt
3-5 Great Scotland Yard
London
SW1A 2HN
United Kingdom
