Best for tea selection: Fortnum & Mason
Did you know that if you're served yellow tea (first introduced in the 17th-century and only reproduced again in the 1960s in small batches) in China, you're either royalty or a VIP? During afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason, it's one of the fun facts you might learn from your waiter during an optional tea-tasting session. (You'll also be taught how to smell, steep and sip tea the right way and provided with the chance to sample various blends of teas both popular and rare.) Then it's on to the main affair: a riotous confection of high-quality finger sandwiches (coronation chicken, rare-breed hen's mayonnaise with chives, smoked salmon), scones and petits fours - all unlimited so you can eat to your heart's content. What if you don't have a sweet tooth? There is a savoury option, served with a delicate florentine egg mayonnaise and a tasty sun-blushed tomato scone and watercress cream cheese. There's a pianist playing classics on a Steinway; smiling waiters standing by attentively; and a trolley lined with cakes of all shapes and sizes, including bakewell tart and Brittany brattenberg. They say you can never have too much of a good thing. At Fortnum and Mason's, this certainly rings true.
Top treat: The private tea-tasting session (costing an extra £10), where you'll get to grips with the intricacies of tea - from history, terroir and the ideal steeping time and temperature (2-3min; 70-75°C). Address: 181 Piccadilly, W1A 1ER Days and times: Monday to Saturday 12-7pm; Sunday midday to 6pm Cost: £44 - £48 dependent on choice of tea