Hotel Café Royal create The Importance of Being Earnest afternoon tea

To celebrate the arrival of Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest, at the Harold Pinter theatre on 27th June, Hotel Café Royal has created an exclusive afternoon tea to be held in the iconic Oscar Wilde Bar.  

Executive Chef Andrew Turner and Executive Pastry Chef Andrew Blas, have taken inspiration from the play’s characters and the history to create a unique and playful menu which will be available from 16June.

Priced at £42 or £55 with a glass of Veuve Cliquot, and featuring a selection of tea sandwiches, pastries, scones and cakes as well as additional ‘savoury terminus’ dishes, guests will be treated to an array of flavours, with some unexpected surprises along the way.

Turner has paid homage to the famous cucumber sandwich episode with the inclusion of Original ‘cucumber’ sandwiches; a savoury version of the classic 15^th century bun with caraway and icing sugar, filled with pickled cucumber.

The selection of tea sandwiches will also include Everyman’s smoked wild boar, crackling, pickled apple and English mustard bun; cured venison and pear chutney sandwich with red onion marriage and Gold puff goat’s cheese and wine jelly engagement.

Blas continues the theme with a range of amusingly titled pastries including Chocolate box ‘n’ ring; Lady Bracknell lollipop and Dandy raspberry regent. The menu is then finished off by a selection of Hotel Café Royal’s famous house-made cakes such as Lemon drizzle, Piccadilly Bunsbury and Traditional fruit cake.

Guests will also have the choice of an additional ‘Savoury Terminus’, including quintessentially British dishes such as scrambled egg and fresh truffle ‘Royal’, smoked London Cure salmon and cream cheese and Anchovy on toast and Gentleman’s relish.

All this will be served in the Oscar Wilde Bar (formerly the iconic Grill Room) which has been stunningly restored to its authentic Louis XVI detailing.

The Importance of being Ernest Afternoon tea: 

• Everyman’s Smoked wild boar, crackling, pickled apple and English mustard bun


• Gold puff goat’s cheese and wine jelly engagement


• Cured venison and pear chutney sandwich with red onion marriage


• London cure smoked salmon, quail’s egg and cress Prism


• Original “Cucumber” sandwiches

• Low Sidecar

• Chocolate box “n” ring


• Lady Bracknell lollipop


• Made in heaven Opera


• Cherry Lane Absinthe Green fairy


• Dandy Raspberry Regent

• Traditional tea marinated golden raisin, apricot and plain scones


• Clotted cream and London honey


• Strawberry and gold preserve

• Lemon Drizzle cake (GF)


• Piccadilly Bunsbury


• Hazelnut tin


• Traditional Fruit cake

• Scrambled egg and fresh truffle “Royal” £22


• Lightly jellied Miso eels £16


• Smoked London Cure Salmon and cream cheese £14


• Anchovy on toast and Gentleman’s relish £14


• Toasted aged Stilton and onion Union cake £12