London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [12]
ACROSS THE THAMES
Cross Southwark Bridge to The City. On the corner of Bow Lane, Ye Olde Watling was originally built just before the Great Fire, and promptly torched. Rebuilt around 1668, again in 1901, and then again after the Blitz, it is named after Watling Street, the Roman Road it sits on.
Head west along Watling Street to magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral and take a left down Creed Lane from Ludgate Hill. Wind your way down to Queen Victoria Street and turn right to the Black Friar at No 174. The spectacular Arts and Crafts interior is all marble and brass bas-reliefs of friars interspersed with aphorisms and quotes.
Head up New Bridge Street and turn left onto Fleet Street to dig out the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in a minute alley called Wine Office Court. Dictionary-scribe Dr. Johnson, who lived close nearby, used to have a tipple or two here, as did Dickens, Mark Twain, and Theodore Roosevelt.
BLOOMSBURY
Wander west along Fleet Street, then walk north along Fetter Lane to the Ye Olde Mitre, serving up brews since 1546 and rebuilt around 1772. Find the preserved trunk of a cherry tree that Elizabeth I supposedly once danced around.
Walk north up Gray’s Inn Road, then left onto Theobalds Road before turning right onto Lamb’s Conduit Street, to find the Lamb. Not far from the Dickens House Museum, the pub is notable for its wooden horseshoe bar with its etched-glass “snob screens” to shield the “pillars of society” when drinking with “women of dubious distinction.” Head West along Great Ormond Street to the far side of Queen Square and the Queen’s Larder, where Queen Charlotte reputedly rented out the cellar. Just north is the Russell Square tube station, or you can continue to the British Museum, opposite which is the Museum Tavern, where Karl Marx would loosen his neck-tie and take time off from researching Das Kapital.
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Taking afternoon tea is the height of cool in London right now.
From Kate Moss to Cameron Diaz, everyone wants to sit up straight, stick their pinkie out, and sip hot tea in the company of friends and family—and preferably in the warm embrace of an established hotel tea salon.
So, what is Afternoon Tea, exactly? Well, it means real tea (Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Ceylon, Darjeeling or Assam Indian, or Chinese) brewed in a china pot, and served with china cups and saucers, milk, lemon, and silver spoons, between 3 and 5:30 pm.
In particularly grand places, there should be elegant finger foods on a three-tiered silver tea stand: crustless sandwiches on the bottom; fruit scones with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry jam in the middle; and rich fruitcake, shortbread, patisseries, macaroons, and fancies on top.
Tea-goers dress up in posh hotels, and conversation (by tradition) avoids politics and religion.
Brown’s Hotel.
This classic Mayfair town-house hotel sets the standard at the English Tea Room, where one of London’s best-known Afternoon Teas is served (Afternoon Tea £35, Champagne Tea £45). | 33 Albermarle St., Mayfair | W1 4BP | 020/7493–6020 | AE, DC, MC, V | Tea weekdays 3–6, weekends 1–6 | Green Park.
Café at Sotheby’s.
What could be better than perusing the famous Mayfair auction house before afternoon tea? Breakfasts are from 9:30 am, then teas from 3 pm; teas are available from £6.50 (including tea cakes and scones) and up to £18.75 for Champagne Tea. | Sotheby’s,34 New Bond St., Mayfair | W14 2A4 | 020/7293–5077 | Reservations essential | AE, DC, MC, V | Tea weekdays 3–4:45 | Green Park.
The Dorchester.
Amid a maze of marble and gold leaf, afternoon tea in the Promenade is best