Tea and Cake London

by Zena Alkayat

Tea & Cake London is a comprehensive guide to the best places to enjoy tea and cake across London. Charming, knowledgeable and often surprising, this lovely book seeks out more than 70 cafés, bakeries and tearooms worth discovering, from iconic establishments to modern classics and undiscovered gems.

Celebrating the history and ritual of taking tea, while embracing London’s currently thriving independent café scene, it brings together an eclectic collection of venues, all beautifully illustrated with evocative photography. Whether you’re looking for a traditional afternoon tea, a casual café in which to gossip over a brew, a bakery selling elite buttery treats, innocent vegan delights or an oddball tearoom with a twist, Tea & Cake London has the answer.

The book has 6 chapters, each focusing on a different face of London’s tea and cake scene, from formal afternoon teas, patisseries and bakeries, right down to market stalls selling cake. Each entry highlights a special destination, and tempts you to indulge in a much-loved and very British pastime. And why resist? After all, there’s fewer pleasures as simple or appealing as settling somewhere cosy, tucking into a slice of something nice, and sipping on a well-brewed cup of tea.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Food, London, British Literature, Cookbooks

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 25, 2011

About the author

Zena Alkayat is a journalist, author, and editor based in London.

Reviews

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous book, crammed full of (predominantly) unknown and original places to enjoy tea and a bite in London. You could be in the city for a month and not have time to visit all of these. And if you thought afternoon tea in London means the Ritz or Fortnums, this will open your eyes to a wide range of neighbourhoods (and, happily) price-points. The photographs are gorgeous and if you are a tea lover or Anglophile, reading this will make you want to pack a suitcase immediately.
I'm not giving 5 stars because I haven't actually visited any of these tea places (yet) to see if the descriptions are a good indication of what you get. The book would also benefit from a few maps, showing what's located where, an index for the same purpose, web addresses and a rough price guide.
So, 4 highly enjoyable stars as a purely theoretical piece of reading. I do, however, hope to turn theory into practise very soon!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dreamy photos of delicious-looking pastries and cute cups and saucers. The descriptions and photos of the cafes and tea rooms will make you want to plan a London trip just to while away the hours in these charming places.

It's great for inspiration, but wouldn't be too useful as an actual guidebook for a tourist as it lacks maps, tube stop info, and an index. Nor is it arranged by neighborhood. For the traveler, you'd have to tag the pages you like, do some research, and then plot out your visits, hopefully finding the cafes that are near other, more culturally significant sights (so you don't spend ALL your time eating and drinking tea).

[May-Ling · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an ultimate fan of afternoon tea, this book was made for me. I really used it to plot out a lot of places I'll visit when I'm in London. One thing about the book is that some tea shops have a lot more photographs dedicated to them. It makes it difficult to differentiate the ones with only one or two images. That said, I really love the organization and I feel like Zena Alkayot did a lot of ground work to help me enjoy my tea experience in England. I wish I had thought of that first - trying out 50 or so tea experiences sounds like heaven to me.

[Metalpig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strictly daydream territory for me for now, but if you're in a position to have tea in London, I'm fairly sure this would lead you to the right place. A really varied selection of places, with a fair write-up and yummy photos for each.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an upbeat 2 star rating. Now I'll know where to eat the next time I happen to be in London.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

very lovely.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a handy book for tea and cake lovers but it doesn't have an index, area guide or mention the nearest tube stations.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great inspiration and lots of new places to try out two of my favourite things, tea and cake.

[Teresa W · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice review of london tea places