71-72 Burlington Arcade, London, W1J 0QX   0207 491 9155

There are four of us (E, H and N) who meet up regularly to have afternoon tea. Ladurée was our stop for tea on the way to the Ritz. H and I had read about it in various things, it was listed in Vogue as one of the best places to go in London for tea and macaroons.

The Burlington Arcade is full of very expensive jewellery shops and so covering the shop in gold doesn’t seem so pretentious, more just trying to fit in. The whole shop is tiny, about the size of a train buffet car. The tables and chairs only appear in good weather and are outside the shop, but you can get take away tea at other times.

Vogue recommended the Marie Antoinette tea but they didn’t have that listed on the menu, so I chose ‘Thé Mélange Spécial: Ladurée blend tea scented with orange, rose, vanilla and cinammon’. It was lightly scented and delicate and perfect. E let me taste her Earl Grey and it was very delicate and smooth.

We bought macaroons to take away so we didn’t spoil our trip to the Ritz. If you can afford it they come in thick gold embossed boxes, or in a paper bag if you’re me. I’ve eaten macaroons before – almond lumpy things that normally burn on the bottom but still taste good. These macaroons were something else – smooth and heavenly and definitely worth paying £1.25 each. I had Red Fruits flavour but you could choose from lots more, including orange-blossom, chocolate, raspberry, vanilla, coffee, liquorice and lemon.

And it’s not just Vogue that thinks they are the place to be, while we were there David Walliams had a pot of tea too.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes, leaf tea in a muslin tea bag.
Milk jug? No! This is French tea!
Price? £2.85 per pot and worth every penny.
Cake? Macaroons in all the colours of the rainbow.
Go again? Tomorrow if I could afford it.