thelovingspoonful.net

The London West Hollywood
1020 North San Vicente Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(866) 282-4560
thelondonwesthollywood.com

Ordered:
High Tea

Review:
Work obligations took me back up to Los Angeles last weekend. Though I didn’t have to stay long, June Gloom was really in full swing and the freeways were backed up due to on-and-off wetness. I decided to stick around the area.

I called the London to make a last minute reservation for high tea. Thankfully, they had one or two spaces left.

Exterior 1:

When you arrive at the London, it really doesn’t look like much on the outside. I don’t know what was there before, but the hotel resembles an older apartment complex in West L.A. It’s grayish and plain, with black iron bars across each small balcony. Not unattractive by any means, but I would say that the London is prettier on the inside than it is on the out.

Exterior 2:

The hotel is small to medium, and very quiet. You don’t see the same type of understated scurrying that occurs in other places. In fact, everything seems laid back, almost as if you were hanging out in a residence. I saw one of the ballrooms being decorated for a wedding, and the people working seemed so relaxed. (Imagine sitting at home on a really quiet weekday… the type of day where you can look toward a sunny window and notice dust particles floating in the air. That’s what it felt like to me at the London.) Keep in mind that I was there on a Sunday afternoon, too.

Interior 1:

It seems like Gordon Ramsay is the only restaurant at the London. In the afternoons, the space is occupied for tea. I believe that there is also a lunch menu offered by request, though most people did not take advantage of it.

Interior 2:

The tea room is on the ground floor. I don’t know how they do it, but the view implies that it is higher up.

The view:

The back of the neighborhood isn’t much to look at, is it? The restaurant is lovely though, full of creams and dusty blues and roses. There are beautiful white tiles arranged in shiny mosaics on the floor. Most fixtures are either sleek black or polished gold. The restaurant also features a beautiful bar/lounge area and very pretty private dining rooms.

A cool thing about tea at the London is that you actually get to see – and smell – your tea before you order it. For a tea novice like myself, this was so helpful! I had a ball checking out all the samples.

Tea Samples:

Does anyone remember that scene in French Kiss, where Kevin Kline’s character, Lucques, shows Meg Ryan’s character an old wine tasting project he did as a kid? She sniffed different bottles of mushroom and lavender before drinking her wine. This wooden box kind of made me think of that.

Mountain Berry Loose Leaf:

The benefits of allowing your guests to see and smell your teas are obvious. What this also means, however, is that you probably can’t offer a very extensive list. The variety of tea at the London is limited to about 12 at any given time. Still, I think I prefer it to Chado, where the list is huge but gives you less of an idea of what you’re ordering.

We chose the Tangerine and Mountain Berry teas. Everything else was part of a completely set menu.

Tangerine Tea:

The Tangerine Tea was recommended by our server. It was quite good! I requested milk for mine. Later, I heard another server mention to someone else that milk and cream would curdle in the citrus teas. Don’t know why, but I didn’t experience this problem at all. There was, however, just a bit of curdling when milk was poured into the Mountain Berry.

Mountain Berry Tea:

The Mountain Berry smelled like hot Jello water. That was a bit off-putting because who wants to drink Jello water? Apparently, it tasted a lot lighter – and a lot less artificial – than it smelled. Don’t know if we’d order it again, but it was fair.

Only real complaint was about the tea pots.  Servers don’t pour after the first cup here.  Because it is impossible to balance the (very heavy) pots without holding onto their lids, you will most likely get burned.  Be warned: the pots here get extremely hot!  Use your napkin when dealing with them!

Place Setting:

About 10 minutes after tea arrived, food was brought out. Instead of a 3-tiered serving tray, everything came on separate rectangular plates. It was a little tricky getting each plate in place, but much better than having a tall arrangement obstructing my view.

The spread:

The scones (currant and plain) were delicious. I enjoyed the chantilly cream, but really loved the fresh blueberry jam. It was so good, and just completely packed with a ton of ripe blueberries! So incredibly thick. I wanted to buy a bottle to take home.

The sandwiches were: Egg Salad, Roast Beef with Horseradish, Smoked Salmon, and Ham & Swiss. They were very small (not big like at Chado, but much tastier). The Roast Beef with Horseradish, Smoked Salmon, and Ham & Swiss were big hits! I particularly liked how smoky the ham was, and how it was complemented by a thin dabble of spicy dijon mustard. The egg salad was decent, too. It had some peppery arugula layered inside rye bread, which was dotted with fragrant carraway seeds.

Egg Salad and Roast Beef with Horseradish:

The desserts were: Green Tea Fruit Tarts, Lemon Pound Cake, and Chocolate Caramel Tarts.

Green Tea Fruit Tarts and Lemon Pound Cake:

Lemon Pound Cake and Chocolate Caramel Tarts:

Each dessert was good. In retrospect, it would have been smarter to start with the Chocolate Caramel Tart (while I was still slightly hungry), then the Lemon Pound Cake (moist and rich), and finish with the Green Tea Fruit Tart.

The Chocolate Caramel Tart was very dark and luxurious – a true chocoholic’s dream. The ganache was not too sweet, and filled with a layer of salty, thick caramel. As for the Green Tea Fruit Tart: I could barely taste any green tea in the pastry cream, but the fresh fruit (golden raspberries, kiwi, currants, etc.) were great! You could tell how fresh they were because there was no gelatin or anything glossed over. The pastry shell was also great; It was buttery and easily broken under the pressure of my fork… minimal crumbling too. I would eat this tart in one bite if possible. The pastry cream is very liquidy.

For $28 dollars a head, this was not steep by proper tea standards. Less classy places like Scarlet Tea Room will charge you $32 – 40 bucks.

Service was great, and we were full for the rest of the day.  Comparable to the Peninsula (teas weren’t as good, but desserts were better and overall cost was slightly less).  Cant wait to go back.

Rating:
8.5 out of 10 spoonfuls

Value:
$$$