Cafes, London, Patisserie

Afternoon Tea At Ladurée Covent Garden

January 22, 2012 by

Towards the end of last summer, I met up with my French pal Coralie of Tea Time in Wonderland for an indulgent afternoon treat at Ladurée Covent Garden.

The latest London outpost of the iconic Paris pâtisserie and tea salon, Ladurée Covent Garden occupies an enviable position on the edge of the piazza.  The space may be small, but it manages to include a chic terrace, upstairs tea salons with outdoor balcony seating, a marble-covered pâtisserie counter and petite boutique.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working my way through the macaron counter and my favourite new discoveries have been Salted Caramel and Violet Blackcurrant.

We ordered pots of thé violette and thé rose, which came served in large silver teapots with monogrammed paper handle covers and Ladurée’s exquisite signature pastel-coloured, gilt-edged china.

Coralie ordered a Raspberry Rose Saint-Honoré – an impressive dessert including a choux pastry base filled with rose-flavoured crème patisserie and rose icing with mini iced choux buns, whipped creme Chantilly and fresh raspberries.

My usual favourite is a Rose Religieuse, but this time I tried the chocolate flavour – a double choux pastry dessert filled with chocolate crème patissiere and covered in dark chocolate icing.  Both were deliciously fresh and typically perfect – an indulgent Ladurée delight.

The two tea salons are small and cute, in a colour palette of Ladurée’s signature colours, with illustrations of birds and trees on the walls and comfy red velvet seating.  The outside terrace and upstair balcony are perfect in the summer for people watching and basking in the sun over a macaron ice cream coupe.

Ladurée Covent Garden may not have the exquisite, palatial interiors of the Champs-Elysées salon or the gloss of the Harrods store, but it’s perfect for a relaxing break, or a hard-to-resist macaron-fix.

5 comments

5 Comments

  • Reply Cindy January 23, 2012 at 4:54 pm

    Hi!
    I went to this salon when it opened last year and I was really pleased with the experience. We were sit on the balcony and it was a beautiful sunday afternoon.
    I tried an orange blossom religieuse and the waiter offered us a plate of small macarons to try. I remember that one of my friend tried a lovely raspberries tart with passion fruit crème pâtissière.
    I was not that impressed by the macarons but the lovely flavoured crème pâtissière were a delight.
    And their club sandwiches looked amazing!

    • Reply cheriecity January 23, 2012 at 5:05 pm

      Orange blossom religieuse sounds amazing, I’ll have to look out for that flavour. The cakes are always consistent at Laduree and excellent quality, I’ve never had a bad one there. My favourite Laduree salons have got to the Champs-Elysees and Madeleine ones – they really are like palaces.

  • Reply Amani January 30, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    I’m wondering if you know if they serve afternoon tea on Sundays? I’m going to London for a weekend and I would really like to know if it’s available on Sundays because I would like to have the Saturday free for shopping. =)

    • Reply cheriecity January 30, 2013 at 8:46 pm

      Hello Amani, they are open from 8am to 10.30pm on Sunday and tea and cakes are available all day. Have a great time in London!

  • Reply Amani February 9, 2013 at 11:08 am

    Thanks for the reply 🙂

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