Afternoon Tea at Harvey Nichols

My friend and I visited the Fourth Floor Restaurant & Bar at Harvey Nichols in Leeds recently, to indulge in an afternoon tea. We paid a visit on a cold Saturday afternoon as a respite from the weather, and what a delight it was.

The Fourth Floor Restaurant itself is wonderfully set out, it’s so spacious and airy; whilst also managing to create a lively, exciting and endearing atmosphere. Split into two sections, the bar and restaurant – we first opted for a glass of prosecco in the charmingly decorated bar area whilst we waited for our table. The prosecco was laced with an elderflower cordial, so I was informed by our waitress; and this was quite simply, stunning. Had it not been mid-afternoon, I would have quite happily sat and sipped glass after glass of this stuff, it was so refreshing yet subtly sweet at the same time. The most fitting starter for our afternoon tea, I felt.

We were seated very quickly and our lovely waitress ran through the afternoon tea options with us. What I adore about the service at Harvey Nichols restaurants, is that the staff always seem to take an interest in you and are wonderful at giving you honest recommendations too. For example, when I attempted to order additional sides with the afternoon tea, I asked the waitress if this would be too much – instead of attempting to up-sell the extra cakes to me, she was very honest and explained that potentially, yes, it would be too much; but that we could quite easily order more if we still felt they were needed, afterwards. A response I was soon, rather grateful for!

My friend and I selected the Afternoon Tea for Two, which was priced at £39.00 and included a pot of tea, of our own choosing. As the weather was rather cold, we both also ordered a mulled cider each – wow, wow, wow! This was incredible. I really wish this was sold all year round. The cider was delicate but also warming and was topped with a cream that produced the smoothest finish. I’m certainly no cider connoisseur, but to me this tasted like perfection.

The afternoon tea came out not long after our drinks were served, wonderfully timed in my opinion. The two tiered plates consisted of a delectable trio of sandwiches each – of which we were offered more if we would like, and to finish an enchanting selection of cakes, including the traditional scone served with jam and cream. It was at this point that I was ever so grateful for our waitress’s honesty – we really did struggle to finish the lot and for the price of just under £20 each, I certainly had no complaints over the portion size.

My friend and I had the perfect girly afternoon here and we cannot wait to return. Bookings and enquiries can be made here.