What goes around comes around and afternoon tea seems to be coming around with a vengeance. One of the nicest places to have tea in the capital is at The Tea Box in Richmond.

The Venue
In a former art framer’s shop on the edge of Richmond, The Tea Box harks back to earlier times with its antique furniture and fittings, chandeliers and proper cake stands. It couldn’t be more different from the brashness of today’s modern coffee shops, evoking gentler times when people stopped for tea. It’s not a meal that need be hurried for it’s a hiatus in the day when jobs have been completed and when there’s time for a break for refreshment.

At The Tea Box one wall is devoted to tea caddies because there are some fifty different types of loose leaf tea on offer, all served in individual and appropriate pots, alongside a selection of homemade cakes, sandwiches and salads, plus some hot dishes for high tea. The restaurant is licensed for wine, cider, beer and Champagne.

The Atmosphere
Tea is quite a gentle meal, so the ambience at The Tea Box is one of quiet enjoyment. Perhaps this is because, unlike coffee which is meant to perk you up, drinking tea has more of a calming effect on the imbiber. The old world atmosphere is enhanced by the antique furniture and pictures, a motley collection in different styles. It may very well be a touch of nostalgia but The Tea Box seems to have arrived from another planet that’s about fifty years behind the times we live in, but it’s all the better for it.

The Food
You are really spoilt for choice and you could stay all day and night and still not work your way through the Tea Box menu. Sandwiches (£3.25 - £4.95) include fillings of Camembert and ham, brie and cranberry with brandy, tuna and mayonnaise, smoked chicken Dijonnaise, roast beef, tomato and horseradish, egg and watercress, and tiger prawns with mayo. This last is also a salad, along with smoked ham, goat’s cheese and Caesar salad (£5.45 - £6.50). The hot big bites include scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, eggs Benedict and Florentine, tomato and basil soup and a whole warm Camembert (£3.95 - £7.85). There are ten varieties of scones (£1.85 - £2.35), some sweet and some savoury such as the Raj, with carrot, coriander, curry and chutney, goat’s cheese and onion, pumpkin with chilli or chocolate and more. To follow, there are up to twenty kinds of cake.

The way to sample many of these treats is to order the special afternoon tea (£12.95 or £18.20 with Champagne). There’s a selection of smoked salmon and cucumber and cream cheese finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off, two homemade Devonshire scones with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry conserve, plus a choice of cake. It’s all brought to the table on a tiered cake stand, one for each diner. The bottom layer has the delicate and freshly made finger sandwiches, the middle layer has the homemade scones and the top layer has your choice of cake. All the produce used at The Tea Box is locally sourced, including the homemade cakes. Choose from carrot cake with ginger, pineapple tea loaf, lemon syrup, chocolate and coffee cakes, an Earl Grey tea loaf, a classic sponge, the Eccles cake, ginger cake, chocolate brownie, orange flapjack – the list is almost endless. The apple crumble is very fine indeed, especially when heated and served with butter or clotted cream, while the monkey nuts cake is a luscious mix of banana and pecans, also great toasted. If you want something a little different, the High Tea (£12.95) offers scrambled egg and salmon on toast plus the scones and the cake.

The Drink
Where do you start with a list of fifty teas? They include black teas (Assam, Darjeeling, Lychee Red and Russian Caravan), green teas (Gunpowder Pinhead, Jasmine Pearls, Toasted Hojicha), white teas (white peony and whole rosebuds, jasmine silver needle), yellow teas, oolong teas, flowering teas, liquor teas (each with an alcoholic shot), plus tisanes, hot teas with fruit juices and a connoisseur’s range. All are served in individual teaware including ornate Moroccan glasses, Chinese teapots and bowls, and glass teapots so you can see the tea infusing.

Snowbud is a whole leaf white tea from China, subtly scented and very refreshing (£2.25 a pot), while the tisane of whole lemon verbena is a herbal leaf infusion from Paraguay, very light and zesty with lemon (£1.95 a pot). Any of the teas may be bought to take home in either pouches or tins. For those who prefer not to drink tea, there is a list of other drinks – coffee, chocolate, juices, mineral waters and lemonades. Wine is £3 a glass or £12.95 a bottle.

The Last Word
It’s good to see tea making a comeback. There’s really nothing to beat the great British tradition of afternoon tea and The Tea Box is one of the best.

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