Sure Ziggy played guitar but did he eat little finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off them? Maddie Salters investigates with a visit to Shepherd Bush’s K West Hotel for a taste of its new Glam Rock Afternoon Tea.
The new Glam Rock Afternoon Tea at the K West Hotel is an effortless combination of two seemingly diverse British delicacies: Ziggy Stardust and Finger Sandwiches.
The name is a bit of a misnomer. Playing off of its history as a BBC recording studio where the likes of Pink Floyd and Bob Marley made their vinyl renditions in what now serves as the hotel’s gym, the Glam Rock Afternoon Tea (£22.50) doesn’t only take place between the usual hours of 4-6pm. Repurposed as a Rock’N’Cocktails Midnight Tea from 10pm-12am, with tea-enhanced aperitifs, the experience as mutable as the stars themselves.
In fact, one of the standout elements of the tea is just how customizable it is. Whether you decided to take it by daylight or dark, the K West offers three distinct locations for you to tip your tipples and get your pinkie up: the restaurant, the lounge, and the library. The restaurant, located on the second floor, looks like a modern cafe with its curvaceous couches and high-backed chairs lit by trendy squirrel cage filaments, offering diners a more private, professional atmosphere. If you’ve come in a group or you want the full thematic impact, then the downstairs lounge at the hotel’s bustling heart is located close to the bar, with privatized or floor seating by a live line fireplace with the promise of deejayed music on Thursday to Sunday evenings. But for my guest and I, it was the library that scored our interest.
After enjoying a Borough double espresso (£4) at the bar, with just the right bite of lemon, we were led into the cosy space with enough throw pillows and reading material to pass the time comfortably in between courses. Our tea set was already prepared, laid out in shock-bright colours, glitzy cups and pots like Christmas baubles on top of record sleeves, Blondie and Rod Stewart recycled into reverent place mats while a small vinyl Apollo by The Nostalgics served as a trivet. The glittery kitsch of the 1970s had touched down, and the effect was vivifying.
The meal began by letting us interact with the headliners: the teas. Expertly chosen in-house, the K West blends have been provided by Camellia’s at King’s Court, with each natural assortment presented in a test tube for diners to look at, smell, and touch before making their choice. On a menu heavy with black and herbal options, this can be a vital decision maker, as well as a charming introduction to the line up for tea novices and experts alike. One whiff of their house special, the T-Rex, and I knew what I was going to order. For a lighter counterpoint, I also picked the sweet Chocolate Tea.
I was immediately impressed by how well the staff knew each pot’s brew time. In no danger of sipping burnt or watery tea, my first taste of T-Rex went down as smoky and full-bodied as a fine whiskey, the peppercorns bringing out the notes of rose, peony, and cherry in exciting ways. This paired off marvellously with the assortment of sandwiches that served as a main course, the mellow, BBQ flavouring only enhancing the mature cheddar on the chutney and walnut bread, while evening out the punch of the piccalilli served alongside the British ham and mustard slice. Of their dainties, the main stunner was the coronation chicken on fruit and nut bread, the balance of moist fruit and meat on a dry whole grains creating something of a nostalgic flavour, harkening back to holiday dishes. Using the clean taste of a traditional cucumber sandwich to clear my palette, it was finally time for dessert.
The scones, not served hot, were unmemorable. The K West bakes their breads on the premises, and after being delighted by the mint and sun-dried tomato infusions that took their savouries to the next level, the scones merely felt like a hurdle on the way to the pile of cakes and macarons that awaited. Paired with the Chocolate Tea, a sweet, fragrant, and subtle blend that lacks the artificiality of most chocolate teas and needs no enhancement by milk or sugar, I dug into puddings made of sumptuous ingredients like Madagascan vanilla and pistachio. My particular favourites were the fudgy ganache of chocolate, orange, and almond, as well as the playful cake pops, with a little bit of a surprise hidden inside. While pop music played on the flat screen before me, pop rocks exploded in my mouth: a fun, funky, and fresh new take on Afternoon Tea.
I especially appreciated that the dessert course came with fresh fruit, raspberries and strawberries, which made a splendid bite washed down by dry prosecco, included on the Glam Rock Prosecco Tea (£29.50). For guests who really want to go fruity, trying the assortment of mixers on the Rock’N’Cocktails Tea (£32.50) is also a treat. The alcohol is infused with tea for fifteen days before they are combined with Passoa and mandarin liqueurs to make their cocktails. Of these, the standouts were the Elder Vs Flower, a crisp gin and elderflower tea blend, and the Passion Parade, a sour, juicy blend of passion fruit vodka and liqueur.
In all, the K West’s flamboyant new tea pushes boundaries while keeping things quintessentially British. This is a tea in evolution, still finding its footing and fiddling with its complex and opulent menu. But with a solid lineup of incredibly drinkable teas and tasty bites, served in the just-renovated zenith of a welcoming spa hotel, here is an Afternoon Tea that’s sure to be remembered. If you’re a hotel guest, a trip to the health club for some soothing ginger tea and after-dinner treatments can be arranged. Otherwise, I appreciated the short, brisk walk to the tube station, full and satiated.
K West Hotel & Spa is located at Richmond Way, W14 0AX. Find out more at k-west.co.uk.
Written by Maddie Salters, a native New Yorker who has lived abroad for half of her life – from cities spanning Montreal to Osaka. While there’s still a lot on her “to trek” list, she has currently landed with both feet firmly in London. As a seasoned travel writer and cultural essayist, you can find her work on TripAdvisor, and in print in Wanderlust Magazine and other international publications.
