Gentleman’s Afternoon Tea at Sanctum

What is a gentleman? Is it someone who obeys the unwritten rules of conduct and deportment? Is it a man who insists on holding the door open for a lady and resorts to fisticuffs if some rapscallion’s uncouth manner requires him to defend her honour? Or is it someone who takes pleasure in refined pleasures in good company while seated in luxurious surroundings?

If it’s the latter, then the Sanctum Hotel in Soho might have hit upon the perfect afternoon for those proud enough to call themselves gentlemen.

The tea comes in four parts. It commences with a pot of tea but it does not accompany the usual set of square cut sandwiches. This is a much more adventurous set of starters. Coming in on a black slab, there is an oyster with chilli and a roast beef sandwich. The dressing on the oyster was quite harsh and had my companion and myself spluttering a little as we struggled to withstand its piquancy. The roast beef sandwich rounded the starters with a good piece of meat, although there were some issues about the quality of the bread, which seemed a little stale.

The hot mains arrived, in a similar bite-size format to the starters. My companion and I were presented with a discrete lamb hotpot, rabbit and leek pasty and a lamb burger. This format was perfect for the meal as it was tasty but not too filling. My particular favourite was the rabbit and leek pasty as it showcased the best qualities of rabbit meat; juicy.

We took our dessert on the lounge, which is on the roof of the hotel. This is a very nifty venue. There is a hot tub that is unlikely to be used in the winter months and enough music equipment to hold its own festival. My companion and I settled down into the chairs and set about our dessert of chocolate cake with Jack Daniel’s ice cream. This was sumptuous and an excellent way to finish the food.

However, the afternoon tea was not finished there. At the beginning of the tea, we had been invited to select our finishing whisky from three different types of Jack Daniel’s. Both of us settled on the Gentleman’s Jack and this was taken with a Villiger cigar.

Although the tea is very well put together, it is difficult to get away from the fact that it costs £50 per person. For this kind of price, the food needs to be more than very good – although there is a lot to be said for finishing an afternoon with a whisky in one hand and a fine cigar in the other.

Sanctum Soho
20 Warwick Street
Soho
W1B 5ND

Tel: 020 7292 6100