Mary Poppins Afternoon Tea – Practically Perfect at Aqua Shard London

“Open different doors. You may find another you there, that you never knew was yours. Anything can happen”

I love this quote from the Mary Poppins film. As a little girl I think it was possibly the first time that I realised anything was possible. That we shouldn’t ever write ourselves off. I have always remembered it, and Mary Poppins was my hero for a long time in my 9 years old eyes. The lessons we were subtly taught in the film stayed with me. When I read a post by the fabulous Angie from SilverspponLondon.com about another themed afternoon tea that had hit London, I was there. Sold. Hook, line and sinker. You may or may not know, that I am a sucker for a themed afternoon tea. If you have read my blog for a while, then yep, you would definitely know! My London Life category on the blog will find a little hint at my obsession. Of course I was going to try it. I owed my Mum a nice treat anyway for having our dog while we were away in Cape Verde. Any excuse. Mary Poppins Afternoon tea, we are coming for you………

A visit to The Shard in London is always fabulous. On a clear day, you can see for literally miles form the 68th floor viewing gallery. If you haven’t done it yet, pop it on your to-do’s if you visit London. Its amazing! Last time we were up there, a helicopter flew by and honestly, it was so close to us that I could see the pilots eyes were blue……Ok, I might be exaggerating slightly but, you know, it was pretty close. Anyway, I digress…

Mary Poppins Afternoon Tea

The Mary Poppins afternoon tea has been launched to coincide with the re-release of the famous books by P.L.Travers that Harper Collins are doing.  The Aqua Shard is located on the 31st floor, and when you enter the restaurant, you immediately get the wow factor as the surrounding full length glass windows give you the views stretching over London. Myself and my Mum just stood on the stairs, taking it all in. My Mum had never been up The Shard, so it was great to see her first time reaction. She was so excited bless her, look at her little face. As we were a little early, we were shown to the bar, and ordered a glass of wine each. Cold, dry and crisp, the wine was perfect to accompany us sitting up the bar, soaking in the atmosphere. Its a busy place in the Aqua Shard, both a lunch menu and the afternoon teas are being served, but it didn’t feel crazy. We loved the atmosphere, and it was great to spend ten minutes people watching. And shoe watching. And handbag admiring….

Mum and I were both over the moon when we were shown to our table, and it was right next to one of the huge windows. We felt so lucky! I had requested a window table on my booking, but I know that it isn’t always possible to accommodate everyone, so I was thrilled that they had been able to carry out my request. Always worth trying if you do decide to go here, the views really are worth the effort of taking the two seconds and asking.

I love it when a themed afternoon tea has the theme throughout, and not just a token item to suggest the theme. The table has the cutlery and china already set, and the plate, cup and saucer were decorated with lovely illustrations from the story of Mary Poppins. Too cute.

We were then given a gold framed decorative mirror, to reflect Mary’s “Practically Perfect” vanity, (the mirror replicated  the one that Mary’s reflection sings back to her from) on which the afternoon tea menu was written. Our server gave us a little run down and explanation on the menu, and left us to make our decisions on the tea we would like. A choice of Mary’s Tea, or Bert’s Tea. Each a different twist on traditional tea, but both sounding amazing. I chose the Mary’s Tea (black teas mixed with rose petals to give a mild floraly finish) and Mum chose traditional English Breakfast Tea. You can take the woman out of the East End, but you cant mess with her cup of rosie-lee……..

We decided to go for the Champagne option with the tea. You get a beautifully chilled glass of Veuve Clicquot, (served by your very own “Bert”) which you can then the choose to “take your medicine” (like in the film) and have a spoonful added to your drink. You can choose between three liquors, made by the Aqua Shard bar team, to make a classic Kir Royale style cocktail. Both Mum and I chose the strawberry, a gorgeous blend of Tanqueray Gin, Sugar, and fresh strawberries. They had me at gin….

So, tea served, champagne served, now it was time for the finger sandwiches. Beautiful, fresh and delicious, the fillings were  amazing. Crab and cucumber, egg mayonnaise and truffle, smoked salmon and cream cheese were amongst the selection. Of course, any dietary requirements were catered for, and my vegetarian selection was just beautiful.

Sandwiches finished, the bespoke cake stand was brought over. Mary Poppins flying umbrella was the top part of the stand, and her button up boots were the foot part. It was fabulous. The tired plated in between were full of warm scones, and sweet treats with names continuing to tell the story of Mary Poppins. You had Mary’s own chocolate cherry hat, a tinned syrup sponge referencing their visit to the back to front zoo, and a gingerbread biscuit, like the ones bought from Mrs Corry’s shop, all in keeping with the theme. Then, to top it all off and the part that made my 9 year old inner self squeal with delight, we were brought a “spoonful of sugar” in the form of a fairground candy floss. Life made.

We had a truly wonderful afternoon, and I would thoroughly recommend this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious afternoon tea.. The Mary Poppins Afternoon Tea is served daily between 1-5pm, and is running right through until April 2019, so you have plenty of time to get there. We were there on a Friday, and it was fully booked so I would suggest booking early if there is a particular date that you would like. To make it easier for you, I have put a link below to both the full menu for the afternoon tea, and a link to the full details of prices etc. There are a few options available, starting at £49 pp.

Full Price and Booking Details

Full Menu Details 

So, there you have it. Mary Poppins Perfectly Perfect afternoon tea was a huge winner for me. What do you think?  Do you have a favourite themed afternoon tea? I would love to hear. I take my work very seriously so of course, need to try them all……