Afternoon Tea at Chi Kitchen, London

A world away from the madness of Oxford street on a Saturday afternoon is Chi Kitchen. The perfect spot just tucked into the ground floor of Debenhams; it’s where we (myself and Sophie of Fitology) found ourselves nestled in a window seat watching as the weather switched between rain and sunshine… a typical summers day in London. Chi Kitchen is a contemporary Pan Asian restaurant created exclusively for the Debenham’s brand… family to Mango Tree (which I featured on the blog here a short while ago).

Afternoon Tea at Chi Kitchen

Between 3pm and 6pm each day, Chi Kitchen serves up their afternoon tea (at a very reasonably priced £12.50pp, or £15pp with a glass of Prosseco) with that Pan Asian twist, of course! Although afternoon tea is a very quintessentially British thing to do, it’s not something I’ve treated myself to that often. It was the perfect way to while away an hour whilst the rain poured down… and as we were both donning our Endurance Conspiracy tee’s it also answered the question I asked about what we do as “cyclists” when we’re not on our bikes!

Tier 1 (bottom): Curry Puff, Taro Cake, Vegetable Spring Roll

Afternoon tea is served with your choice of tea; Sophie opted for the Matcha Latte whilst I chose the Earl Grey Breakfast Tea (sans milk). Only soy is offered as a non dairy option or else I would also have had the matcha latte too. Ah well.

With my phone handy, I googled anything I was unsure of. Apparently Taro is a root vegetable… and I loved it. This Taro Cake reminded me of a Caribbean dish called bammy which has a similar texture but made from cassava.

Tier 2 (middle): Salmon Nigiri, Prawn Dumpling

I love me some sushi; its a go to meal for me if I’m out and about wanting something filling, but relatively healthy. Typically, I would eat about 5x the amount of sushi served in this afternoon tea but one thing I realised is that it’s not a meal (note to self for the future).

Tier 3 (top): Caramel Cheesecake, Cassava Cake, Pandan Kaya Bun

In no time at all, we were onto the top tier of desserts. My favourite was the Pandan Kaya Bun; google tells me that Pandan is an green leaf often used to flavour asian dishes. I generally enjoyed the mix of textures between all the desserts but I could eat the buns all. day. long.

We chatted all the time whilst eating; from other afternoon tea experiences, what we were thinking about the food (yum, yum and yum basically), all the catching up and who even knows what else! …The restaurant is so welcoming (with the fanciest accessible toilet for customers) and although it’s open plan I didn’t for a moment feel like I was sharing the experience with anyone other than Sophie…

Are you already a fan of afternoon tea?! Been to Chi Kitchen in London yet?!

Elle